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Why a Local Energy Roadmap?Decreasing the energy vulnerability of the territories and their inhabitantsTo avoid remaining simply empty slogans, achieving these objectives demands a fundamental transformation of our societies; in fact, a new civilisation. This realisation, however, has generally eluded policy circles. The challenge in front of us is to enthusiastically take part in its invention. In so doing, we will reduce our vulnerability, at all levels of territories and households. And possibly, we will provide the foundations for the return of a healthy economy.
Imagining a territory from the energy point of view in more than one generation (2040-2050)IMAGINE invite local authorities, local actors and citizens to: “imagine their own territory, particularly from the point of view of energy, in a generation and beyond within basic bio-physical constraints of the planetary system and design your strategy to reach that point.” A generation is long enough to consider a different paradigm and short enough to be capable to ‘relate’ to. With such an objective we can be convinced that we do not have time to lose. Concrete enough to engage the generation of our children and grandchildren, those that we know well, with whom we can identify.
Overcoming a sector-centric logic (i.e. reductionism)A juxtaposition of sectoral optima never produced spontaneously a total optimum, whatever the good intentions of their promoters. This reasoning applies to all the organised actors and disciplines of society: associations (environmental and social), trade unions, administrations at all levels, etc. Virtually all now refer to some kind of ’sustainable development’ and virtually all consider energy and climate change seriously, but naturally treat such issues according to the logic of their own sector. Their strategic routes – exemplified by calls for their own sector-specific targets – can, therefore, easily diverge. Such divergence is common.
The territory as a place for integrationWith IMAGINE, a ‘desirable future’ for territories and their energy systems becomes the starting point: momentarily freeing thoughts from the obstacles of the present and instead lifting thoughts to what is imaginable. Such a desirable future must also be ‘sustainable.’ Clear, science-based principles provide bio-physical constraints and are available to clarify what is necessary for a sustainable, local energy system (without overwhelming us with global statistics). Then, local authorities and all actors in the territory can decide what to do by looking ‘back’ to the present and asking “what must be done, ‘back there’ (in the present), and what pathways are possible, to arrive ‘here’ (in the desirable future)?” This is the essence of ‘backcasting’ and it provides a conceptual foundation for IMAGINE.
Engaging the stakeholdersThe actors influencing - directly and indirectly - the energy consumption and supply within a territory are numerous and varied. All are invited to participate in imagining each territory’s desired energy future and, in particular, to support smart, cost effective pathways towards the integrated, territorial goal of sustainable local energy systems. The following typology shows the variety of just some of the actors that can potentially be involved with IMAGINE and some examples of the valuable roles they can play. |
