User Engagement Strategies for Sustainable Energy Transition

Building upon the insights and experiences shared in the previous workshop, the upcoming session titled “Scaling up User Engagement Strategies for Sustainable Energy Transition” will focus on practical approaches and innovative solutions to enhance user involvement in energy transition initiatives. With active participation from pilot leaders, this round-table discussion is strategically designed to delve deeper into overcoming barriers and maximizing user engagement across diverse contexts.

The session will draw on results and experiences gleaned from the implementation of user engagement strategies in the Hestia, Accept and Sender projects. The insights will be initially presented through posters prepared by project representatives. These posters will highlight theoretical frameworks, recruitment methods, successes and challenges in engagement strategies and pilot sites – the latter, in some cases, as described by the energy communities’ leaders themselves. The session will be interactive and participatory, facilitating dialogue and knowledge exchange among panellists from universities, private research companies and pilot leaders from the projects.

Each project—Hestia, Accept and Sender—has implemented unique strategies in diverse pilot sites (Berchidda (Italy), Voorhout Villange (Netherlands) and Camille Claudel (France) for Hestia; Culemborg (Netherlands), Capriasca (Switzerland), Murcia (Spain) and Aspra Spitia (Greece) for Accept; and Alginet (Spain), Weiz (Austria), Tampere, and Espoo (Finland) for Sender). Understanding the contextual differences, including climate, population and social characteristics, is crucial for adapting strategies to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. Participants will explore how successful engagement methodologies from pilot projects can be refined and scaled up to reach broader audiences, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility.

Key objectives and discussions questions include:
1. Should all demand response schemes be fully automated?
2. What is the value of involving citizens and engaging in co-creation activities?
3. What are the primary challenges encountered at each stage of the user engagement process, and how can they be effectively addressed?
4. What has worked best for each step of the user engagement and how was this different to the originally envisaged engagement approach?
5. What differences could be highlighted with regards to engagement practices among participating countries, types of communities, citizen profiles, etc.?
6. In what ways can project timescales be optimized to better align with the evolving needs and preferences of users?

The main objectives are to identify best practices for user engagement in demand response projects and to uncover blockers requiring policy reforms, further research and/or targeted mitigation measures. Through collaborative discussion, the session aims to advance understanding and drive actionable outcomes towards a more sustainable society.

Contributing projects:

• HESTIA
• ACCEPT
• SENDER

Session Chair:

Pablo Barrachina, MIWenergia – Breffni Lennon, UCC – Aggeliki Aggeli, Aalborg University – Antonio Soler, LaSolar – Aniol Esquerra, Ecoserveis – Riccardo Toffanin, AEM – Alexander van Setten, ESR – Alexandra Tsarouchi, Mytilineos