Empowering Citizens in Energy Transition
The research was about finding new ways for collaboration around the energy transition. The specific method of working with future scenario’s was embedded in a living lab method that is used in the area to empower citizens. The neighbourhood is one of the areas in the Netherlands that is designated to discontinue the connection to the gas network in favor of a heat network. The area has several active citizens with different opinions on how to accomplish this, with some citizens opting for local energy options. The municipality struggles to inform and reach people and is stuck in wanting to achieve certain results. Furthermore, there is much distrust from local citizens towards the municipality.
In this context our research was aimed at truly finding out about the stance of local citizens on sustainability and disconnecting from the gas network through interviews and using a (narrative) futuring method to bridge conflicts between citizens and municipality. We found the conditions needed for the method to work well and also had to take into account the role of the researcher. All in all the project concluded that changing perspectives does something with thinking about the future and thus might be much more effective in achieving sustainability goals, or furthering the energy transition, than informing people about technical details and benefits such as economic benefits.