Work Package 2 focuses on the social and community aspects in the project.
Within 4 tasks, the focus is set on the people-perspective, including but not limited to local stakeholders like residents, staff or students.
In Task 2.1, we conduct literature analyses especially for the technical solutions that require human interaction, and carry out interviews and surveys with local stakeholders to identify motivators and barriers for these solutions. For example, interviews in the Pilots focused mainly on the acceptance and framework conditions of Electric Vehicle Demand Response and Demand Response in the heating sector within the different Pilot Settings.
Task 2.2 takes the economic evaluation and perspective: potential financial incentive systems and non-monetary incentives for participants in energy communities and collective energy actions are examined from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Recently, a workshop with a focus group took place in one of the pilots (Ghent) to take a deep dive into the topic.
Task 2.3 includes the construction of a community hub and create a community. For this, we designed an architectural concept for a ‘hub’ building set to propose a concept which fosters interaction and collective actions. In addition, regular focus groups and workshops help to create awareness, knowledge and a sense of community. We organized events for an ‘introduction’ to the topic of collective energy transition with a live energy game.
Interested in details? Find some pictures here:
Task 2.4 represents the closest collaboration with the pilots in joint co-activities: Here, we design experimental trials, mainly concerning the socio-psychological component and communication of technical implementations and behavioral changes in the energy sector in the pilots. For example, two trials for acceptance of an automatic demand response in the heating sector in the Ghent pilot were already conducted under this task. In addition, we are planning two experimental trials for (1) electricity reduction in summer and (2) heating reduction in winter with students in one of the dormitories in Poznan.
