A growing literature suggests that community owned renewable energy (CRE) projects have the potential to deliver a range of environmental and local socio-economic benefits. There is relatively little empirical evidence to substantiate this, with few systematic efforts to assess social and environmental impacts or to understand the context in which given impacts arise. In this paper, we review and conceptualise the local impacts commonly cited in the literature and dissect the empirical evidence currently available to support their occurrence. Having assessed the quality of evidence and pinpointed knowledge gaps, we draw on methodological literature to identify approaches necessary to improve our understanding of the local impacts of CRE and explore their patterns of occurrence. We find a lack of robust survey and statistical evidence across all the seven impact categories identified. Of the impacts identified, 'empowerment' and 'access to affordable energy' are found to be the least studied. In addition, several impacts are associated only with specific types of community energy projects. We argue that the paucity of consistent evidence for direct impacts associated with the development processes and direct outcomes of projects suggests that the most substantial local impacts result from medium to long term indirect project outcomes and the investment of project revenues in the local community. As such, collective funding pools and negotiation processes around their distribution towards private versus public goods play a crucial role in determining transformative local impacts of CRE.

The decarbonisation of energy systems is leading to a reconfiguration of the geographies of energy. One example is the emergence of community energy, which has become a popular object of study for geographers. Although widely acknowledged to be a contested, capacious, and flexible term, "community energy" is commonly presented as singular, bounded, and localised. In this paper, we challenge this conception of community energy by considering evidence about the role and influence of three categories of actors: community, state, and private sector. We demonstrate how community energy projects are unavoidably entangled with a diversity of actors and institutions operating at and across multiple scales. We therefore argue that community energy is enabled and constituted by trans-scalar assemblages of overlapping actors, which demands multi-sectoral participation and coordination. We point to the need for further academic attention on the boundaries between these actors to better understand the role of different intermediary practices and relationships in facilitating the development of decentralised energy systems with just outcomes.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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The Transition movement has experienced remarkable growth in its first decade, yet there remains considerable doubt about its ability to appeal to a diverse audience. To date, there have been few studies that have explicitly examined diversity of participation in the movement. Addressing this gap in the literature, a case study is presented of Transition Town Tooting (TTT) that employed a mixed methods approach comprising semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and a quantitative survey. The results indicate that the demographic profiles of TTT participants do not represent the diversity of the Tooting population, which is exacerbated by TTT's 'passive' approach to inclusivity within the core group. Reflecting upon the implications for Transition's goal of local resilience, it is suggested that, particularly within dense urban communities, initiatives may have more potential for engaging diverse voices through a local 'brokering' role between various sub-communities.

The digitization of society and academic research endeavours have led to an explosion of interest in the potential uses of population data in research. Alongside this, increasing attention is focussing on the conditions necessary for maintaining a social license for research practices.

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BackgroundHome blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is one component of effective supported self-management, which may potentially be mediated by mobile apps.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to identify the self-management features (HBPM and broader support strategies) offered by currently available apps and to determine the features associated with download frequency and user ratings.MethodsWe searched Google Play store, Apple App store, National Health Services Apps Library and myhealthapps.net (first search on February 1, 2018; updated August 18, 2018). We included high blood pressure apps available in the United Kingdom and extracted their features, number of downloads, and the average users’ rating from the app stores. We mapped the features to the holistic Practical Reviews In Self-Management Support (PRISMS) taxonomy of self-management support. We employed a regression analysis to determine if any features were associated with download frequency or user rating.ResultsWe included 151 apps. The 3 most common features were as follows: monitoring blood pressure (BP) and charting logs; lifestyle (exercise or dietary) advice; and providing information about hypertension. The other 11 components of the PRISMS taxonomy were rarely featured. There was little evidence to support associations between specific features and the download statistics and rating scores, with only 2 uncommon features achieving borderline significant associations. The presence of social support features, such as a forum, was weakly but significantly (R2=.04, P=.02) correlated with the number of downloads. Apps designed specifically for particular BP monitors/smart watches were weakly associated with a higher rating score (R2=.05, P<.001). Apps with more ratings were associated with more downloads (R2=.91, P<.001).ConclusionsThe functionality of currently available apps is limited to logging BP, offering lifestyle advice, and providing information about hypertension. Future app development should consider broadening the remit to produce a system that can respond flexibly to the diversity of support that enables people to self-manage their hypertension.

Smart metering of domestic energy use allows consumer feedback through in-home displays (IHDs), websites or smart phone apps. Research has illustrated the need for additional 'sense-making' information to help households make informed energy-related decisions. This study investigates how household members respond when energy consumption data is integrated with information on indoor environmental conditions (IECs) and coupled with advice on energy saving actions. An integrated system of energy meters and IEC sensors was trialled in 19 predominantly social housing properties in the Midlands (England). Households were provided with a tablet computer and feedback was provided via a dedicated 'Energy Dashboard' web-based software application (app). The app was designed in collaboration with the social housing provider to display electricity and gas consumption data as well as data on three IECs: relative humidity, carbon dioxide and temperature. This paper draws on the findings from two rounds of semi-structured interviews with participants. All respondents using the app reported that they made use of the IEC data within the sensemaking process, finding temperature and humidity to be useful in linking energy consumption, activities and household conditions. Interpretation of IEC data tended to increase with time as understanding increased. However, different users 'noticed', 'interpreted' and 'enacted' information differently as they integrated this with other sources of information, such as feedback from household members and experiential knowledge. The findings suggest that, whilst incorporating greater contextual information, such as IECs, into feedback displays can help users make sense of domestic energy consumption, the outcomes of the sense-making process will be different for different households. Nevertheless, the provision of such information appears to support householders to make decisions about their energy management that they feel appropriate for their household's wellbeing needs, within the bounds of their agency.