2019- ongoing (until 2023)

Policy, regulation & governance

Culture, civic participation & social innovation

Capcity & capability 

EmpowerMed focuses on energy poverty. Effects of climate change are likely to exacerbate existing energy poverty and insecurity. Furthermore, climate policies relating to energy must consider the impact of changes in policy and energy sources on the most vulnerable and affected communities. ​​​​​​​

EmpowerMed aims to influence policies on energy poverty at EU level.

Nearly 60 million people in Europe experience energy poverty, and women are especially affected. Energy poverty means that people may be unable to adequately heat their homes, or afford to fulfil basic daily needs that require energy including cooking, hot water, lighting and powering electrical appliances. This has knock-on effects on many aspects of health and wellbeing, and energy poverty cuts across many domains, making it “a complex, interdisciplinary, intersectional, and multidimensional issue, especially in the context of the pressing threat of climate change”. 

Vision:

Ideally, the CAAs and related EmpowerMed activities will lead to a reduction in energy costs for affected participants, enabled by the collective intelligence and energy that the project generates. It will also generate more accurate fine-grained evidence on energy poverty and elevate lived experience, leading to stronger policy development to tackle the issue. 

EmpowerMed is a Horizon2020 project with nine partners from seven countries. Partners are a combination of NGOs, academia and civil society organisations.  ​​​​​​​

Stakeholders:

• Local, national and EU policymakers- Make use of data, policy formulations 
  
• Utility companies- Monitoring energy consumption, guidance 
  
• Experts- Research, data analysis, dissemination 
  
• Alliance against Energy Poverty (Catalonia)- Organisation of CAAs  

Network, communication and governance:

1. The main form of citizen engagement in EmpowerMed is through participation in Collective Advisory Assemblies. CAAs are a protected space that prioritises the needs, experiences and knowledge of those most affected by energy poverty. During these two-hour meetings, participants receive guidance from peers and activists on what actions they can take to improve their situation, and if needed are supported outside of the Assembly to do this. Thus the CAAs are never held in isolation from related support activities.

i. In addition to receiving this advice, the CAAs provide an important space for participants to share and discuss their experiences of energy poverty, with the aim of empowering the women most affected to harness their collective agency. This is opposed to common framings of women as vulnerable disempowered victims of energy poverty. 

ii. The CAAs are also an important vehicle for enabling the collection of data and monitoring of energy poverty to hold authorities to account and drive stronger policies to tackle energy poverty. This is done through a monitoring campaign supported through the CAA, where participants learn about the role of monitoring improving services, respond to surveys, and volunteer to take sensors home to monitor indoor heating and comfort.   

iii. The CAAs are never held in isolation, but are rather one of the main ways in which people are engaged. Through the CAAs, related activities are carried out such as the monitoring campaign. Additional support, such as accompanying people to utilities appointments, can be arranged outside of the assembly setting.  

iv. The logic of the CAA is to build collective intelligence over time through peer learning, so that affected communities are empowered through their shared knowledge and experience.  

v. CAAs are held regularly and participants are supported by organisers in additional workshops or follow up actions as needed.  

2. During the Collective Advisory Assemblies, decisions are taken collectively. Central to this approach is that the CAA is a form of horizontal participation where affected people engage in an equal playing field where their lived experience is acknowledged and welcomed.  

3. Outside of the CAAs, decisionmaking may be done differently. 

Communication:

• Communication during the CAAs is led by participants and supported by an ‘assembly of peers’, activists and others who have experienced energy poverty. Whilst participants do receive guidance on what to do, this comes from peers and not top down from external experts or utility companies directly during the CAA. This horizontal approach is central to empowering affected communities. 
  
• Participants themselves share their experiences and also disseminate information in their own neighbourhoods and communities. Decisions are made collectively and typically participants agree to take actions before the next assembly meeting. This social accountability is supported by the expectation that the same people return to the CAAs, which are biweekly. 

• Dedicated website, Academic publications and Policy materials 

The Monitoring Campaign outlined above uses environmental sensors which volunteer participants take into their homes to monitor air temperature and other environmental indicators.