User/ Consumer: The behaviour approach Paulo Partidário LNEG/ex-INETI (PT) Supported by the European Commission under the ICT PS Programme ICT21-EE Manchester.

User/ Consumer: The behaviour approach

Paulo PartidárioLNEG/ex-INETI (PT)

Supported by the European Commission under the ICT PS

ProgrammeICT21-EE Manchester Meeting, 12th Oct ’09

A ‘stepwise’ approach Identification of practices (building, transport) Databases used (the practice repository) How to assess the practices: Discussing a methodology (…data gathering & indicators)Challenging the indicators

Discussion topics

1st Approach (March 2009):

Awareness leads to atitude; In turn atitude influences behaviour; Indicators, and a 1st template

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Interest in behavioural change across DG’s

Programs• FP7 (BARENERGY)• INTERREG (www.changelabproject.org) • Life (www.display-campaign.org)• EAC (Life long learning programmes)• IEE programme (www.energy-behave.net, www.izt.de/bewaree) e.g. Intelligent Energy

Education

Other policy instruments e.g. DIRECTIVE 2006/32/EC, of April 5, on energy end-use efficiency and energy services

…and the list is not exhaustive!

State of the Art (under preparation, in terms of behaviour) R&D papers on behaviour and energy consumption (e.g. Stern, 1992)

Data bases containing detailed data on (1) the energy consumption drivers by end use and subsectors, and (2) energy efficiency and CO2 related indicators e.g. the ODYSSEE project (http://www.odyssee-indicators.org/) + Database on policies and measures e.g. the MURE project (http://www.mure2.com/, or http://www.isis-it.com/mure/)

‘AID-EE’ project is about the identification and explanation of key factors behind success and failure of energy efficiency policies (http://www.aid-ee.org/)

‘BEHAVE’ project: general aim is to enhance the performance of behavioral change efforts. The objectives are to making existing knowledge explicit and accessible for policy makers and program-managers on international, national, regional and local levels on the basis of a European Network of National Energy Agencies (E n R) (http://www.energy behave.net/)‑

The ‘Changing Behaviour’ project, builds on the Behave R&D results focusing on a context-sensitive model that was developed and tested through the cooperation between researchers and practicioners (www.energychange.info);

The Energy Efficiency Commitment program (UK) aimed at tackling efficiency in existing households in the EU. It puts an obligation on large energy suppliers to install energy efficiency measures into households. (http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/household/supplier/eec.htm)

The Energy Saving Trust (UK) aims to influence or stimulate an CO2 emission reduction (target: cut 80% CO2 emissions in households by 2050) by promoting the sustainable and efficient use of energy in the domestic sector (installations, e.g. insulation), and by understanding the success factors for lifestyles changes, such as when turning lights off in empty rooms;

…

A model of behaviour (Stern,1992)

Relative to the environment, providing a hierarchy of levels of causality; Two things stand out in this hierarchy of levels of causality:

1- Attitudes determine behavior, but attitudes have more sway over actions if those actions are easy and not costly;

2 - The individual is at the heart of the analysis, and the natural and the social environment are peripheral.

Using/Consuming: it is about decision taking in daily living, whatever the type of consumer it will be, i.e. individual, collective, public or private

Energy saving: a) There is no silver bullet ; b) The challenge is heterogeneous and complex, due to the diversity

of ways how it might occur (different countries, contexts of use, people’s social, economic and cultural status, decision taking conditions,…).

Effective instruments: a combined set is needed, which ought to be integrated and flexible enough.

Required a context-oriented approach is required when addressing use/ consumption and changes on energy behaviour (contexts selected: building, transport).

Behaviour may be of two types: (a) habitual (daily routines; requires repetitive/ iterative campaigns (e.g. smoking) and back up from politicians and mass media); (b) investment (short term oriented and influenced through economic instruments).

