Main objectives and theme

The Citizen Action Lab in Bulgaria will collect data on energy citizenship among the involved stakeholders through stakeholder deliberation. During such deliberation, the stakeholders will discuss the norms, rules and other factors influencing their energy practices. Small specific actions (role-play exercise, World Café discussions, etc.) related to energy citizenship will be tried out with the Citizen Action Labparticipants.

The Citizen Action Lab pursues the following local, national and wider regional objectives:

• Increase public awareness about the meaning and practical manifestations of “energy citizenship”;

• Stimulate public participation and community engagement, in particular of women (including women from energy-poor households);

• Promote dialogue among citizens residing in a generally economically-vulnerable context;

• Further the development of the “energy citizenship” concept and provide a regional perspective on citizen involvement patterns in Southeastern Europe;

• Possibly unveil some of the disinformation myths about the energy transition that pervade public space in Bulgaria;

• Expand citizens’ capacity to achieve energy sufficiency and participate in a just energy transition;

• Incorporate the conclusions and recommendations resulting from the Citizen Action Lab in the energy poverty strategy which is being developed as part of Bulgaria’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan;

• Enhancе energy security in the region by helping tackle energy poverty in the country;

• Develop a roadmap for setting up energy communities in small local communities.

For whom is it relevant – Potential participants

The Citizen Action Lab is relevant to all citizens of Bulgaria, where energy poverty has remained a persistent challenge. On the one hand, a growing share of the population has experienced problems with covering their bills, as energy prices increase alongside the gradual liberalization of the market. On the other hand, low household energy efficiency, far below the EU and OECD average, has pushed energy consumption up. As a result, energy poverty among the population, defined as affordable access to energy resources (electricity, heating, and gas), has remained stubbornly high. In addition, citizen participation in the energy sector is still a relatively recent and rare phenomenon in Bulgaria.

The Citizen Action Lab in Bulgaria will primarily target female stakeholders with different social characteristics and backgrounds (laypersons, activists, entrepreneurs, unemployed, caretakers, experts, etc.) from Belene in Northern Bulgaria and two neighboring towns, Svishtov and Tsenovo.

Main topics of discussion

The participants will be invited to share their insights in three specific areas:

• Engagement with energy topics/ Participation in energy discussions: Do you take part in conversations, debates or initiatives related to energy and consumption? Which topics? Why (not)? With whom do you discuss these most often? Do you make efforts to reduce your family’s energy consumption? Why (not?) What kind of efforts do you make?

• Social acceptance of low-carbon technologies: Are you familiar with any new technologies? Which ones? If yes, how did you find out about them? Would you use one of these technologies/appliances if you receive state/municipal aid (funding) or have access to a microgrant/microloan? Would you invest in these technologies if they could lower your bills, reduce your environmental impact and make you more energy independent? What do you think are the risks and opportunities associated with any of these?

• Public attitudes toward the creation of an energy community as a way to tackle energy poverty – here, a specific action related to energy citizenship will be tried out with the Citizen Action Lab participants – they will be asked to participate in a role-play exercise where they act out the following scenario: Some citizens wish to initiate an energy community in their town/municipality. What is the first thing they will do? How will they approach the issue? Who will they go to first? What challenges do they expect to encounter? What would the benefits of this energy community be for their town, with a focus on alleviating energy poverty?

Practical information

The following steps of the Citizen Action Lab Belene implementation have been identified:

Step 1: Designing the Citizen Action Lab – content and methodology  

Step 2: Planning the Citizen Action Lab (promote the CAL, recruit the participants and ask them to fill out a Recruitment Survey, and prepare a set of information materials (largely based on the results of the Recruitment Survey) to be sent to the participants prior to the event)

Step 3: Implementing the Citizen Action Lab (in-person event in Belene, the Survey is sent to the participants again to assist Citizen Action Lab evaluation)

Step 4: А dissemination and multiplier event (to be confirmed, possibly in the town of Svishtov, hosted by the university) to share the Citizen Action Lab results with the larger local community and present the guidelines for an MoU)

The in-person part of the Citizen Action Lab (Step 3) will take up to around 5 hours and consist of World Café-type deliberations on the topics Engagement with energy topics, Social Acceptance of Low-Carbon Technologies and Public Attitudes towards an Energy Community and a small role-play exercise.

Co-organizers and other partners

Research Team:

Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)

Implementation Partners:

Association of Danube River Municipalities (ADRM)

Stakeholder groups involved:

Municipality of Belene and citizens from Belene, Tsenovo, Svishtov. Тhose local citizens are considered to be relevant stakeholders, as they have knowledge and experience which could be useful in the future creation of an energy community.

Disclaimer

All Citizen Action Lab participants will be informed about the Citizen Action Lab’s objectives and methods and their involvement. A detailed consent form will be handed out to be signed by the participants in advance. All their questions will be answered by the team planning and organising the Citizen Action Lab.