In a world where climate change and environmental sustainability are at the forefront of the public conversation, and the benefits and burdens of the low carbon transition are felt unevenly across society, understanding the impacts of home energy interventions on health and wellbeing can inform policy and practice and progress energy justice. Home energy interventions include building modifications such as thermal retrofits and energy behaviour campaigns. To exchange knowledge on this topic, we organised an ‘unconference-style’ event, consisting of three relatively unstructured sessions in which likeminded people with diverse professional backgrounds shared their experiences and expertise.
The day event in Birmingham was attended by over 30 evidence-makers and practitioners working on energy poverty in the academic, advocacy, practical, and policy sectors across three countries. The event was organized by the Energy Systems Catapult, the Fuel Poverty Evidence project, and the Fuel Poverty Research Network, in collaboration with RMIT University and the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS).
In this event report, we delve into the key takeaways from each session and explore the issues and solutions discussed.
Session 1: Identifying Knowledge Gaps
In the first session we explored the gaps in knowledge and evidence on the impact of energy interventions on health and wellbeing. Some key research needs highlighted include:
- Inequalities in Health Impacts: understanding how socio-economic factors and health, shape the effects and experiences of energy interventions. Demographic characteristics such as older/younger adulthood, disability and income that predict higher risk of energy vulnerability are likely to influence health and wellbeing outcomes, too.
- Energy practices: exploring the home energy practices of consumers in general, and those of populations groups experiencing energy vulnerability specifically, to understand how differences in home energy use management and decision-making related to home energy interventions may shape inequalities in health and wellbeing.
- Impact of Energy Poverty on Children: assessing the impact of fuel and energy poverty on children’s health, social development, and educational success, including potential long-term consequences and intergenerational disadvantage.
- Energy Efficiency Retrofit: understanding the long-term health impacts of energy efficiency retrofit interventions in terms of quantitative, bioscientific evidence as well as qualitative sociological insights into the retrofit processes. A key area of interest are social housing retrofits and the role of housing providers in managing the housing improvements.
- Ventilation: considering the critical role of indoor air quality for health and wellbeing, understanding the effectiveness of different ventilation systems and their interplay with environmental conditions and householder practices.
- Double energy poverty: exploringthe interactions between fuel and transport poverty on health, considering geographical differences and including indirect pathways via access to healthcare.
Session 2: Creating the Evidence
The second session tackled the question of how to best produce the evidence needed to understand and address the health and wellbeing impacts of home energy interventions. Key findings included:
- Cross-sector and Interdisciplinary Collaborations: Cross-sector cooperation between academia, healthcare, community groups and government, as well as interdisciplinary collaborations between housing, health and social sciences through projects and events were identified as key for bridging knowledge gaps. Participants welcomed accessible formats of interactions, such as our workshop that was designed to appeal to varied disciplines and sectors.
- Data Collection and Sharing: An ambitious vision emerged of a data collection and sharing system that could provide interoperable, longitudinal data sets from the diverse disciplines and sectors to be accessed and analyzed by researchers for the benefit of all stakeholders. Such a resource should include a UK-wide harmonized data set on fuel poverty and transport poverty. Accessibility of both qualitative and quantitative data would facilitate mixed methods research and pragmatic insights into ‘what works’.
- Ethical Considerations: Participants discussed the ethical challenges of data sharing, particularly regarding personal health information, and the need for clear guidelines and practices.
Session 3: Translating Evidence into Policy and Practice
The third session focused on the critical task of translating evidence into actionable policies and practices. Highlights of the discussion centred on:
- Defining Success: Researchers, practitioners and policymakers need to collaboratively define what success looks and establish clear indicators to measure impact. There should be an iterative approach to policy and practice development in this way.
- Scaling Interventions: Replicating and expanding successful intervention programmes, practices and policies across regions, contexts, and for various medical issues is going to be critical for efficient, cost-effective and timely social change. Researchers, practitioners and policymakers need to work together to review the evidence, design strategies, develop capacities and make available the financial and human resources to scale up best practice interventions.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Capacity development across the different stakeholders groups, including health professionals, policymakers, and community organisations, is needed to raise awareness of the link between energy and health and help translate evidence into practice. In turn, stakeholder experiences can be turned into impactful stories to drive action.
- Practical Solutions: The discussion highlighted the need to develop solutions for timely practical implementation, addressing budget constraints, and aligning interventions with operational indicators and goals in the health sector to bridge the gap between evidence and practice.
Conclusion
Our unconference-style event provided a platform for in-depth discussions on these complex issues. The event highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaborations, ethical data sharing practices, and effective communication in addressing the challenges associated with home energy interventions, fuel poverty, and their effects on health and wellbeing.
By identifying knowledge gaps, and discussions on how these can be filled with robust evidence and translated into practical policies, this event has paved the way for a comprehensive strategy of understanding and taking advantage of the benefits of home energy interventions. The dialogues have also underscored the value of sharing ideas and experiences between researchers and research users. The cross-fertilisation of ways of thinking has promoted a more holistic approach to improving the lives of individuals affected by energy-related vulnerabilities.
As we move forward in our efforts to address fuel poverty and enhance the health and wellbeing of populations experiencing energy vulnerability, we will draw on the insights gained from this event. We will continue in our efforts to shape policies and practices through evidence and look forward to deepening and expanding our partnerships for advancing energy justice.