Abstract
Energy transition is surely not only about the technological change, but it also has to necessarily reflect socio-cultural and environmental transformations on the local level. Hence, local communities’ energy literacy belongs to the crucial elements in designing successful energy transition and strengthening rural resilience. Energy literacy is a concept widely related to the multifaceted phenomenon of energy consumption, both in its individual and collective dimensions. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyse the level of energy literacy in rural conditions, considering its three key dimensions (awareness, attitude, and behaviour). Our reflective considerations about energy literacy build on the current knowledge that stress its importance for the reinforcement of rural resilience. The case study, Zławieś Wielka, in the north-central Poland, was selected where a social survey (N = 300) on the relation between energy literacy and rural resilience was conducted. By means of employing the cross-tabulations method for data analyses, our results signal that certain indications of the ecological awareness among the rural residents are being formed. Our findings clearly suggest that, on the one hand, the needs for more environmentally reasonable management with energy, including electricity and heat, come to the fore. On the other hand, various types of investments in improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings and utilising energy generation from renewable energy sources are observed. It seems that the surveyed community has a clear potential to become the vector for sustainable and just energy transition of the countryside. The essential conditions that urgently need to be implemented to ensure the viability of rural energy transition are the educational reinforcement within the community and more generous long-term institutional support from the central government, targeted on endogenous development and enhancing the local social capital.
Highlights
In most EU countries, natural gas is the dominant energy carrier used in households, in Poland, solid fuels, mainly hard coal and firewood, are prevalent in the structure of household energy consumption [34]
This study demonstrates the concerns and practices of a local community that accurately reflects the energy profile of the Polish society living in rural peripheral areas
Unconventional energy sources are used mainly in households, often newcomers, who assess their material situation as good or very good, and who invest in new buildings
Summary
As a result of ongoing environmental crisis, we are experiencing constant changes covering all spheres of the socio-economic life. These changes are observed on every spatial scale (global, international, national, regional, and local), and concern all the economic sectors and activities of our institutions, as well as our behaviour as a society and as individuals. We are dealing with a ‘manufactured risk’ which is a consequence of extremely dynamic technological development and the general progress of our civilisation This instability is related to the multidimensional effects of strong anthropo-pressures on the environment, manifested in climate change or the depletion of conventional energy resources. In such uncertain and turbulent times, it is necessary to look for new tools for development and management, for helping the regions to recover from socio-economic and environmental crises, and for restoring more environmental-friendly stability [2,3]
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