To each their own: Exploring the possibilities of design and transmedia storytelling in the energy transition” Cyril Tjahja, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

With the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy becoming increasingly urgent in order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change, it has become apparent that more residents need to become aware of the importance of taking sustainable measures. Local energy initiatives, small-scale initiatives run by local community members focusing on sustainable energy (Hisschemoller, 2012). Local energy initiatives are perceived to play an important role in this process, as they can raise awareness on the importance of issues surrounding sustainable energy as well as promote behavioural change initiatives (Seyfang et al., 2013).

However, these initiatives are quite homogenous in composition, often consisting of male, middle-aged, higher-income residents, who have the time and financial means to invest in sustainable measures (Radtke, 2014). This, in turn, affects the way that local energy initiatives recruit new members and communicate their activities, as they often implicitly target residents with similar backgrounds as the initiatives’ members. Other residents, such as social tenants, migrants and (international) students are excluded or do not identify themselves with the information that is communicated, creating the (false) perception that these groups are not interested in participating in the energy transition (Author, 2022).

Transmedia storytelling, defined as utilising different media to disseminate parts of a narrative, with ideally each part contributing to the overall story in its own unique way (Jenkins, 2008), might be an effective way to address this issue, as communication could then be tailored specifically to the interests of a particular group of residents. A transmedial approach would also fit well with recent studies, which indicate that residents appear to prefer a more personal(ised) approach (De Koning et al., 2020; Author, 2022).

The paper presents a case study of the transmedial campaign concepts, designed by Communication and Media Design students for the EU H2020 project MAKING-CITY, in collaboration with a local initiative located in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. In particular, the campaigns were aimed at raising awareness on the energy transition and sustainability among residents in the neighbourhood of Paddepoel and the village of Hoogkerk. By discussing the design process, outcome and reception of the campaign by the local initiatives, the potential suitability of a transmedial approach to the energy transition will be further explored.

Contributing projects:

• MAKING-CITY

Session Chair:

Cyril Tjahja, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam