Citizen Science and Citizen Energy Communities: A Systematic Review and Potential Alliances for SDGs

Daniel Wuebben,Juan Romero-Luis,Manuel Gertrudix

doi:10.3390/su122310096

Abstract

Citizen science and citizen energy communities are pluralistic terms that refer to a constellation of methods, projects, and outreach activities; however, citizen science and citizen energy communities are rarely, if ever, explicitly aligned. Our searches for “citizen science” and “energy” produced limited results and “citizen science” and “energy communities” produced zero. Therefore, to outline a future direction of citizen science, its potential alliances with energy communities, and their collaborative contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals, we performed a systematic literature review and analysis of “public participation” and “energy communities” using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRIMSA) guidelines. The results show four pathways through which current public participation in energy communities might be more explicitly aligned with citizen science projects: benefits and values, energy practices, intermediaries, and energy citizenship. Each of these pathways could engage citizen scientists in qualitative and quantitative research and increase scientific literacy about energy systems. Our call for citizen science to supplement current forms of participation builds from the “ecologies of participation” framework, itself an extension of co-productionist theories of science and technology studies. We conclude with a discussion of affordances and barriers to the alliances between citizen science and energy communities and their potential contributions to SDGs 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13: Climate Action, and 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

Highlights

Citizen science democratizes knowledge, often by including members of public in the collection and analysis of scientific data [1,2]; energy communities democratize power, often by giving members of open organizations opportunities to plan, finance, own, or manage energy systems and services [3,4,5,6]
The results show four pathways through which current public participation in energy communities might be more explicitly aligned with citizen science projects: benefits and values, energy practices, intermediaries, and energy citizenship
Injecting citizen science methods into research that takes place might help to contribute to various SDGs; for the purposes of this study, we focused on how existing citizen energy communities in the European Union (EU) might further co-produce knowledge in the following areas: smart grids and smart meters, auto-consumption,x FaOnRdPEEcRitRiEzVeIEnW utilities and demand side management. 13 of 22

Summary

Introduction

Often by including members of public in the collection and analysis of scientific data [1,2]; energy communities democratize power, often by giving members of open organizations opportunities to plan, finance, own, or manage energy systems and services [3,4,5,6]. Both practices promote public engagement, challenge top-down infrastructures, and work to transform passive consumers of information (or energy) into active coproducers and stewards. The categories are another indication of the central role of citizens in the clean energy transition

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Conclusion