DESCRIPTION
Many regions in Europe see a common challenge of achieving energy resilience and self-sufficiency. This is crucial for the overall EU energy transition and addressing the specific energy supply issues faced by rural communities. These regions are located at the end of outdated electricity grids, making them vulnerable to energy shortages, especially with increasing electrification and limited capacity. Additionally, spatial constraints pose difficulties in selecting appropriate production systems.
Since 2020, organizations as LochemEnergie have been trying to contribute to the energy transition by stimulating people to form energy communities. The aim of LE’s neighbourhood approach is to set up actions for energy saving and generation of sustainable energy in connection with members of people’s own own neighbourhoods.
Understanding exactly how active participation in community initiatives can be stimulated, what the needs and expectations of potential participants are, and how these initiatives motivate (or demotivate) people to stay involved is far from complete. Insights from social psychology, however, seem to point to the importance of variables related to social influence, such as identity, norm setting, etc. Indeed, LochemEnergie, has noted that when one neighbour decides to participate, their neighbours become more likely to participate as well. As collective influences seem to affect the initial motivation for participants to join the neighbourhood approach, it would be interesting to investigate if those aspects may also affect sustaining the motivation for the long term.
This project focuses on exploring the motivational aspects of energy communities as well as the needs, desires, expectations and experiences of (potential) community members, and is part of an ongoing research programme in which the dept. Psychology of Conflict, Risk, & Safety (PCRS) collaborates with stakeholders such as LochemEnergie. The research will most likely be qualitative; for Dutch samples proficiency in the Dutch language is required, but data gathering is not restricted to The Netherlands; students are free to find samples in their countries of origin.
Keywords
Resilience; Energy communities; Group efficacy; Empowerment; Social action
Availability
Multiple students
Information
Please contact Lynn Weiher (l.weiher@utwente.nl) when you are interested in this assignment. This assignment is open to two students.
Literature
t.b.a.