This research project is supported by Conseil régional Nord-Pas-Calais and ADEME (the French Agency for Environment and Energy Conservation). It involves 3 regional research centers: Ceraps (Lille 2), Clersé (Lille 1) and LSMRC (Lille 2). A network of institutional and civil society partners is associated to the project.
Beyong energy efficiency and renewables, ‘energy sufficiency’ can play an important role in achieving a ‘Factor 4’ reduction in fossil fuel consumption. This project aims at better understanding and collecting practices related to energy sufficiency in the French Nord Pas de Calais region. The project intends to investigate possible ways of institutionalising such practices and how this could be done.
The research explores emerging sufficiency practices from a sociological and marketing angles, in all daily life sectors (clothing, housing, leasure, transportation, etc.), how it is perceived by those adopting them, and how public bodies may stimulate them further. Comparison with foreign experiences (e.g. Cittaslow) is also planned.
My research center at Lille 2 is particularly involved in investigating how energy sufficiency interacts with and is constrained by consumption norms. A seminar has been organised in our premises in March 2013.
- More information on the project (in French)
- Details on the 2013 seminar ‘Sobriété énergétique et normes de consommation’ (in French)
Our gratitude to the supporters of this project.