Looking back to look forward: Reflections from networked research on energy poverty
George Jiglau,
Stefan Bouzarovski,
Ute Dubois,
Marielle Feenstra,
João Pedro Gouveia,
Katrin Grossmann,
Rachel Guyet,
Sergio Tirado Herrero,
Marlies Hesselman,
Slavica Robic,
Siddharth Sareen,
Anca Sinea,
Harriet Thomson
Affiliations
George Jiglau
Political Science Department, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; Corresponding author
Stefan Bouzarovski
School of Environment, Education and Development, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Ute Dubois
Department of Economics, Markets & Society, ISG International Business School, Paris, France
Marielle Feenstra
Faculty of Technology, Management and Policy, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
João Pedro Gouveia
CENSE, FCT-NOVA—Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research & CHANGE—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal
Katrin Grossmann
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany
Rachel Guyet
Centre International de Formation Europeenne, Nice, France
Sergio Tirado Herrero
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Marlies Hesselman
Faculty of Law, Transboundary Legal Studies, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
Slavica Robic
North West Croatia Regional Energy Agency, Zagreb, Croatia
Siddharth Sareen
Department of Media and Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway
Anca Sinea
Political Science Department, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Harriet Thomson
School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
Summary: Energy poverty is a far-reaching concept that intrinsically bridges numerous fields of study, ranging from engineering to anthropology and medical science to social psychology. The profound implications of energy poverty on the quality of life globally have also led to a wide range of metrics and policies aimed at measuring it and alleviating it, albeit with limited success. Using a mixed methods approach, our network has conducted research to advance knowledge and interpretations of energy poverty and boost scientific outputs' capacity to shape knowledge-based policies. In this article, we critically review this extensive research endeavor, as well as its results. We build on the conceptual, methodological, and policy dimensions of energy poverty research to set up pathways toward a new, interdisciplinary research and policy agenda on energy poverty mitigation better equipped to provide meaningful answers to the challenges posed by the current ongoing energy crisis.
