With the rapid development of society, complex problems are becoming increasingly visible such as climate change, energy shortage, poverty, and migration. Many organizations are cooperating together to solve these problems because it is impossible for one organization to handle all the different expertise and skills. The projects that consist of lots of organizations working together to solve problems can be called multi-stakeholder projects. It appears aiming to solve complex social challenges of sustainable development. With multiple stakeholders, the stakeholder management becomes more difficult. It is essential to know what does each stakeholder desires for enhancing collaboration and satisfying stakeholders. Among these desires, stakeholders desired values are crucial to identify because values are the reason behind stakeholders’ actions and decisions. The LIFE project is a typical multi-stakeholder project initiate by the City of Amsterdam and AMS Institute as the leader of Stakeholder Engagement and Inclusion. As an important part of stakeholder engagement in multi-stakeholder projects, this project aims to make contributions in identifying stakeholders’ desired values in the multi-stakeholder project. The Barrett Model about organizational values is the key academic support of this project. It’s used as materials to build the concept structure and as the basic for developing details of concepts. Literature from some other fields has been studied in this project to generate insights for eliciting desired values from stakeholders. This project ends with a final strategy concept, the Stakeholder Value Identification (SVI) Process, which applies various intervention to increase stakeholders’ willingness and ability to express their desired values and uses a closed-ended task as the core of the concept. The concept could be used not only in this stage of the LIFE project but also other stages, as well as other multi-stakeholder projects.

As part of the Dutch energy transition the municipality of Amsterdam has drafted their Transition Vision Heat, indicating which sustainable heating sources can be used in Amsterdam as an alternative for natural gas. One of the alternative heating sources identified is residual data center heat. With the project ‘Digital heat in the MRA’ the municipality aims to create a showcase project to stimulate the large-scale use of this type of heating source. Recognizing that there is a strong social aspect to the transition the municipality of Amsterdam aims to facilitate a fair and equitable transition. An important element of this recognition is the understanding that without community support, projects can run into delays or even lawsuits. Therefore, municipalities are now looking into co-creation as a way to include stakeholders in the transition. However, how to facilitate a fair and equitable co-creation process for the heating transition is still under debate and differs per project. Within the project ‘Digital heat in the MRA’ there is a focus on the role visuals could play to support the process of co-creation. To see if the conditions for a fair and equitable co-creation process are present in connecting two building blocks in Holendrecht this research draws on the insights from energy justice. Furthermore, as it is the organized stakeholders that shape the initial co-creation sessions, it is crucial to investigate if they identify issues with energy justice. In this way injustices can be identified from the start and be alleviated as much as possible to make sure the sessions are set up in an energy just manner. Therefore, the following research question has been formulated for this thesis: What energy injustices are identified by organized stakeholders in the transition towards sustainable heating in Holendrecht and how are visuals used to communicate about energy injustices? By means of a review of energy justice literature a set of indicators has been synthesized to form the basis of the participatory observations and interviews conducted for this study and formed the springboard for the thematic analysis. In total 13 participatory observations and 5 interviews have been conducted. This led to the identification of 10 energy injustices and the visuals used to communicate about those injustices. These have been subdivided between the three tenets of energy justice namely distributional justice, recognition justice and procedural justice. With regards to distributional injustice, net congestion, limited space in the subsurface, perceived availability of supply, financial differences between tenants and homeowners, and overlooking long-term impacts are identified as injustices impacting the fair and equitable transition. Regarding recognition justice, labeling tenants to only care about money and disturbance, and not including residents in the surrounding apartment blocks are identified as injustices. Lastly, the limited involvement of those directly affected, limited share of information and an imbalance in power are identified as injustices related to procedural injustice. Furthermore, it is found that visual communication regarding the injustices was mostly related to the physical infrastructure by means of maps and photographs. By identifying these injustices, a first step is made towards creating the conditions for a fair and equitable co-creation process into connecting the two building blocks in Holendrecht to a district heating grid. Furthermore, the visuals identified are able to serve as tools to communicate about the energy justice surrounding the physical infrastructure. With this, insights are given into the challenge to create a fair and equitable transition from natural gas heating towards sustainable heating within the metropolitan context of Amsterdam.