Assumption & Questions: ICT’s are of central importance to influence new behavior patterns, but in which (policy, design …) conditions? …and boundaries (LC approach) ?

How to monitor ‘our’ behaviour ?

Definition of indicators (1/2)

The power of consumers is made relative by placing them in situations in various contexts: psychological, social, institutional, historical, philosophical and so on. Extending this discussion to energy consumption: useful to consider the analysis supported by four main dimensions and

Each dimension described in two backgrounds - psychologically and sociologically (in brackets): equipment (material culture), attitudes (representations), knowledge (information), practices (behavior).

> Question: How to upgrade the current online template?

Definition of indicators (2/2): A proposal

A culture of energy consumption in households can be analised through the configuration of those 4 dimensions (equipment, attitudes, knowledge, practices). For each one of these dimensions, we will describe briefly the respective set of indicators, which are useful to assess the attitudes and practices in households towards a culture of energy savings.

• Equipment indicators include: the energy consuming equipment (boilers, type of fuel, and electrical appliances), the regulation device of heating and the envelope of the building (volume, surface area, and insulation); Obs 1: This dimension is the basis of the current online template

• Attitudes indicators are either: general and about the environment, the others (including the future generations), and the self and its capacity (self-esteem); or specific and in this case about energy and its conservation (sensitivity to prices and to information about one’s consumption, representation of the importance to make savings, choice criteria when buying new appliances, confidence in sources of information, motivations that lead to installation to efficient equipment).

• Knowledge indicators have several levels: energy in general (its production and transport) and the related problems (global warming, pollution), the practical options (policy instruments), and the capacity to assess the relative impact of each action (amount of bills).

• Practices indicators concern the ways to regulate indoor temperature (level of temperature, regulation according to the rooms and to the hours), use of light and electric appliances, and maintenance of the heating system.

Obs2: Those 4 dimensions are relatively independent of each other, in the sense that there is no systematic correlation between them.

How is ICT catalyzing the change and user behaviour?User driven approach (key actors/citizens are everyday innovators)

The WP team will have to:a) Define the space boundary of our ‘experiment’ (i.e. network space ), and each partner’s ‘area of

experiment/ influence’ (i.e. how broad can that ‘EU region’ be?)b) Define what can be considered as a good practice in terms of urban citizen behavioural patterns using

ICT; c) Each local partner identifies useful cases, characterizes the context of use, and maps the actors’ roles

(incl. designers, innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, consumers, government);d) Identify at least 5 best practices implemented by themselves, their members and/or their partners. e) Report and promote case studies and the state of the art ; Case study structuring (1st attempt): title, place,

context of use, service/ function fulfilled, summary of the initiative.

The study visit: a) Planned at the end of the first year. b) Participants will travel to a European city – preferably not yet member of the network – where citizen

have been made more aware about reasoned use of ICT applications.

Meetings & Workshops (WS): a) With civil society organizations.b) WS organized during the project on top of the study visit (discuss!)(in 4 different European places)

preferably at participants’ office. These meetings may also be seen as an opportunity to visit participants’ realization.

Methodological issues

WP Specific objectives• Contribute to the EC initiatives on “ICT for sustainable growth”, in particular

on end user/ consumption behaviour• Define good practice of ICT applied to EE in cities• Contribute to the definition of a framework of norms and processes to be

reproduced and disseminated at the European level• To gather initiatives – defined as good practices - involving ICT in a

perspective of better use of energy implemented on different European territories and by public and private stakeholders and to promote them through a European online repository;

• Promote case studies and the state of the art ;• Contribute to define strategies, to promote good practice and to produce

recommendations within the policy debate at the European level.

Planning next steps...9 Feb ‘09

26 Nov ‘08

12 Oct ‘09

Thank you!Paulo J. PartidárioLNEG/ ex-INETIEstrada Paço do Lumiar, 1649-038 LISBOA, PortugalTel. 210 924 [email protected]; www.lneg.ptSKYPE: paulopartidario