From energy security to security of energy services: the role of gendered innovations in living labs

Energy security remains a concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. The conceptualisation of energy security at the urban household level has shifted from the security of energy supply to the security of energy services, which is focused more on the demand side. Women and young girls are affected the most by insecure energy services. However, energy policy discourses often fail to focus on the security of energy services or to recognise gender roles in the provision of energy services at the household level. It is therefore imperative to develop innovative and gender-sensitive energy services solutions with a new paradigm of participatory solution design, such as living labs. We assessed living labs and the energy security landscape in poor urban environments through a systematic literature review, and proposed a framework for demonstrating how living labs could be used as a lever to promote the security of energy services. The security of energy services in poor urban households could be improved by harnessing the different innovative strengths of the respective genders. Living labs provide an ideal space for co-generating, co-designing, and co-learning to produce tailored energy services solutions. There is a need for a collaborative effort in resourcing researchers to undertake practical investigations of interactive multi-stakeholder platforms with those who are intended to benefit from the policy to increase its impact and to bridge the science-policy divide. Keywords energy security, energy services, gendered innovations, living labs, poor urban environments