Communicating Material Cultures of Energy: Five Challenges for Energy Communication

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Human energy consumption and its direct link to global climate change is among the most defining and challenging issues of our time. The original Material Cultures of Energy project (MCE, conducted in 2014-2017) examined how copiously consumed energy transformed daily life during the 20th century. The MCE project successfully revealed that consumers have shaped the diverse patterns of energy consumption in accordance with distinctively local, regional and national energy cultures. This follow-on project will build on the successes of MCE and its intervention into today's energy issues by directly engaging with the process of communicating energy-related knowledge and information. This approach presents a unique opportunity for arts and humanities research to directly influence professional practices that have important bearings on energy users' behaviour, knowledge and attitude.This project will explore methods for improving communication about energy-related information and knowledge to the public. The project will mobilise the MCE project's legacy assets and engage with a new community of stakeholders: 'energy communicators' such as museum curators; public relations and communication officers in business, government offices, NGOs, community energy groups. By collaborating with the key mediators of energy-related information, the project seeks to deliver the original project's research findings-in the broader context of today's energy communication-to stakeholders and the public effectively and immediately. Simultaneously, the project aims to benefit communication experts by creating new collaborative partnerships and a network of research institutions, the cultural industry and the energy sector. Using public museums of the Science Museum Group as the main site of dialogue and public events, the project will conduct five interrelated activities to address the Five Challenges for Energy Communication:Challenge 1. Object-based communicationChallenge 2. Behavioural interventionChallenge 3. Visual media communicationChallenge 4. Participatory communicationChallenge 5. Community engagementThese challenges form the bases of the project's five activities that are designed to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue, co-creation process and cross-fertilisation of expertise in the field of energy communication. The five activities and their main objectives are as follows:- Five Challenges Knowledge Exchange Sessions will create a sustained dialogue within the core project group, a multidisciplinary group of energy communicators working in research and practice. - The project's public events at regional science festivals will combine the insights from both the MCE project and the follow-on KE sessions in a tangible form. - An Energy Communication Conference will be organised to expand the project's scope, incorporating a wider community of communication experts within and outside of the UK. - The Energy Communication Network will perpetuate a close working relationship among energy communicators by establishing an online-based professional network and hub of information. The network will operate via the project website and is expected to continue beyond the life of the project.- The Energy Communication Toolkit will make available the collective knowledge and insights of energy communicators in an open-access format, intended as a reference and as learning material for communication experts and students.Our project partners represent diverse areas of energy communication, including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Behavioural Insights Team, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), the Community Energy England and the Carbon Co-op. By working closely with these partners, the follow-on project is expected to activate a dialogue across different fields of energy communication in a concerted effort to tackle major challenges for energy communication.