Speaker
Description
In recent years, numerous energy transition projects on the scale of the neighbourhood have emerged, along with a range of concepts and programmes to stimulate, support, streamline, mainstream or assess these. Many of these initiatives intend to achieve their ambitions through a meticulously engineered combination of technical and social interventions. When confronted with real-world heterogeneous urban arrangements, their implementation often turns out more challenging or less effective than anticipated (Gohari et al., 2024; Karvonen et al., forthcoming; Rutherford and Coutard, 2014).
The PED4ALL project (JPI Urban Europe, PED Call II) has studied possible pathways for just energy transitions in Cureghem, one of the most socio-economically vulnerable and culturally diverse neighbourhoods of the Brussels Capital Region. Co-directed by local residents and organisations, a conversation on everyday energy practices was initiated. This resulted in a rich understanding of the needs, opportunities and challenges concerning renewable energy in the neighbourhood. Beyond financial and technical considerations, this conversation also emphasized the importance of social and cultural realities in shaping renewable energy transitions in Cureghem.
Building on these insights, energy transition strategies for the neighbourhood were co-developed. These strategies strike a careful balance between multiple tensions affecting the neighbourhood’s energy transition: The institutional framework of energy transition programmes facing a neighbourhood characterized by fragmentation, diversity, informality and constant change; the dilemma of promoting the energy transition by putting emphasis on its financial profits for building owners or by focussing on the improvement of living conditions for residents; a focus on individual households versus the already present, but at times unconventional collective dynamics concerning energy practices and their potential for renewable energy.
Although these tensions are particularly pronounced in Cureghem, they reflect broader dynamics that are prone to be found in other urban settings. By framing energy transition as an urban project rather than solely as socio-technical infrastructure (Castán Broto and Robin, 2020), this paper offers critical insights into planning for just energy transitions. It highlights how urban processes can integrate spatial justice principles, ensuring that energy transitions address representation, redistribution, and scale in equitable and context-specific ways.
References
Castán Broto, V. and Robin, E. (2020) ‘Climate Urbanism as Critical Urban Theory’, Urban Geography, 42(6), pp. 715–720. doi: 10.1080/02723638.2020.1850617.
Gohari, S., Castro Silvia, S., Ashrafian, T., Konstantinou, T., Giancola, E., Prebreza, B., Aelenei, L., Murauskaite, L., Liu, M. (2024) ‘Unraveling the Implementation Processes of PEDs: Lesson Learned from multiple Urban Contexts’, Sustainable Cities and Society, 106, article no: 105402. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2024.105402.
Karvonen, A., Bruggeman, D., Magnusson, D., Ornetzeder, M. Rohracher, H. (forthcoming) ‘Heterogeneous Energy Infrastructures in Europe: Layering and Orchestrating Positive Energy Districts’, Sustainability Science.
Rutherford, J., Coutard, O. (2014) ‘Urban Energy Transitions: Places, Processes and Politics of Socio-technical Change’, Urban Studies, 51(7), pp. 1353–1377. doi: 10.1177/00420980135000.
| Keywords | just energy transition; Positive Energy District; everyday energy practices; co-creation |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
