ENERGISE consortium member and lead for the « comparing across cultures and contexts » work package Marlyne Sahakian recently attended a one-day workshop and stakeholder consultation at the University of Sussex in Brighton, joining the EU Calculator team in discussing lifestyle changes and drivers in Europe across countries and sectors. While behavioral changes will likely be needed to reach emission targets, according to the European Commission, ENERGISE brings a holistic approach which considers how practices relate to energy consumption, towards understanding participative opportunities for energy efficiency and sufficiency among households.
A member of the ENERGISE Advisory Committee, Sylvia Lorek, was also present and gave a keynote talk on sustainable consumption and lifestyles in relation to energy consumption. The EU Calculator provides a technical solution to understanding the impacts of lifestyles, through modeling. At the workshop, dialogues were facilitated in order to challenge assumptions behind the modeling approach. As an extension to the GRF conference on sustainable lifestyles in Brighton, this workshop provided an ideal setting, taking advantage of potential attendees and reaching a diverse and representative participation from experts.