A little self-sufficient town close to the beach: local energy system transformation through the lens of place and public things

Abstract

Energy system change is not just an abstract, system-level process. It depends on demonstration projects that are sited in specific places. Place attachment and socio-economic history are significant influences upon how publics evaluate such proposals, and thereby on how they view system change itself. A novel scenario- and place-based workshop methodology for engaging publics with prospective energy system change is described. Findings from a case study in Port Talbot in South Wales, UK, are discussed. The concept of ‘public things’ is shown to be important for understanding the ways in which relationships to place and a shared sense of history shape how community participants evaluate scenarios for localized energy system change. It is shown that this method both helps understand how socio-technical change will play out unevenly across the energy system, and assists in tracing how a range of place-based public values influence assessments of such change.