Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Community energy schemes: the role of public participation and engagement

Kiamba, Lorna; Rodrigues, Luc�lia Taranto; Marsh, Julian

Authors

Profile Image

Dr LORNA KIAMBA L.KIAMBA@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Assistant Professor - Environmental Design and Architecture

Luc�lia Taranto Rodrigues

Julian Marsh



Abstract

Faced by global challenges brought on by climate-change and over-reliance on fossil fuels, more people are looking towards developing energy systems characterised by renewables. Community energy groups have been identified as key stakeholders who could play a strategic role in enabling the transition to a clean and affordable energy supply. Acting as a contact for local energy consumers they can help residents engage with energy matters by harnessing local natural resources to build social capital, creating revenue to address community needs and combating fuel poverty. As these groups are defined by the communities in which they exist, public participation and engagement is vital to their success. The extent of community involvement could include identifying needs, generating solutions, seeking funding and managing assets to enable positive socio-economic impacts. In this paper, the authors examine how a community energy group in Nottingham adopted a model of local energy generation and storage to improve their energy security and to reduce fuel poverty. Results indicate that the use of various engagement strategies provides opportunities to encourage active discussions, explain processes and gather feedback. The regular planning of these sessions helps to maintain momentum, enthusiasm and commitment and encourage wider participation as the project progresses.

Citation

Kiamba, L., Rodrigues, L. T., & Marsh, J. (2017). Community energy schemes: the role of public participation and engagement.

Conference Name Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA) 2017
End Date Jul 5, 2017
Acceptance Date Jun 1, 2017
Publication Date Jul 21, 2017
Deposit Date Aug 9, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Keywords Community energy, community engagement, fuel poverty
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/873463
Related Public URLs http://nceub.org.uk/PLEA2017/proceedings/PLEA2017_proceedings_volume_I.pdf
https://plea2017.net/

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations