1. Comparing cases: Insights into
energy practices and
community from Cardiff City
Dr Karen Parkhill
Cardiff University, UK
Prof. Karen Henwood Dr Catherine Butler
Dr Fiona Shirani Prof. Nick Pidgeon
Paper presented at: CLUES Conference: Energy in the Locality.
8th May, London http://www.ucl.ac.uk/clues/CLUES_Conference

2. Overview
• Project background
• Methodology
• Futurespace – context
• The role of Futurespace as a
community group
• Conclusions

3. Energy Biographies Research
Objectives
1. Develop understanding of energy use by investigating and
comparing people's different „energy biographies‟ across a
range of social settings
2. Examine how existing demand reduction interventions
interact with people's personal biographies and histories.
3. Develop improved understanding of how different
community types can support reductions in energy
consumption
…We will also be exploring the usefulness of
innovative (narrative, longitudinal and visual)
research methods for helping people reflect on the
ways they use energy

4. Methods
Also I am volunteering with Futurespace Ely and Caerau & have been since it began
• Follow up
• These involve interviews 5
interviews and Phase 2a:
AND 10 months
informal Narrative with a selected
meetings with Interviews sample from
case site each case site.
representatives December 2011-
April 2012 Participants are
and a wider being asked to
range of • 30 initial engage in a
stakeholders to narrative range of other
provide detailed interviews in multi modal
contextual each case site methods (e.g.
information. area(n=90) photographs)
Phase 1: Scoping
Stakeholder Phase 2b: Extended
Interviews Biographies &
Multimodal Method
July 2011-December
2011 May 2012-February
2013

5. Case Site Locations (but focus on Futurespace)
Peterston and Ely
Caerau, Cardiff
Royal Free
Hospital,
London
Tir Y Gafel Eco-
village,
Pembrokeshire

6. Ely & Caerau
• Population~ for years but we got used tolived init[street]we werein the
we were cold
24,000
Like I've got loads of friends and when we
it but was freezing
cold,
• Social stigma calor gas, it's not nice really. I have other friends
morning with one
who are on electric meter and I think 'Oh is it going to be ...?' they
• In top 10%pencil cases for school but will the electric go? and being
need new Welsh multiple-
deprivation indexto make ahaving to sit in clumps type of thing. So I
in that situation and everyone
then you don't want cup of tea and all that
to watch telly and
▫ Education &my first concern because I don't suppose you see that. I
think that was skills
▫ Income the futurecan global warming and what will happen to the
can't see
environment but I
of
see someone who is like freezing in their
▫ Housing, healthwhat that feels like. I know what it feels like to be
house and I know &
cold and not have money for heating and have access to heating. So
employment why that was my priority cos I know what that feels like
I suppose that's
▫ (Fuel) poverty istold this is going to happen but I can't actually see
whereas I am being endemic
it. - Kelly

7. • Active for ~ year
• Supported by Ely &
Caerau Communities 1st
• „ACE‟ development trust:
Action in Caerau and Ely
• Volunteers
▫ Timebanking
(http://www.elycaerau.c
om/Welcome.html)
• No resources

8. The vision
“Futurespace Ely and Caerau is a group
set up by a core group of enthusiastic
volunteers who are passionate about
Futurespace has a key element
bringing communities together and
promoting sustainablein that wehas
of a „community‟ living; is are
supported by“common needs and
identified the local Communities
First team a sense helping us to carry
goals, who are of the common
ourgood, shared lives, culture aims to
vision forward. Futurespace and
views of the world, and
generate a sustainable future in Wales by
working with communities in Ely and
collective action” (Silk, 1999: 6).
Caerau. There are two key goals - to
reduce the use of natural resources and
to address the issue of fuel poverty in
the local area.”

