| abstract: |
This project aims to support the shift toward end-user services in European energy policy. It will (1) develop a sophisticated but practical model of end-user behaviour and stakeholder interaction (2) integrate knowledge of context (e.g., national culture and institutions), timing and actors into demand management practice (3) pilot the transfer of context-tailored demand side programmes from one European country to another (4) create a toolkit for practitioners to manage the social and technical change involved in demand management programmes (i.e., energy efficiency and renewable-based end-user generation). This toolkit will be sensitive to the influence of context, timing and actors, and will thus facilitate the cross-country transfer and adaptation to local context of European best practices. The toolkit will in particular address the diversity of conditions and behaviour patterns in old and new EU Member States. This project will work through intensive co-operation between researchers and intermediary organisations in the field of demand management (i.e., informative instruments, pilot projects, auditing and investment support, voluntary agreements, third-party financing schemes and the like). Such organisations include governmental or semi-governmental energy agencies, non-governmental organisations, consultancies and energy service companies. Together with these organisations, the project will evaluate and analyse behavioral responses to demand side measures, and test the transfer of demand side programmes from one European context to another. This collaborative project will create new knowledge on energy related end-user behaviour and will ensure that this knowledge is useful for practitioners and policy makers in different parts of Europe. |
