From dispersed practices to radical socio-technical imaginaries: the …

From dispersed practices to radical socio-technical imaginaries: the …

The European Union’s ambitious Green Deal calls for a rapid transition to clean energy, requiring massive investments in renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency improvements by 2030. Yet the transition also demands a broader rethinking of how energy is produced, distributed, and consumed in society. Alongside technological innovations, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes the importance of sufficiency measures—an overall decrease in energy demand.

Citizens have a vital role to play across all these fronts: investing in and producing renewable energies, prioritizing efficient technologies, and decreasing overall usage. However, current approaches tend to view citizens narrowly as individual consumers, missing the transformative potential of collective action. How can diverse groups of people be meaningfully engaged in the energy transition beyond household-level changes?

This article explores how “energy citizenship“—the ways in which energy production, distribution, and usage are discussed, planned, organized, or imagined—can be fostered through participatory “action labs.” Drawing on four case studies across Europe, we uncover the importance of “dispersed practices” such as deliberating, organizing, and envisioning alternative futures, alongside more familiar “integrated practices” like using energy in the home.

Crucially, these action labs supported the emergence of radical socio-technical imaginaries that go beyond efficiency and renewable energy, embracing sufficiency measures and collective political action. By creating spaces for diverse groups to experiment with new forms of energy citizenship, the labs reveal the transformative potential of harnessing dispersed practices and alternative socio-technical imaginaries.

Dispersed Practices and Socio-technical Imaginaries

Social practice theories offer a nuanced understanding of how energy-related behaviors are shaped by the material arrangements, meanings, and skills and competencies that constitute everyday practices. While much research has focused on “integrated practices” like cooking or laundry, this article emphasizes the role of “dispersed practices“—those oriented towards planning, organizing, deliberating, and envisioning alternative futures.

Schatzki’s distinction between simpler and more complex social phenomena is key here. Doing laundry involves coordinating a relatively discrete set of practices, skills, and materials. In contrast, engaging in energy citizenship requires orchestrating a more varied and wide-ranging set of dispersed practices, necessitating increased coordination and complexity.

These dispersed practices are crucial for shaping how energy is ultimately used in the home and beyond. As Figure 1 illustrates, practices like organizing, planning, and deliberating can prefigure the integrated practice of “using energy in the home.” By honing these dispersed skills, citizens can gain greater agency over the energy transition.

Alongside practice-oriented perspectives, the concept of socio-technical imaginaries offers important insights. These are “collectively held, institutionally stabilized, and publicly performed visions of desirable futures” that are animated by shared understandings of how social life and order can be achieved through science and technology.

The dominant socio-technical imaginary around the energy transition often focuses on technological solutions and individual behavioral change. However, alternative imaginaries are emerging that emphasize more collective and sufficiency-oriented approaches. The action labs explored in this article provided spaces for diverse groups to experiment with and articulate these radical socio-technical imaginaries.

Radical Transformations

The action labs revealed how citizens, researchers, and local partners engaged with both the established socio-technical imaginary of technical solutions, as well as more radical imaginaries around sufficiency measures and collective political action.

In Berlin, for example, migrant communities expressed interest in joining energy cooperatives as a way to collectively invest in renewable energy production. This contrasted with the prevailing focus on individual homeowners installing rooftop solar panels. Similarly, in Switzerland, action lab participants proposed a range of community-oriented initiatives, from organizing local food networks to developing shared mobility solutions.

Importantly, these radical imaginaries were not merely abstract ideas, but were expressed through the honing of concrete dispersed practices. Participants in the action labs developed skills in planning, prioritizing, communicating, and envisioning alternative energy futures. In Città di Castello, Italy, citizens moved from expressing individual concerns to collectively proposing changes to the municipality, showcasing their ability to organize and advocate for community-level action.

Spatial Dimensions

The action labs highlighted the importance of place-based knowledge and practices in shaping energy citizenship. In Overhalla, Norway, for instance, the local context of rural living shaped discussions around the potential of tiny houses as a more energy-efficient housing solution. Participants were able to relate the energy transition to the specific challenges and opportunities of their community.

Conversely, in the wealthier suburbs of Geneva, Switzerland, action lab participants emphasized the need for collective solutions that could accommodate diverse needs and circumstances. They recognized that one-size-fits-all approaches to the energy transition would be insufficient, and that place-based, context-sensitive strategies were required.

These place-based dynamics also interacted with broader spatial scales. In Berlin, the lack of national legislation enabling energy sharing among citizens was a key barrier, showcasing how local action is prefigured by higher-level policy frameworks. Navigating these multi-scalar dynamics was a central challenge for the action labs.

Temporalities of Change

The action labs not only revealed the importance of place, but also highlighted the significance of temporal considerations in the energy transition. Participants grappled with the legacies of past socio-technical arrangements, as well as the need to anticipate and shape future energy landscapes.

In Overhalla, the prevalence of large, energy-intensive homes reflected historical patterns of rural development. Challenging these path dependencies required participants to collectively envision and plan for alternative housing solutions. Similarly, in Geneva, action lab discussions touched on the need to anticipate and prepare for emerging challenges, such as the increasing costs of energy.

Crucially, the action labs themselves became spaces for exploring these temporal dimensions, allowing participants to experiment with novel dispersed practices and socio-technical imaginaries. By creating protected environments for collective deliberation and imagination, the labs opened up possibilities for more radical and transformative change.

Conclusion

This article has explored how “energy citizenship” can be fostered through participatory action labs, highlighting the crucial role of dispersed practices and socio-technical imaginaries. By creating spaces for diverse groups to experiment with new ways of engaging with the energy transition, the labs revealed the transformative potential of collective action.

Crucially, the action labs supported the emergence of radical socio-technical imaginaries that go beyond efficiency and renewable energy, embracing sufficiency measures and collective political action. This showcases the importance of harnessing alternative visions and meanings alongside the development of practical skills and competencies.

However, the action labs also highlighted the limits of what citizen collectives can achieve, given the constraints of existing material arrangements and institutional frameworks. Navigating these multi-scalar dynamics requires ongoing experimentation, as well as thoughtful coordination between citizens, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

As the European Union accelerates its clean energy transition, fostering diverse forms of energy citizenship will be crucial. By creating more spaces for experimenting with dispersed practices and radical socio-technical imaginaries, we can unlock the transformative potential of collective action and build a more sustainable, equitable energy future. Visit European Future Energy Forum to learn more about the latest developments in Europe’s clean energy transition.

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