The Muillean Gaoithe and the Melin Wynt : Cultural sustainability and community owned wind energy schemes in Gaelic and Welsh communities in the United Kingdom.

There is a shortage of scholarly research into understanding the cultural values, drivers and outcomes of community renewable developments. This paper contributes towards addressing this gap, by comparing four community renewable projects set in Scottish Gaelic speaking Scotland and in Welsh speaking Wales. Not only do cultural values drive the developments of these community energy projects, but evidence gathered here through qualitative interviews show that these communities aim to contribute towards the long term cultural sustainability of their respective areas. This research paper focuses on how community wind energy projects in Scotland and Wales have contributed towards the retention of cultural attributes, particularly language retention and revitalisation. It also contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural reasons why historically indigenous communities are turning towards the renewable energy sector (and developing their own local projects) as a way to help achieve cultural sustainability through economic development

'Experiment Earth?' Reflections on a public dialogue on geoengineering : Reflections on a public dialogue on geoengineering

During early 2010, the first series of major UK public engagement events on geoengineering took place – and were described in a report titled ‘Experiment Earth?’ The events were designed to provide an opportunity for members of the public to engage with these emerging technologies at a very early stage...This working paper reflects on the framing, process, methods and findings of the public dialogue, and offers a set of recommendations for future public engagement on this topic

Examining the dynamics of energy demand through a biographical lens

It is widely recognized that a major challenge in low carbon transitioning is the reduction of energy consumption. This implies a significant level of transformationin our ways of living, meaning the challenge is one that runs deep into the fabric of our personal lives. In this article we combine biographical research approaches with concepts from Bourdieu's practice theory to develop understanding of processes of change that embed particular patterns of energy consumption. Through an analysis of "case biographies" we show the value of biographical methods for understanding the dynamics of energy demand

Asking about the future : methodological insights from energy biographies

Temporality is fundamental to qualitative longitudinal research, inherent in the design of returning to participants over time, often to explore moments of change. Previous research has indicated that talking about the future can be difficult, yet there has been insufficient discussion of methodological developments to address these challenges. This paper presents insights from the Energy Biographies project, which has taken a qualitative longitudinal and multimodal approach to investigating how everyday energy use can be understood in relation to biographical pasts and imagined futures. In particular, we detail innovative techniques developed within the project (e.g. SMS photograph activities) to elicit data on anticipated futures, in ways that engender thinking about participants’ own biographical futures and wider societal changes. We conclude by considering some of the significant benefits and challenges such techniques present. These methodological insights have a wider relevance beyond the substantive topic for those interested in eliciting data about futures in qualitative research

Transforming the UK Energy System : Public Values, Attitudes and Acceptability - Deliberating Energy System Transitions in the UK

The analysis provides an indication of key areas of public acceptability relating to whole energy system change, and offers insights into the factors that mediate and underpin views on transitions. Understanding the connections, associations and contextual issues that underlay public perspectives offers an important means for thinking through potential difficulties and opportunities in achieving major system change

Energy consumption and everyday life : Choice, values and agency through a practice theoretical lens

In policy and research, there is increasing recognition that the scale of transitions necessary for a low carbon society will require significant reductions in energy demand. Concurrently, advancing knowledge about energy practices has been high- lighted as important in developing a basis for the delivery of less energy intensive configurations. In this article, we examine interview (participant n=53) and visual (photographic) data collected across two UK communities to develop understanding of energy consumption as part of everyday life. We conduct our analysis through a practice theoretical lens, in particular drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts, to develop social theoretically informed interpretations of energy demand and its constitution through daily practice. We conclude reflecting on the implications of our analysis for conceptualising societal change and the role of policy in reducing energy demand