Enabling Energy Sufficiency

Energy sufficiency in the meaning of voluntary demand reduction of energy intensive goods and services is the third and mostly forgotten pillar of sustainable development. However, organisational and spatial measures are needed to support behavior modification. The paper by Marie-Christine Gröne presents results of a transdisciplinary research design with local stakeholders and scientific experts to develop an understanding of what energy sufficiency might contribute to sustainable urban development.

Based on the Multi-Level-Perspective of the transition research approach, it analyses how stakeholders and experts define energy sufficiency structures for the shrinking district of Vohwinkel (Germany). The paper also shows a compilation and evaluation of measures which facilitate energy sufficient behavior in the fields of space heating and passenger transport on a local level. The methodological concept comprises expert interviews, thought experiments with stakeholders to develop a vision of an "energy sufficient Vohwinkel 2050" as well as a stakeholder workshop to discuss the results. A shrinking population is seen as a chance to actively adapt the built environment to foster energy sufficiency.

The paper had been submitted to the conference "SBE16 Hamburg: Strategies – Stakeholders – Success factors", you find it for download at the Wuppertal Institute's publication server.