The UK Energy Living Labs are based on the south coast of England, around the towns of St Leonards and Hastings. Participants include people from various faith groups and ethnicities and include people with a wide range of educational achievement.
ELL1 consists of 20 individual households for whom the challenge period started on 15th October. Energy use and its impact on the environment is an important consideration for all these participants; its impact on household budgets is also a key consideration for some. A careful review of existing household practices around laundry and heating and personal circumstances (e.g. small children, health issues, work schedule) allowed us to co-create challenges in a way suitable for each individual household. Many participants were enthusiastic about experimenting with laundry and heating, even in situations where their practices already meet the general ENERGISE challenge (e.g. indoor temperature 18 degrees or lower).
The participants in ELL2 are drawn from the membership of a mosque and includes 13 households. The choice of this group as ELL2 was determined by the existence of an extant and the desire of a local organisation to help this community improve its energy sufficiency/efficiency. Two workshops/group discussions took place in the middle of October – one in the Mosque (a predominantly male group) and another in a more informal setting at the local restaurant (a female group). This approach allowed people to choose which discussion group to attend, thereby ensuring inclusiveness and creating a comfortable environment for everyone. The challenge period for ELL2 started on 22nd October. Both workshops collectively agreed to commit to the recommended ENERGISE challenges – these constitute a significant change in the existing practices for most of the households involved.
The challenge period will be running until 2nd December for ELL1 and until 9th December for ELL2. We are really looking forward to learning from our participants’ experiences during the closing interviews and focus groups!