The Power of Co-Creation in the Energy Transition—DART Model in Citizen Energy Communities Projects

Abstract

Successful energy transformation is interconnected with greater citizenry participation as prosumers. The search for novel solutions to implement the transition to renewable energy that will neutralize the barriers to this process, e.g., the reluctance of citizens to get involved, lack of trust in decision-makers and lack of co-ownership of energy projects, is inevitable as a part of the bottom-up process. Energy communities have vast potential to scale up Renewable Energy projects. Due to the fact that in Poland, establishing citizen energy communities in the cities is not allowed, the key success factor of energy transformation is to engage housing cooperatives and other housing communities in this process. A similar legal framework prevents communities from establishing themselves in the Czech Republic and Hungary. The research problem of this paper is to identify determinants of the co-creation process in Renewable Energy project activation at the housing cooperative level. The aim is to identify key conditions that housing cooperatives should establish in order to successfully undertake Renewable Energy project implementation using a co-creation approach. The literature study shows that the term “co-creation” is not often used in energy transition projects, although many local energy transitions are indeed co-created, unfortunately not in a structured methodical manner. In the research, we apply the DART (Dialogue, Access, Risk, Transparency) model as the framework to conduct the analysis. The study has been carried out using quantitative and qualitative research methods and based on primary and secondary data. Our findings indicate that considering the different areas of the DART model, co-creation was most visible in the area of dialogue-communication between cooperative authorities and its members, while it was least visible in the area of transparency. Based on the results pertaining to the implemented project, the researchers postulate the inclusion of factors beyond the DART model that further shape the co-creation process.

Re-powering the Nature-Intensive Systems: Insights From Linking Nature-Based Solutions and Energy Transition

“…In this case, both ET and NbS as socio-technical innovations should involve people in cocreating and co-designing processes (Palomo et al, 2021). As several studies show, co-creation is one of the key sustainable principles for complex NbS and ET in which real environmental and societal challenges can be addressed by harnessing citizen participation (Mahmoud and Morello, 2018;IUCN, 2020;Ryszawska et al, 2021). Reviewing the current literature shows that co-creation is recognized as one of the most crucial parts of sustainability transition including both NbS implementation and ET planning.…”

“…Overview of the mechanisms and associated CBC of the NbS and ET Cherpp et al, 2018;Hoppe and de Vries, 2018;Geels, 2019;Battista Cavadini and Cook, 2021;Dorst et al, 2021;Lupp et al, 2021;Mitic-Radulovic and Lalovic, 2021;Morgunova, 2021;Rhodes et al, 2021;Ryszawska et al, 2021;Sillak et al, 2021;Xu, 2021Kisser et al, 2020Langergraber et al, 2020Pearlmutter et al, 2020;Atanasova et al, 2021;Mutezo and Muopo, 2021;Okafor et al, 2021;Stefanakis et al, 2021. Socio-ecological-technological systems Urban ecosystem servicesHeaslip and Fahy, 2018;Holland et al, 2018;Keeler et al, 2019 …”

Success factors of citizen energy cooperatives in north western Germany: a conceptual and empirical review

“…Ryszawska et al [40] note that it is not allowed to establish citizen cooperatives in cities in Poland, and similarly in the Czech Republic and Hungary. Here, the focus is on co-creation with housing co-operatives and other residential communities to develop successful business models [40].…”

Conceptualising the Link between Citizen Science and Climate Governance: A Systematic Review

“…Some studies have highlighted the potential of deep public participation beyond tokenistic forms in nature-based solutions (NbS) to tackle climate-related urban issues and produce social benefits such as social learning, enhanced motivation, sense of belonging and equity [26][27][28]. The relevance of community engagement and co-creation has been promoted also in the field of mitigation; for instance, regarding energy issues such as the social acceptability of climate infrastructure delivery which has become mandatory to the transition to a low-carbon society [29] and the civic involvement in energy communities [30].…”