About the Project

The Walking with Energy project brings together oral history techniques, walking interviews and novel psychological tests to offer a highly innovative, creative and low cost method of engaging the public in debates and decisions regarding energy production and consumption.

The contemporary relationship we have with energy is one that is characterised by complete dependency yet coupled with an ‘energy invisibility’ that distances us from our consumption and the associated environmental consequences. We are disengaged from decisions about how energy is generated in terms of modes of generation and types of fuel.

The method deployed in this project offers the potential to reduce energy consumption and foster greater environmental citizenship amongst participants. The model therefore offers great scope to be utilised for social and commercial purposes. Following a successful pilot in the UK, this project – funded by the Swedish Energy Agency – will apply the method in Lund and Malmö, Sweden.

The project involves a collaboration between colleagues from Sheffield Hallam, Lund (Sweden), and Nottingham Trent Universities.