V4civicenergy

The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggers a number of different psychological, social and economic reactions in societies. In the socio-economic aspect, the invasion evokes a sense of financial and social threat in a large number of European societies. Among the main reasons for unrest in the economic area is the concern about energy security and the provision of heat in buildings. The project is a direct response to the challenges of the sense of threat to energy security caused by the invasion of Ukraine in the societies of the V4 countries. The interruption of the supplies of gas, oil and other raw materials from Russia not only forced governments to adjust their energy policies to the new conditions but also forced citizens to change their social behaviour and strategy. This has given rise to grassroots social activities that we call ‘energy self-defence’, which is the main subject of this project.

The problem raised in this project is therefore complex: providing citizens with access to ‘clean energy’, showing social obstacles to access to energy and heat, unequal distribution of energy, and finally combining a fair energy transition with energy security, innovation and decentralisation of energy systems at the civic level. The invasion of Ukraine has shown that centralised, large power plants require high-voltage grids that can be interrupted by military actions and that large power plants are also easily attacked in military conflicts. On the other hand, decentralised energy systems based on renewable sources protect the climate, the pockets of citizens and households.

The project focuses on the analysis of the barriers and challenges faced by the citizens of the Visegrad Group countries in the face of increasing energy and heating fees. It also aims to explain and show how the energy crisis has influenced the behaviour of individual economically and spatially diversified social groups. The comparative research covering four countries, residents of rural and urban areas, as well as people with different financial and cultural capital, may show universal mechanisms in V4 societies. In general, it is about understanding how the concern for energy security has influenced the activity and actions of citizens and how energy self-defence can strengthen innovative behaviour in society. The implementation of this project makes it possible to formulate recommendations for public institutions and make it easier to finance practical solutions that, on the one hand, facilitate the development of the energy civil society sector and, on the other hand, reduce energy poverty and accelerate the process of energy transition in the V4 countries.

The project includes: a) Conducting research activities (focus group interviews with people who have invested in solar energy, energy storage and heat pumps and with people who fell into energy poverty after 2022). In each country, focus groups were carried out in 3 areas (approx. 7 people in each group - prosumers, heat pump users and people suffering from energy poverty). In total, 77 people took part on focus groups. b) Promoting research results and social recommendations based on the acquired empirical data (research report, policy papers in all languages of the involved countries and blogs in national languages).

Duration period: October 2023-November 2024

Principal investigator: Matúš Mišík, PhD.

Total budget: 44 600 €

Supported by: Project is supported by grant by the International Visegrad Fund (https://www.visegradfund.org/) under contract no. 22320072.