Abstract Summary
There is an urgent need for transitions towards green energy that requires shifts in collective behaviours and energy systems. It is crucial to design for socially inclusive transition possibilities that support the agency and resilience of residents who are ignored, not supported, or priced out by neoclassical market-based strategies. Here, we report from our design anthropological research in Amsterdam Zuidoost, where we investigated the concept of ‘energy exchanges’ between local households, communities, and large energy asset owners, such as the Johan Cruijff Arena. The diverse and dynamic social, cultural, and economic composition of Zuidoost presents multiple challenges for the active inclusion of local residents in energy systems. We explored possibilities for socioeconomically inclusive forms of energy exchanges that go beyond the dominant neoclassical understanding of energy exchange as ‘trading’ of energy. We draw on anthropological literature around ‘gifting’ and ‘giving’, and local currencies that enable us to reframe the concept of energy exchange. Through co-design practices with residents and infrastructure owners, we explore relational approaches to energy exchange in support of inclusive, sustainable futures. These included reflective workshops, generative interviews, and experiments on the street. We looked at the roles that different stakeholders can play in local energy exchange and alternative configurations for carrying out the exchanges. Based on this work, we present two ideas: firstly, we propose ‘energy actions’, concrete activities that connect energy exchanges to socially and environmentally beneficial activities. These grew out of the design work as a way to capture and design relational exchanges around sustainability transitions. Secondly, we outline the concept of ‘relational giving’, which is a conceptual approach to looking at exchanges with infrastructure in a manner that augments commodity exchange by building social relationships and value networks. Aiming to introduce tangibility to the transition, this project offers starting points for designing sustainable, affordable and reliable energy futures in Amsterdam Zuidoost.
