Engagement and Inclusion Experiences for Energy Communities. An Ongoing Case Study in Cagliari, Italy.

In recent years, we see further progress in the interest of the concept of energy communities. They have been able to attract much attention and research effort both because of their central role in the development of sustainable energy systems and because they are able to include and engage many people. Research indicates that participation in desirable energy activities is one of the keys to the effective enforcement of energy transition and, consequently, to the successful fight to climate change. Despite the potential for inclusion that energy communities hold, the classical governance tools favour the technical side rather than focusing on encouraging the active involvement of stakeholders and citizens who are potential participants in the energy community. For this reason, the overall aim of this article is to propose a method, projects, and engagement activities to build the conditions in which participation in the energy system can trigger virtuous behaviour by developing a certain dose of self-sufficiency in terms of management. We will argue that such method of engagement influences the extent to which parties can or cannot engage in the whole framework for the collective management of energy communities. To exemplify this approach, we present a still ongoing experience of a Solar Energy Community, the first in the city of Cagliari, to demonstrate how the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in renewable energy projects can contribute to producing spatial, social, cultural, and economic context that can adapt to changing circumstances, capacity demands, technological innovations, demographic, social, and economic trends.