How Citizens Promote the Energy Transition – Impulses for a Future Citizens' Energy Council
The IÖW researcher Johannes Rupp was one of three speakers of the energy café #2 “A Citizen’s Energy Council – How to shape the energy transition in the city of Dortmund”. This event was part of the project “e:lab – a citizen’s lab for energy innovations”. This project pursues an open approach that enables the inclusion and collaboration of interested citizens in the debate on how to achieve a local energy transition – among others by addressing following questions: Who determines the municipal energy supply and to what extent does a citizen’s energy council matter?
Johannes Rupp highlighted in his input different opportunities for citizen’s actions in order to enrich the debate. He emphasized that in the current energy system, citizens are not necessarily only consumers of energy; they are rather active producers of energy, too. In his presentation, this was proved by several examples, primarily from Berlin, focusing on the building, neighborhood and district level. In addition, he referred to single measures of the energy and climate protection programme of the Federal State of Berlin. These measures demonstrate various starting points to mobilize citizens for achieving successfully a local energy transition. Here, a citizen’s energy council serves as an important multiplier. It can increase the influence and acceptance of citizens towards the transition of the own energy supply today and in future.
<link https: elab-buergerlabor.de external-link-new-window external link in new>Further information about the project (german) | <link https: www.energie.fraunhofer.de de messen-veranstaltungen external-link-new-window external link in new>Further information about the event (german)