9. Constructs of community (not an exhaustive
list!)
• Communities can form or be:
▫ Geographical
▫ Interests
▫ Localised social systems binding social groups and institutions
A brand community is a specialized, non-geographically
▫bound community, based on a structured set of social
…of practice (shared learning)
▫relationships among admirers of a brand. It is specialized
…of social action
▫because“co-presenceis a branded good or service. Like other
Virtual at its center and absence” (Clark, 2007)
communities, it is marked by a shared consciousness, rituals
• They have or aim to: sense of moral responsibility. Each of
and traditions, and a
Common goals… - internal cohesiveness and identity
▫ these qualities is, however, situated within a commercial and
Empower
▫ mass-mediated ethos, and has its own particular expression.
Build resilience
▫ (Muniz & O’Guinn, 2001: 412). But what does this mean for a
▫ community group like Futurespace?
Increase capacity
• But perhaps they also need:
▫ External identity: A Brand (trust worthy, dependable, real etc...)

10. Community Identity & Futurespace
• Futurespace has much of what is on the last slide including
particularly those listed under the aims (e.g. common goals,
empowerment, building capacity). I‟m going to contend that
to be a successful community group, or more accurately to
have continued success, you need to be able to speak to all of
the things on the previous slide, particularly the need to
develop a brand, which comes with it‟s own pitfalls as we‟ll see.
I‟m going to use the successes and less successful ventures of
Futurespace to think about this a bit more. But before I do,
let me be clear, I am not in anyway judging this group , I
hope through this exploration I will make apparent some
of the challenges they face and what mechanisms are
needed to assist their work.

11. Interventions of Futurespace their
Alongside dealing with
•
disappointment the group have taken
Home energy surveys
• Traininga lobbying role (perhaps unknown to
on volunteers
• Grant funding community of Ely and Caerau)
the wider
• Community Solar PV scheme response to the
– they submitted a
▫ Homeowners free energy
DECC consultation on FiT revisions, have
▫ Community 25 yrs reliable
contacted and/or met MPs and Welsh
investment
Government Ministers.
Social enterprises Plus they have
▫ Aim 1000 ->500 EoI
continued to develop the home energy
▫ 100 leases signed
surveys, training and thinking about
• But then… for providing support to Ely
their role
and Caerau.

12. The group, due to a lack of
resources and the quickly
changing policy landscape,
struggled to keep the
community informed of the fast
developments. They had to rely
on help to disseminate from
Communities First Ely and
Caerau, which despite it giving
fantastic support, has its own
resource pressures. They tried
to use the local community
paper: Ely Grapevine – but not
everyone receives it (or indeed
reads it). Therefore some of
those who were interested in
the solar PV project did not
know why there was a delay.
This has possibly led to some
negative perceptions of
Futurespace.

13. The importance of external identity
work
• Before the FiT issues, Futurespace was perhaps seen as a „business‟
Whenthan voluntary organisation: “Alright Futurespace would
rather the PV scheme stalled, sympathy for the
Futurespacethe tariffsmaythenfelt, butin business project to
obviously get group but be if you‟re clear the you want
was not necessarily „owned‟ by community members –
make money don‟t you”
it is championed by “they” or “them” not “us” or “we”,
• until this FiT issues, trying to build upfuture uncertainty:
Before the participant talks about trust can be very difficult:
“Mind a lot of people were a bit taken aback with it because there‟s
an old saying: you don‟t get anything for nothing and because it
“But I know they were devastated you know because a
was free…it was hard to convince them that…it was ok; people get
they did such a lot of work and it‟s a that heartbreaking
bit suspicious about things for nothing and bit was quite sort of
really for them. I felt really sorry for them but
eye opening”
they’ve had lots of meetings and we’re just holding
on now, waiting to see what‟s going to happen”

14. Concluding Thoughts…
• Community groups, communities and policy
stakeholders work on different time-scales
▫ Community groups are increasingly acting as
“intermediaries” for national/international policy
goals – they need support to be able to engage in
such a fast changing policy landscape effectively.
• Community groups need internal cohesiveness
e.g. “common goals” and “shared lives”
• But also need a robust “brand” or external
identity
• Both internal and external identities are ongoing
“projects”

15. Acknowledgements: Futurespace
Group, ESRC.
Dr Karen Parhill
parkhillk@cardiff.ac.uk
Twitter: DrKAParkhill
www.energybiographies.org