BinBin Pearce coordinates EU research project ENCLUDE

D-USYS

The Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab) at the Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS) has recently launched the €3.1 million Horizon 2020 project "Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization" (ENCLUDE). BinBin Pearce, a senior researcher based in the TdLab, is the coordinator and principaI investigator of the project.

by By the editors
Photo: ETH Zurich
BinBin Pearce. Logo ENCLUDE. (Photo: ETH Zurich)

Within the project ENCLUDE, Pearce is leading a consortium of 13 institutions from Greece, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Belgium, North Macedonia, Austria, France, Romania, the Netherlands and Canada. The project is scheduled to run for 36 months.

Joint contribution to the energy transition

In the transformation of the energy system, citizens are becoming increasingly important as engaged, involved and shaping participants. This role of participatory energy consumers is reflected in the term "energy citizen". ENCLUDE supports the EU on the way to a just and solidarity-based decarbonisation path. The EU project aims to share new knowledge and motivate the broadest possible population to contribute to the energy transition.

Assessing the potential of Energy Citizenship

The transdisciplinary project will create a typology of the energy citizenship concept for diverse communities of citizens by investigating on-the-ground case studies of existing decarbonization activities. For the first time, insights about who is affected by energy citizenship and how this concept might affect decarbonization pathways will be incorporated into agent-based models and integrated assessment models. The research aims to therefore operationalize the energy citizenship concept at multiple scales of policy and decision making.

Pooling new knowledge

Through the creation of the ENCLUDE Academy for Energy Citizen Leadership, new knowledge about energy citizenship, opportunities for the energy transition, along with strategies for collaborative decision making and joint problem framing will be shared with citizens and NGOs across the EU. The aim is to help mobilize actions for decarbonisation, including communities who normally do not or are not able to participate in these civic processes.

Further information

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