From dispersed practices to radical socio-technical imaginaries: the role of action labs for supporting collective energy citizenship

How to engage diverse groups of people in the energy transition in Europe is a pressing issue, one that requires grappling with the role of collectivities and social change dynamics. Based on the results of multi-form Citizen Action Labs (CAL) in four European cities, this article details the different ways in which energy citizenship was practised, drawing from an analysis of survey and workshop data, national reports, and exchanges between research team members. From tiny houses in Overhalla, renewable energy production in Berlin and citizen-led action plans for the climate in both Città di Castello and Geneva, the CALs had different objectives, but all revealed how citizens, research teams and local partners engage with technical solutions, as an established socio-technical imaginary, as well as sufficiency measures and collective political action, as emerging and more radical socio-technical imaginaries. We introduce ‘dispersed’ practices, such as planning and imagining, as central to collective forms of action, and differentiate individual action from collective action in relation to complexity, defined as increased coordination. We demonstrate how citizen collectives are limited by more complex dynamics, such as existing infrastructures or regulations. In the conclusion, we highlight what measures could be taken to further support collective energy citizenship in the future.