Giving people space to go outside of their comfort zones through forms of experimentation like Living Labs creates opportunities for them to try out new approaches to everyday life, in a set space and limited time period, towards a goal. In the ENERGISE project the challenges were presented as a social learning process, and not a competition. The objective was to learn together, with an explicit focus away from ‘energy saving’ as the sole aim, through a deliberative and reflexive process.
Overall, we found that through the ENERGISE Living Labs and for most of the households across Europe who participated in the study, reducing indoor temperatures by 1°C in the heating season and reducing laundry by one cycle per week is possible, without comprising convenience and comfort7. In some cases, reductions were even more significant, and in many instances, changes were maintained for three months after the challenges.
Our findings demonstrate that reductions in energy use are possible when people are given the time and space to question their usual practices, as they experiment with departing from what could be considered the norm and try out ways of doing things differently. This approach is in stark contrast to approaches centred on individual or technological change, which we have shown (see, e.g. D2.4) to dominate initiatives aimed at more sustainable forms of household energy use across Europe, and which fail to address the complex interactions and social norms that make up everyday life.
For a detailed summary of research methods and results, please consult:
- Deliverable 5.2 (Report on analysis of ENERGISE Living Labs), or
- the ENERGISE Living Lab country reports.
If you wish to read summaries, the following sources are available:
- Deliverable 7.12 (ENERGISE Living Labs: Methodology, Experience and Lessons Learned);
- Deliverable 7.13 (The ENERGISE Project Summary Handbook: Involving Households in Energy Change), specifically the chapter on the "Key results of the ENERGISE Living Labs"; or
- our press release related to the Living Labs and their outcomes.
Edina Vadovics (GDI) and Marlyne Sahakian (UNIGE)