The social practices of change agency in the context of community energy use

Riedy, C

The social practices of change agency in the context of community energy use

Riedy, C

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Publisher:: Global CIities Research Institute
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Global CIities Research Institute People and the Planet 2013: Conference Proceedings, 2013, pp. 1 - 19
Issue Date:: 2013-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Riedy, C https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3668-737X	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	James, P	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Hudson, C	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Carroll-Bell, S	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Taing, A	en_US
dc.date	2013-07-02	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Global CIities Research Institute People and the Planet 2013: Conference Proceedings, 2013, pp. 1 - 19	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/29502
dc.description.abstract	Abstract: This paper investigates the social practices of Australian sustainability `change agents that are working to reduce community energy use. These change agents work to promote change for sustainability, often through leadership of specific projects or initiatives. Their practices are of interest because they influence the effectiveness of efforts to reduce energy consumption. The specific social practice framework employed in the paper draws on the work of Elizabeth Shove and colleagues. It contends that social practices integrate three types of element: materials, competences and meanings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 28 change agents across Australia, the paper identifies the materials, competences and meanings held by the change agents and explores how those elements are integrated into practices. Observed competences included skills in co-learning or facilitated learning and the cultivation of positive agency. Change agents employed diverse materials, including new forms of media, and tailored their initiatives to the material context in which they were operating. In the realm of meanings, change agents drew on competing theories of change but were united in their focus on the individual as the locus of change. A social practice framework decentres the individual and may offer new opportunities to shift community consumption patterns.	en_US
dc.publisher	Global CIities Research Institute	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Global CIities Research Institute People and the Planet 2013: Conference Proceedings	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	People and the Planet: Transforming the Future	en_US
dc.title	The social practices of change agency in the context of community energy use	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia	en_US
utslib.location.activity	RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia	en_US
utslib.for	1205 Urban and Regional Planning	en_US
dc.location.activity	RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2013-07-04	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia	en_US
pubs.start-date	2013-07-02	en_US

Abstract:

Abstract: This paper investigates the social practices of Australian sustainability `change agents that are working to reduce community energy use. These change agents work to promote change for sustainability, often through leadership of specific projects or initiatives. Their practices are of interest because they influence the effectiveness of efforts to reduce energy consumption. The specific social practice framework employed in the paper draws on the work of Elizabeth Shove and colleagues. It contends that social practices integrate three types of element: materials, competences and meanings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 28 change agents across Australia, the paper identifies the materials, competences and meanings held by the change agents and explores how those elements are integrated into practices. Observed competences included skills in co-learning or facilitated learning and the cultivation of positive agency. Change agents employed diverse materials, including new forms of media, and tailored their initiatives to the material context in which they were operating. In the realm of meanings, change agents drew on competing theories of change but were united in their focus on the individual as the locus of change. A social practice framework decentres the individual and may offer new opportunities to shift community consumption patterns.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/29502