ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Retracing Critical Energy Fictions with Youth through a Comparative Analysis of Community-Based Interventions

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 05 | ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE

Speaker

Asli Kolbas (Hasselt University)

Description

In recent years, human and more-than-human histories twine together in creating the Anthropocene, and scholars need to learn to notice more of the threads in these knots (Gan and Tsing, 2018). To address these unseen threads, participatory approaches involving pluriversal (Escobar, 2018) stakeholders in the planning process are crucial (Kambunga et al., 2024). Neglecting the essential role of youth (Nilsson, 2024) in shaping these dynamics is another unnoticed thread. This study explores community-based interventions that utilize participatory design approaches to engage youth and other stakeholders in reimagining one particular human / more-than-human relationship, namely around the issue of energy production and consumption (Murto et al., 2018).
Critical fictions have emerged as a powerful participatory tool for thought-provoking exploration and reframing existing knowledge on ecological issues such as energy production and consumption. At the side of co-creating alternative futures, these interventions address systemic inequalities and promote social justice, particularly in diverse geographies. The 'Greta Thunberg effect' has demonstrated the potential of youth participation in shaping policy discussions around climate change (Haugseth et al., 2022).
This study examines five case studies of community-based interventions by (1) Architecture Workroom Brussels, BE, (2) La Pile, BE, (3) Transisthor, BE, and (4) Architecture for All, TR, (5) Center for Spatial Justice, TR. All of which employed critical fiction strategies to engage stakeholders in their projects. Three of the projects explicitly focused on the potential of energy transitions.
The comparative analysis draws upon principles of participatory design, highlighting the significance of youth participation and critical fictions in different contexts. The paper surveys how the critical fiction approaches behind the five projects can foster creative thinking, promote ecological awareness, and address environmental issues. By inspecting how the five approaches help to retrace the complex interplay between youth and more-than-humans, this study offers (i) novel perspectives on energy systems that can inform planners, NGO practices and (local) authorities and (ii) a framework that helps these actors to codesign Critical Fictions for participatory processes with youth.
This research traverses to a growing body of work emphasizing (i) comparing frameworks for evaluating the effectiveness of community-based interventions using participatory design approaches, (ii) highlighting the importance of narrative framing in shaping stakeholder perceptions and behaviors, and (iii) underlining the importance of co-creation in addressing systemic inequalities and promoting social justice.

References

Escobar, Arturo (2018) Designs for the pluriverse: Radical interdependence, autonomy, And the Making of Worlds. Durham: Duke University Press.

Gan, Elaine & Tsing, Anna (2018) How things hold: a diagram of coordination in a satoyama forest. Social Analysis 62, pp. 102–145.

Haugseth, J.F. and Smeplass, E. (2022) ‘The greta thunberg effect: A study of Norwegian youth’s Reflexivity on Climate Change’, Sociology, 57(4), pp. 921–939. doi:10.1177/00380385221122416.

Kambunga, A.P., Smith, R.C. and Winschiers-Theophilus, H. (2024) ‘Extending temporalities in design: Designing pluriversal futures’, CoDesign, 20(1), pp. 36–54. doi:10.1080/15710882.2024.2363914.

Murto, P., Jalas, M., Juntunen, J., & Hyysalo, S. (2019). The difficult process of adopting a comprehensive energy retrofit in housing companies: Barriers posed by nascent markets and complicated calculability. Energy Policy, 132, 955–964.

Taboada, M., Turner, J., Seevinck, J. & Foth, M.. (2024) ‘A worldbuilding approach for pluriversality in codesign’, CoDesign, 20(1), pp. 218–241. doi:10.1080/15710882.2024.2349607.

Wikberg Nilsson, Å. (2024) ‘Young 2.0: Advancing an inclusive framework for co-creating futures with youth’, CoDesign, pp. 1–19. doi:10.1080/15710882.2024.2358967.