Sustaining energetic communities: energy citizenship and participation in an age of upheaval and transition

Abstract

AbstractThe human use of energy is inherently understood and experienced through socially constructed frameworks. However, the degree of engagement with this topic on the part of humanities and the social sciences has until recently been uneven at best. This seems strange given current upheavals experienced in Europe and across the globe as the climate and biodiversity crises deepen. At the centre of all these crises is the energy system. Energy flows through various forms of natural and social circuitry (from production, to distribution and consumption) and these energyscapes are sited at the local, national, and transnational scales. The correlation between the (meta)physical flows taken by the various forms of energy we depend on—and the transitory social, cultural, economic, and political relationships that frame them—require much deeper study if we are to achieve the types of sustainable communities envisaged by the United Nations as part of its sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 2030. Arising from a review of current literature, this article presents recent research into the forming of citizen energy communities in Europe and the governance structures designed to facilitate their development. It also highlights the key drivers and barriers to citizen engagement with emergent, novel energetic communities.