(En)Visioning Justice: Citizens’ Assemblies and Energy Futures in the Global South
Two projects advancing the research agenda on energy justice in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region through Citizen Assemblies and academic debate.
Lead researchers: Ala’a Shehabi (UCL European & International Social & Political Studies), Muzna Al Masri (UCL Urban Lab), Dana Abi Ghanem (independent researcher), Mariam Daher (independent researcher)
The projects respond to the urgent need to centre citizens in national, regional and global decisions on energy policy, and incorporate a Global South perspective in the academic discussion of Energy Justice, particularly as it relates to our planetary future.
In the first project, within the global discussion of energy transitions, we explore the everyday reality and future imaginaries that could and should frame the priorities of the energy transition. We do this by nurturing a locally grounded and globally engaged space for debate on just energy futures by academics in the field.
The second project will conduct two citizens’ assemblies (CAs) in two different cities on the theme of energy transition, equity and sustainability, with a specific focus on the process of transitioning to renewable energy in urban settings in an affordable and effective way. The CAs will allow the scientific community the opportunity to decipher the complexity of an energy system to the general public, and to listen to their concerns, priorities and experiences.
The convening of the CAs will also allow for testing, advancing and evaluating the CA as a methodology for deliberative democracy in MENA cities. Based on that experience the project will produce a toolkit about how to organise, frame and conduct citizens' assemblies using the two CAs as examples of the kind of material, research and preparation required. At another level, it provides input to regional stakeholders working to advance energy justice futures for marginalised peoples across the MENA, whose needs are continually overshadowed by hydrocarbon imperatives that shape state visions, infrastructure policies, geopolitical power and conflict.
Partners
The projects are hosted under the UCL Urban Lab and funded by the Porticus Foundation.
News
- Consultation meeting on deliberative democracies and practices in Lebanon, leveraging the value of citizens’ assemblies and adapting them to the political context in Lebanon and countries in the region (Online, 19 July 2024)
- Roundtable discussion on setting a research agenda for energy justice in the MENA region (Online, 4 June 2024)
Shehabi, Ala’a, and Muzna Al-Masri. 2022. ‘Foregrounding Citizen Imaginaries: Exploring Just Energy Futures through a Citizens’ Assembly in Lebanon’. Futures 140 (June):102956.
Energy injustice is driven by structural inequalities that are evident in differential electricity provision, access and affordability that harm different groups in different ways. When an uprising began in Lebanon in 2019, the issue of energy justice emerged as a prominent grievance. We experimented with a combined democratic-justice approach to energy future-making through a Citizens' Assembly (CA) on energy justice.
Abi Ghanem, D. 2021. ‘Insights from an assemblage perspective for a (better) understanding of energy transitions: Facing the challenge of sustainability in Lebanon’s energy crisis’. In B. Turner & J. K. Hunter (Eds.), Energy justice and energy law (pp. 17-32). Routledge.
The energy sector in Lebanon faces many challenges: an ailing infrastructure dependent on fuel oil, a weakened electricity network damaged by violent conflicts over the years and an increasing demand for its services due to population growth, immigration and rising living standards. This publication argues that for an energy transition to be realisable in the current climate urgency, an inclusive approach that seeks collaboration among multiple actors is necessary.
Read here: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367486457-2