7 TURNING oFF THE GAS TAP: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY …
79
behaviour change can be seen in the figures shown in Table 7.1.
Initiatives focusing on changing collective conventions for significant reductions in energy use (as tested by the ENERGISE project)
are still rare, yet crucial to meet national renewable energy and energy
efficiency targets. An important finding of the presented best practice
project Perspective, and many other projects, is that living healthy
and well is possible with a smaller footprint. A potential improvement
in the design and approach of the Perspective research project, that
successfully provided individual coaching services to participating
households, could have involved more interaction between participants to share ideas and experiences, and to tackle social conventions
collectively.
To achieve the country’s contribution to meeting targets of the Paris
Agreement, current positive trends in the Netherlands need to be maintained and their pace and reach needs to increase. The 100% goal for
renewable energy by 2050 appears steep, and seems to require the more
forceful pursuance of currently still nascent cooperative models. Similarly,
the downward trend of energy use in the built environment needs to
continue, accelerate and potentially be enjoyed with caution as the discrepancy between potential and actual reduction is unknown. In terms
of renewable energy, recognising that incumbent actors are reacting
slowly at best, policy actors and supporting agencies have recently started
to develop better support measures for local, community-based renewable energy initiatives. In terms of energy efficiency, policy and other
national actors seem to have hardly taken note of the role and relevance
of collective conventions that might require more collective models of
engagement. Hopefully, in the future, the importance of challenging
unsustainable social norms that are enabled by and entrenched in existing and even in emerging infrastructures is recognised. Such recognition
could result in more sustainable policies, initiatives and infrastructure
investments.
Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Jochem Pennekamp for his
tireless efforts in seeking out more than 40 SECIs in the Netherlands that have
informed this study.
79
behaviour change can be seen in the figures shown in Table 7.1.
Initiatives focusing on changing collective conventions for significant reductions in energy use (as tested by the ENERGISE project)
are still rare, yet crucial to meet national renewable energy and energy
efficiency targets. An important finding of the presented best practice
project Perspective, and many other projects, is that living healthy
and well is possible with a smaller footprint. A potential improvement
in the design and approach of the Perspective research project, that
successfully provided individual coaching services to participating
households, could have involved more interaction between participants to share ideas and experiences, and to tackle social conventions
collectively.
To achieve the country’s contribution to meeting targets of the Paris
Agreement, current positive trends in the Netherlands need to be maintained and their pace and reach needs to increase. The 100% goal for
renewable energy by 2050 appears steep, and seems to require the more
forceful pursuance of currently still nascent cooperative models. Similarly,
the downward trend of energy use in the built environment needs to
continue, accelerate and potentially be enjoyed with caution as the discrepancy between potential and actual reduction is unknown. In terms
of renewable energy, recognising that incumbent actors are reacting
slowly at best, policy actors and supporting agencies have recently started
to develop better support measures for local, community-based renewable energy initiatives. In terms of energy efficiency, policy and other
national actors seem to have hardly taken note of the role and relevance
of collective conventions that might require more collective models of
engagement. Hopefully, in the future, the importance of challenging
unsustainable social norms that are enabled by and entrenched in existing and even in emerging infrastructures is recognised. Such recognition
could result in more sustainable policies, initiatives and infrastructure
investments.
Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Jochem Pennekamp for his
tireless efforts in seeking out more than 40 SECIs in the Netherlands that have
informed this study.