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Overview
ENTRUST provided mapping of Europe's energy system (key actors & their intersections, technologies, markets, policies, innovations) and developed an in-depth understanding of how human behaviour around energy is shaped by both technological systems and socio-demographic factors (especially gender, age and socio-economic status). The developed new understandings of energy-related practices and an intersectional approach to the socio-demographic factors in energy use were deployed to enhance stakeholder engagement in Europe’s energy transition. 

The role of gender was illuminated by intersectional analyses of energy-related behaviour & attitudes towards energy technologies, which assessed how multiple identities and social positions, combined to shape practices. These analyses weree integrated within a transitions management framework which took account of the complex meshing of human values and identities with technological systems. The third key paradigm informing the research was the concept of energy citizenship, with a key goal of ENTRUST being to enable individuals overcome barriers of gender, age and socio-economic status to become active participants in their own energy transitions.

Central to the project was an in-depth engagement with five very different communities across the continent, who were invited to be co-designers of their own energy transition. The consortium brought a diverse array of expertise to bear in assisting and reflexively monitoring these communities as they worked to transform their energy behaviours, generating innovative transition pathways and business models capable of being replicated elsewhere in Europe.

Outputs included a policy tool-kit incorporating contemporary best practice in promoting energy transitions at a Europe-wide level; a suite of innovative transition pathways and community engagement tools designed to stimulate dialogue and break down barriers to behaviour change and the adoption new technologies at a community level.

Consortium: University College Cork (Coordinator), Liverpool John Moores University (UK), LGI Consulting (FR), Redinn srl (IT), Integrated Environmental Solutions (UK), Enerbyte Smart Energy Solutions SL (ES), Stam srl (IT), Stamtech srl (IT)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for Research and Innovation under Grant Agreement no 657998