Looking beyond the hype : conditions affecting the promise of behaviour change apps as social innovations for low-carbon transitions

Digital tools, specifically smartphone apps, have emerged as enablers of social innovation for low- carbon transitions by using novel feedback to creatively engage people to act more sustainably, and thus capture the power of collective individual action. Such apps have increasingly been implemented in real-world experiments with positive results in the short-term. However critical reflection is required to look beyond this hype to understand the conditions for longer term impact, thus reaching a transformative social innovation potential. In this paper, we take two exemplary behaviour change apps and perform a cost-benefit analysis to assess the break-even point in number of users to achieve net-positive impact and discuss relevant technical, organisational, political and financial conditions that enable or impede this impact. We find that the required scale-up in users seems challenging, yet feasible. However, guaranteeing that the supportive conditions are available is necessary to warrant the focus on behaviour change apps by research and policy

Understandig the Role of Scenarios in Swiss Energy Research

Energy scenarios link long-term policy goals to near-term decisions and may thus guide the transition to more sustainable energy systems. Yet, systematic empirical analyses of how energy scenarios are understood and used by relevant actors are rare. This working paper addresses the situation in Switzerland, where several competing public energy scenarios have been developed by different organisations in reaction to the government’s decision to phase out nuclear power. The analysis focuses on the energy research community, which has a double role in the dissemination of scenario-based insights: On the one hand, researchers develop energy scenarios which may in turn be used by decision-makers in policy and industry to create or assess action alternatives. On the other hand, many researchers are scenario users themselves. We conducted 13 structured in-depth interviews with energy researchers. The sample covers a wide scope of institutions and disciplinary backgrounds, including economics, engineering, geography, sociology, and law. We find that while most researchers do use energy scenarios, there are, essentially, two contrasting types of scenario use among them: One group of researchers, which we labelled divers, is interested in very specific data and assumptions that it wants to fully understand. A second group, which we labelled sailors, refers to the results of a scenario analysis in a more general manner. We identified different interpretations of scenario content between sailors and divers. These discrepancies are a result of the highly specialised modelling activities on which energy scenarios are based. Implicit knowledge that is generated during the process of developing energy sce-narios is inaccessible to most scenarios users. We therefore conclude the study with a discussion about the usefulness of participative stakeholder involvement and scenario documentation that is adjusted to the interests and competencies of its users. Because energy scenarios increasingly serve as a scientifically derived information basis for societal debates about energy transitions, their use needs to be studied more extensively

Leveraging realities of saving energy at home : contributions of co-design to behavioural interventions

While reducing individual energy consumption contributes to climate change mitigation, many individuals who share this belief fail to act on it. While behavioural interventions try to address such intention-behaviour gaps, few approaches have worked with consumers to understand the realities of their opportunities and limitations to save energy at home. We argue that co-design is well-suited to address the unique challenges of climate-relevant behaviour change and propose an abductive co-design methodology to develop a behavioural intervention with household members based on the Model of Action Phases (MAP) framework. We implement the methodology to design an energy savings app and behaviour change intervention in Switzerland. The methodology shifts participants into an expert role and elucidates their motivations, real-life challenges, and knowledge gaps to save energy. Through group problem-solving and self-reflection, participants provided design inputs which address the socio-psychological gaps to progress behaviour through the preaction, action and postaction phases of the MAP. We assess the originality and feasibility of the co-design inputs, as well as reflect on the experience of the researchers and participants during the process. We conclude that co-design provided novel inputs relevant for progressing through the behaviour change stages identified by the MAP framework

Social innovation supports inclusive and accelerated energy transitions with appropriate governance

Accelerating energy transitions that are both sustainable and just remains an important challenge, and social innovation can have a key role in this transition. Here, we examine the diversity and potential of social innovation in energy systems transformation, synthesizing original mixed methods data from expert interviews, document analysis, social innovation experiments, a representative survey, and an expert survey. Based on a thematic analysis of these data, we advance four key findings: (1) the diversity of social innovation in energy is best understood when recognizing core social practices (thinking, doing, and organizing) and accounting for changes in social relations (cooperation, exchange, competition, and conflict); (2) governance, policy networks, and national context strongly shape social innovation dynamics; (3) processes of social innovation are implicated by multidimensional power relations that can result in transformative changes; and (4) social innovation in energy generally has strong social acceptance among citizens, benefits local communities and is legitimized in key community and city organizations. We discuss an agenda for 9 future research directions on social innovation in energy, and conclude with insights related to national context, governance, and acceleration

Investigating digital tools for climate-relevant individual behaviour change

EMBARGOED - expected end date 22.04.2026</p

Indicators of innovation : empirical insights into activities, challenges and strategies of Swiss energy sector start-ups

