Click to add title Enga gaging ging publ blic ics: : va values - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Click to add title

Decarbonising UK Energy, Royal Society, London 4-6th October2016

Nick Pidgeon PhD MBE

Understanding Risk Research Group and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Psychology, Cardiff University

Enga gaging ging publ blic ics: : va values es, , pra ractices ctices an and energy rgy sy syst stem em chan ange ge

UK Energy Policy Goals

• Multipl

iple e long-term erm national

• nal policy

cy goals bring ng imperatives ratives to tr trans nsform

• rm th

the energy rgy syste tem

• Low/Zero Carbon, Energy Security, Affordability, Environment

Many Scenarios?

People Bring Uncertainty to Transitions

Butl tler, r, C. et al (2015 15) ) Energy rgy Poli

• licy,87,

,87, 665–672. 672.

• Publics

lics are deeply ly implicat icated ed in how energy rgy systems ms are shaped ed, , used and implemented emented

Energy producers & consumers Active proponents & protesters Citizens with voting powers

‘The Carbon Plan’

UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, December 2011

Attitude itudes s to Energ ergy y Sys ystem em Change nge Pro roject: ect: Bac ackgr ground

• und

Key project ct frames mes: : Whole le-sy syste stem, m, Trade de-offs,

• ffs, and So

Socia ial l contracts ts

Click to add title

Public( blic(s) s) an and Wh Whole le Ener ergy gy Sys ystem em Chang ange

UKERC ERC Proje ject ct Ov Overvi rview ew (Jan 2011-July y 2013)

WP 1: Scenarios

• Scenario

Adaptation, Expert Consultation & Material Development

• Review work
• 18 Interviews
• Advisory Panel
• Technical expertise in

project team

WP 2: Qualitative

• Deliberating Energy

System Scenarios & Trade-offs

• 6 full day deliberative

workshops (N = 68) in Edinburgh, London, Cardiff, Cumbria, Glasgow, Merthyr

• Conducted by

research team June – Oct 2011

WP 3: Quantitative

• National (UK) Survey:

Attitudes toward Whole Energy System Transformations

• GB nationally

representative (N = 2,441)

• Conducted online 2-

12th 2012 August by Ipsos MORI

Work Package 2: Public Deliberations

• 6 one-day workshops

in 2011(Wales, Scotland, England)

• Capital Cities plus ‘energy locations’
• Diverse sample:
• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Educational qualifications
• SEG

Click to add title

The My2050 tool

Demski, C.C., Spence, A. Pidgeon, N.F. (2017). Nature Energy, 2, article 17027.

The My2050 tool

Demski, C.C., Spence, A. Pidgeon, N.F. (2017). Nature Energy, 2, article 17027.

Click to add title Ke Key Fin indin ings gs

The he British ish publi blic c wants ants and nd expects pects chan hange ge with regard to how energy is supplied, used and governed. They do not

• t prior
• rit

itis ise e th the dema mand nd

• ver

ver the e supply pply side, or vice versa, in terms of being a greater priority for change. Above all renew newabl able e supply ply, reduction in fossil fuel use and ‘waste’ More con

• nditio

ditional l support port for deployment of nuc uclea lear, , and d carbo bon n capt pture ure, and electr ectrif ific ication ation in home and transport Importance of taking a LONG ONG TER ERM view and, respecting underlying VALUE LUES FOR OR CHAN ANGE GE but DISTRUS STRUST in actors to achieve meaningful change

Public blic VAL ALUES ES fo for r Ener ergy gy Sys ystem em Chan ange ge

Redu ducing cing the e use of fi finite nite resour

• urces

ces Redu ducing cing over verall all levels vels of f ener nergy gy use Envir ironm

• nmen

enta tal l protecti ection Natur turaln alness s and d Natur ture Avo voidi iding g was aste te Efficie icient nt Capt ptur urin ing g

• pportun

portunit ities ies Ava vail ilabil bility ity and d Aff fforda

• rdabil

bility ity Reli liabil ility ity Safety fety Autonomy my and d Freedom edom Cho hoic ice e and d Con

• ntr

trol

• l

Soc

• cia

ial l Justic stice Fair irness ness, , Hon

• nesty

esty & T Transpar ansparen ency cy Lon

• ng-ter

erm m trajec ectori tories es Inter terconne connected cted Improveme provement and d quali ality ty

Parkhill et al (2013), UKERC; Demski et al (2015) Global Env. Chg., 34, 59-69.

Click to add title

Example - Solar Energy

“NOT FINITE” “CLEAN” “FAIR” “JUST”

It’s not about the technology, it’s about the values !

“AUTONOMY”

Example – Biofuels and CCS as ‘Non-Transition'

• Negative conceptions of things not seen as

involving real change (or non-transitions) such as Biofuels, or CCS Non-transition - Biomass… Fiona - It’s another oil and you would exploit countries who will allow you to have land and everyone else wants that land so I think you would end up with more wars and water issues. Cheryl:- Yeah it feels like a step backwards… it feels like come on guys, we can do something better than that. I don’t know what it is about it, maybe it is because it’s just burning stuff, it doesn’t seem very sophisticated or sustainable and it seems like they have just panicked and said we’ll just burn stuff. (Cumbria)

Social Contracts – Why Have a World When you Can’t Visit it?

