Energy Cultures: A framework for interdisciplinary research

Abstract

The Energy Cultures framework aims to assist in understanding the factors that influence energy consumption behaviour, and to help identify opportunities for behaviour change. Building on a history of attempts to offer multi-disciplinary integrating models of energy behaviour, we take a culture-based approach to behaviour, while drawing also from cultural theories, actor-network theory, socio-technical systems, and lifestyles literature. The framework provides a structure for addressing the problem of multiple interpretations of ‘behaviour’ by suggesting that it is influenced by the interactions between cognitive norms, energy practices and material culture. By conceptualising the research arena, the framework creates a common point of reference for the multi-disciplinary research team. The Energy Cultures framework has proven to be unexpectedly fruitful. It has assisted in the design of the 3-year research programme, which includes a number of different qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In application to a given example, it helps to position the complex drivers of behaviour change. Although the framework has not yet been fully tested as to its ability to help integrate findings from our various research methods, we believe the Energy Cultures framework has promise in furthering interdisciplinary studies of energy behaviours in a wide variety of situations, being relevant to different contexts and different scales.