Identifying people’s energy information needs through Energy Citizen Personas

Energy Citizenship refers to individuals and communities participating, sometimes begrudgingly, in adopting energy solutions, whether sustainable or not. When enacted positively, it advances the green energy transition. There are several pathways for citizens to participate in the green energy transition; however, participation should be voluntary and compatible with citizens’ life contexts. Energy information is vital in enabling people to get involved in the green energy transition. However, less is known about how the energy information needs of citizens vary with their lifestyle and context. This paper presents energy citizen personas as an artifact for energy citizenship contexts, using the Research in the Wild (RITW) approach. The research incorporates findings from a survey conducted across 16 European countries involving 9414 respondents. The survey responses were analyzed using a clustering algorithm and contextualized into ‘energy citizen personas’ representing varying circumstances, goals, and energy information needs of energy citizens.