Irene:- Something I wouldn’t change is not eating meat [laughter and agreement from group] (Merthyr) …in my eyes it may be a silly thing to say, why have a world when you can’t visit it? Why have other counties when you can’t go there. It seems silly that we can’t visit other countries and cultures and actually learn. What is there to learn in life? (Nigel, London) Jeremy:- And no way in the world will I give up eating meat, I don’t care, may the world come to an end tomorrow (Glasgow) On flying… Amy:- …Tenerife, I go a lot and my family used to live in the states and I went a lot out there, so here there and everywhere, I am a retired lady now and I worked all my life, every day of my life, and now I think, “well I should just enjoy myself” so I do. (Glasgow)

Source Dietz et al (2009), PNAS – US data

Emerging Issues - the Circular Economy and Low Material Futures

Effective ‘Behaviour’ Change

• A Variety of Approaches
• Combined Programs Best
• Regulation and/or Incentives
• Infrastructure Change
• Trusted Intermediaries and Suppliers
• Information
• Social Support / Changed Group Norms
• Persistence and Evaluation

See House of Lords (2nd report 2010-11)

Three frameworks for understanding energy behaviours

• Information on energy

costs and benefits leads to reduced energy use – through citizen choice, decision making and behavioral ‘nudges’

Rational choice

• Shared practices (of

work, communicating, mobility, caring for

• thers) and the

associated infrastructures surrounding us constrain most possibilities for choice

Social Practice Theory

• Putting the person back

into energy practices – as feeling, caring subjects whose lives are connected to others and within wider communities

Psych-social Studies

Click to add title

Publ blic(s), ic(s), En Ener ergy gy an and Ev Ever eryda yday y Lives ves – ‘Energy Biographies’

www.energybiographies.org

The Energy Biographies …and Energy Stories

• Energy policy and research all

about making stories –stories

• f big and small transitions
• EBs approach: can

biographical stories tell us about the complexities of how we use energy in everyday life?

• 3 waves of multimodal

engagement with participants

• ver one year (2012-3)
• Participant photography of

everyday energy use

• Viewing films of energy

futures and the everyday

Energy Biographies: heating & the ‘good life’

“Cos we love being outside, we just love that you can you know go, we were sitting out there one evening … it was like midnight and you could have a drink outside still and it’s so lovely here cos it’s so quiet and everything so but you wouldn’t have been able to do it without that […]. So that’s our kind of, we know it’s really bad but we’re still going to use it.” “[…] we have a log fire and they’re probably super inefficient aren’t they in heating a room? […] we’ve put massive radiators in our new house cos its really Victorian, tall ceilings, and so we just don’t need a wood burner to be on at any point but actually it’ll sort of make the room […].”

Energy Biographies – Overarching Insights

• Energy often intangible and invisible in everyday life – but

brought into view here through methodological innovation

• Focus and attention was re-directed at issues generally not

regarded as important in contemporary studies of energy demand (psychosocial investments and identities)

• Changes in energy use can create concerns about everyday

dependences on energy and about not being able to live a worthwhile life (LAWL)

• LAWL means keeping alive valued identities, desires and

relationships with others

• Identities are shaped by emotional investments in other

people, but also in devices, everyday practices and also by entanglements with wider infrastructure

• But studying the ‘emotional labour of meaning making’

arou

• und

d ener ergy y sti till l in its ts infan ancy cy?

Concluding Comments

• Assum

umin ing g that at transition nsition is simply mply a matt tter er of tech chnolo logy gy portfo tfoli lios, s, or eco conomic ic driver vers, s, is a (major) ajor) mist stake ake

• Since,

nce, people

• ple and

d commu

• mmunitie

ities are deeply ply impli licat ated ed in future ure energ ergy system em transition nsition

• UKERC project shows the basis of a broad ‘societal consent’ around

susta tain inable able ener nergy gy transition nsition cou

• uld

ld be ach chiev ieved ed (how

• w to start

t that at con

• nver

ersat satio ion with th UK society ciety?)

• Even

ven if infr fras astr truc uctu ture e chan hanges ges rapidl idly, , Biographic

• graphical

al wor

• rk

k has s shown

• wn

people’s deep emotional and affective investments in present identitie entities, , relation ationsh ship ips s and d material terial objects jects (so need eed to engage ngage with th these ese so as to make ke a differ eren ent t future?) ure?)

• New

w socia cial l chall allen enges ges (and nd opportun portunit ities ies) ) will ll arise se arou

• und

d more

• re

radical ical Circu rcular lar Eco conomy my propo posal als

Pidgeon eonN@car N@cardif diff. f.ac ac.uk .uk Acknowledgements: Karen Henwood, Christina Demski, Catherine Cherry, Fiona Shirani, Chris Groves, Erin Roberts, Alexa Spence, Gareth Thomas, Kat Steentjes

Ch Chall lleng enges es of Na Natio ional al-Level evel Public lic En Enga gagem gement ent

Pidgeon,

• n, Demski

ki, Butler ler, Parkhi khill, ll, Spence nce, , Proc Nat Acad Sci USA, 2014

• Op

Opening ing and Maintai taining ning Delibe berative rative Spaces ces with h Dive verse rse Publics lics

• Sys

ystem ems Th Thinking king an and Problem blem Sca cale

• Providi
• viding

ng (Bal alanced) anced) Info formati rmation

• n and Frame

mes

• Acc

ccessi ssing ng Broade der r Values es