For decades, the atmospheric pollutionthe global warmingThe loss of biodiversity and the depletion of resources seem to be accelerating towards an unprecedented catastrophe if we do not build participatory cities for the energy transition.
We are thus experiencing a systemic emergency that can be seen in every corner of the planet and whose closely interrelated elements give rise to equally severe crises in other areas, as we are currently seeing in the health sector.
Asking ourselves how we have arrived at this anthropocene should make us reflect on our current urban-agro-industrial development model, which has pushed the human footprint beyond planetary boundaries. In particular, the continued use of non-renewable energy sources, which is seriously endangering planetary survival as we know it.
The change of this model will be fought primarily in urban centres. And, in particular, the role of local governments is key. But in order to materialise it, energy sustainability governance models are needed to implement systemic transformation plans and actions that transcend the sectorialisation of local administrations and promote citizen participation and leadership, in order to overcome the exclusionary, unsustainable and vulnerable energy models that currently characterise our urban spaces.
Energy transition
In this context, the Social Studies and Innovation Department at Thyme Foundationan entity that works for social and educational inclusion in the south of the city of Madrid, has carried out a research process entitled ".Participatory urban processes for the fulfilment of SDG 7: a global citizenship analysis in Europe and Spain"for the Subdirectorate General for Global Citizenship and International Cooperation of the Madrid City Council.
Its goal is to inspire local policies from a global citizenship perspective, identifying participatory and socially innovative responses.
This process looked at 6 inspiring participatory urban practices
Participatory urban practices in Spain
- Mesa de Transición energética and Mesa contra la Pobreza Energética (Cádiz, Spain): At the end of 2015, Cadiz City Council created these two spaces where citizens meet periodically to participate in the process of defining the city's energy future and to promote a change in the energy model and culture that reduces its ecological impact.
- Energy Advice Points (Barcelona, Spain): Developed since 2017, this is a universal service, whose responsible is the Social Rights Department of the Barcelona City Council, through 11 spaces that aim to combat energy poverty and promote a change in the energy culture of citizens through care, empowerment, training and advice for individuals and families as well as social and labour insertion in the field of green employment.
- Vilawatt (Viladecans, Spain): With the aim of placing the city on the path towards energy transition and led by its local government, Viladecans has set up a local energy operator with citizen participation, awareness-raising, training and support initiatives to change the culture and improve energy efficiency in homes, businesses and schools, comprehensive energy renovations of buildings and an electronic currency, legal tender, called Vilawatt, associated with the capitalisation of energy savings resulting from the new operator and the promotion of local commerce.
Participatory urban practices carried out abroad
- Leuven 2030 (Leuven, Belgium): This is a participatory process for the implementation of the Roadmap for Climate Change towards 2025, 2030 and 2050 in which the city, European Capital of Innovation 2020, mobilises its resources towards decarbonisation. The process has been articulated around a public-private consortium called Leuven 2030, in which 600 local stakeholders are equally represented in its decision-making bodies, including businesses, financial institutions, social enterprises, sustainability organisations, culture, academic and knowledge institutions, as well as individual citizens.
- Brixton Energy Community (London, UK): A group of citizen cooperatives which, since 2011, have been supplying electricity to three neighbourhood communities in South London through photovoltaic panels installed on their roofs. Its aim is to generate resilience and development opportunities for citizens through their empowerment in terms of energy, social inclusion and community development, social skills and employment. Brixton was the first project of "Repowering London"a platform born to replicate experiences of energy participation and democracy.
- Partnership and Manchester Climate Change Agency: It consists of a platform of 70 social agents and citizens who, supported by an independent agency that leads the fight against climate change in the city, channels citizen participation and develops actions within the framework of its strategy for decarbonisation by 2038.
Orientation towards energy transition
In short, the experiences described above can serve as a guide for other urban contexts to address the global challenges related to energy that we must all face. Only through a cultural and systemic change can we move towards an energy transition that will lead us towards an ecologically sustainable and socially just planet.