Entrepreneurial activity can be seen as a signal for opportunities opening up in a changing market. This working paper covers the progress to date in developing an understanding of the activities, challenges and strategies of start-ups in the Swiss energy sector. The study, has compiled a list of 77 active start-ups in the heat and electricity fields who are contributing to four distinct challenges relevant to the national Energy Strategy 2050 goals: increasing renewable energy production, reducing energy demand, decreasing system complexity, ensuring availability of energy. So far, 14 interviews were held with selected start-ups in order to cover all of the four areas and varying customer segments, from within the energy business to end users. These interviews were conducted to specifically qualify the value proposition and current activities of the firms, as well as internal and external challenges that they faced during their development. Nine distinct challenges were identified that are specifically relevant to the energy sector. These, e.g., refer to customer awareness, possible channels for acquisition, access to finance and building legitimacy as a new entrant. Furthermore, this working paper also presents ten strategies that helped these start-ups to overcome the stated challenges. The report concludes with a number of recommendations for future research on energy entrepreneurship and to promote entrepreneurial activities in the Swiss energy sector

How cities can foster local action in energy efficiency by utilizing middle actors : insights from a Swiss case study

While national policies create settings incentivizing energy efficiency, actual savings are often much lower than what would be technically feasible and economically viable. Reasons for this so-called efficiency gap include individuals not recognizing the need, not having the interest to implement the required changes, or that national policies may simply be ill-fitting to local contextual constraints. Due to their close link to citizens communities are in a key position for closing the efficiency gap. Yet, as they have limited access to either hard or soft policy instruments, they need to rely on leading by example and providing a fertile ground for local action. Therein, intermediaries (or ‘middle-actors’) play a key role. They comprise a heterogeneous group of actors, including schools, leisure or sports associations, construction firms, and energy-related businesses. Distinctively, they work, directly or indirectly, to implement or advise on energy related decisions (e.g., choice of heating systems), distil information, mediate social or technical relations, set behavioral norms, or motivate community action. An ongoing project in Switzerland addresses the question of how communities can foster local action on energy efficiency, utilizing intermediaries. It follows a three-step procedure: 1) Potentially relevant actor groups on a communal level are identified and characterized, using structured interviews with experts from academia and practice (e.g., communal energy consultants and energy managers of Swiss cities). The characterization includes the different actors’ potentials to promote energy efficiency, as well as their motivations to do so. 2) In a case study in the city of Baden (pop. 18’000) the list of actors and their characterization are validated based on a workshop with city officials and subsequent interviews with selected intermediaries. 3) This allows developing an empirically validated framework of local intermediaries for communal energy policy. In the paper at hand we embed the study in the current Swiss energy policy as well as in the academic discourse on closing the efficiency gap, and present its concept along with some first insights

Mainstreaming sustainability transitions : from research towards impact

A sustainable energy transition can involve the end consumer as a relevant actor in supporting renewable energy integration through the reduction, and the shifting to new patterns, of consumption (Dubois et al. 2019). To support this shift, the rapid development of digital technologies for measuring and communicating home energy use has been a relevant step. A multitude of studies have investigated the effectiveness of smart phone apps and smart meters, in particular, and found some success in achieving behaviour change with this approach (Chatzigeorgiou and Andreou 2021). However, barriers remain in effectively addressing the everyday lives of consumers as digital tools must match an individuals’ ability to understand, use and capture the value from these tools, i.e. digital literacy (Eshet 2004). Furthermore, the emergence of new energy consumption practices at home may be more effective when integrated into the wider system of real-world practices households are already engaged in (Darby 2020). Within the scope of redesigning a smart phone app for household energy savings, a co-creation approach was used to better understand the energy and technology literacy, motivations, needs regarding the kind of information feedback, and concerns of consumers. Co-creation, as a reflexive design approach, highlights important design considerations from the perspective of the users, and thus improves the researchers’ and designers’ ability to address engagement challenges before the final implementation (Itten et al. 2021). This paper outlines the method for co-creating an energy saving app and behavioural intervention with household members and explores the process to answer the questions: - What does the co-creation process contribute to an energy savings app and accompanying behaviour intervention design? - Who takes part in voluntary co-creation process for an energy savings app? - Does the co-creation process have an impact on participant's energy awareness, self-efficacy and attitude

Wege zur erfolgreichen Zusammenarbeit zwischen öffentlichen Einrichtungenund Cleantech-Startups?

Für einige Cleantech-Startups sind öffentliche Einrichtungen die idealen Kunden. Die Zusammenarbeit zwischen diesen beiden Akteuren ist jedoch nicht immer einfach, da es einen starken kulturellen Unterschied zwischen ihnen gibt. In diesem Artikel zeigen wir für beide Seiten Wege auf um besser zusammen zu arbeiten. Am Ende des Artikels beschreiben mehrere Startup-CEOs ihre Erfahrungen und geben Ratschläge. Um die Zusammenarbeit mit einer Behörde einzuleiten, müssen Startups die richtigen Personen identifizieren und kontaktieren. Sie müssen dazu verstehen, dass die Behörden oft sehr belastend sind, dass sie verpflichtet sind, sichere und kontinuierliche Dienstleistungen für die Bevölkerung zu erbringen und öffentliche Mittel verantwortungsbewusst auszugeben. Um sich Gehör zu verschaffen, müssen die vorgeschlagenen innovativen Lösungen mittelfristig einen echten Mehrwert, aber auch Garantien bieten, damit die Behörden sich absichern können. Auch wenn der Rahmen für die Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge sehr restriktiv ist, können Pilotprojekte, Ausnahmeregelungen und spezielle Kriterien eine fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit ermöglichen, sofern zuerst ein Vertrauensverhältnis aufgebaut wurde