The energy grid is transitioning from a centrally controlled demand response system to a decentralized supply response system. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one is the need to transition to a low carbon energy system to tackle climate change and decrease our dependency on non-renewable energy sources. Next to this consumers become active consumers (prosumers) and increasingly take control over their local (energy) situation. As a result this transition creates a multitude of challenges and demands a re-design of the energy system. Stedin, the Netherlands 3rd largest Distribution System Operator (DSO), set out to find a solution to the challenges posed by the energy transition. The concept they came up with was a design for a Layered Energy System (LES). By running two pilots LES is fully developed and almost ready to be made available for the larger public in the form of a re-branding of LES to Lokaal Energy Flexibel (LEF). However, how LEF should be made available remains unknown. So in order for LEF to be launched to a larger public a new service needs to be designed. A service that sets out to communicate the information which is needed to start your own Local Energy Community (LEC) and collaboratively with Stedin and a service provider of choice set up a LEC. Designing this service is the task set out to solve in this project. One other task is determining what the role of Stedin should be in this process of setting up a LEC. The dilemma is Stedin wants to facilitate LECs and the market but on the other hand should not in turn take over responsibilities of the market. The methodology used to solve the aforementioned problem is service design. A concept service design is made that sets out to help communities explore how to set up a LEC. The design is centered around a community dashboard that shows the current energy situation within a community. All the data found in this dashboard can then also be used in a community configurator to create an ideal design for the local situation and community vision. This design is then communicated to Stedin in the form of a project sketch. Stedin can give feedback or a ‘go’ on the project sketch. This ends the explore phase, after which a LEC can turn to the market for materializing the design. The concept service is communicated with a future service scenario and a service blueprint. Out of this service blueprint the LEF landing page and the community configurator are prototyped and tested with potential users. After testing the solution and direction proved to be in the right direction. However a ‘dumb’ configurator as tested was found challenging for the typical community leader. This result vouches for a more data driven and automated configurator as proposed in the future service scenario. The thesis is concluded with a roadmap for implementation and advice on how to create an MVP as the first step towards implementing the service design.

Within the Energy Transition, citizen involvement is essential. In the end, we have to change together to succeed within the Energy Transition. Because of the local character of the Energy Transition and a responsibility shift, the municipalities have got the challenging task to increase citizen involvement. Local energy initiatives can be a promising solution for the Energy Transition. Therefore, the local energy initiatives can be interesting for municipalities when increasing citizen involvement. The aim of this research is to find a way for the municipality to make use of these local energy initiatives when trying to increase citizen involvement in the Energy Transition. The specific context of this research is the city of The Hague. The following research question has been formulated for this purpose: How can the municipality of The Hague increase citizen participation in the Energy Transition through local energy initiatives? In order to answer the research question, a collective case study and a design process are executed. In advance, preparatory research was conducted to explore relevant theoretical concepts for the research and to analyze the stakeholder ecosystem of the local energy initiatives. The collective case study was performed by conducting nine in-depth interviews with local energy initiatives based on a research framework. This research framework was substantiated by the Transformative Social Innovation framework. Furthermore, the design process is based on the Double Diamond approach using divergent and convergent thinking. Within this design process, multiple participatory elements were included like workshops and prototyping sessions with local energy initiatives and civil servants of the municipality of The Hague. From the research, it appeared that the local energy initiatives in The Hague fulfill a basic role and five specific roles, namely ‘awareness creation’, ‘action perspective creation’, ‘collaboration with the municipality’, ‘voice at the table’, and ‘execution and ownership’. It also came forward that the potential of the contribution of the local energy initiatives to the Energy Transition is not reached. This has three reasons. Firstly, there is no shared vision among the stakeholders. Secondly, the relationship with the municipality is undefined and inconsistent. Thirdly, there are several small challenges as keeping the initiative going, reaching out to people, and not being representative for the neighborhood. When looking at the relationship, the core challenge seemed a way to prioritize and choose the municipal support to provide, to which initiative, and at which moment. Based on this, a final concept was developed to create a strategy and action repertoire for the municipal support per neighborhood and initiative. The strategy is created based on three main questions regarding which roles to support, which support to provide, and how to provide the support. These questions are answered through the three perspectives of Design Thinking (desirability, feasibility, and viability) to cover the multiple aspects to consider when creating the strategy. Possible further research could focus on the development of the final concept in real-life cases and on the applicability of the five initiative’s roles and final concept in other contexts.

The Dutch Government has set an ambitious goal for Amsterdam Zuidoost to become energy neutral by 2040. While technological advancements and infrastructure developments are progressing, the current transition risks widening social inequalities and leaving vulnerable groups behind. Thus, an inclusive transition, which recognises that not everyone can afford to invest in an energy-sustainable future, is crucial. In a bid to accelerate the transition, the Local Inclusive Future Energy (LIFE) Project is, amongst others, working on utilising local and sustainable energy to ensure the inclusion of local residents in the low-income district of Amsterdam Zuidoost. In the context of the energy transition, inclusion typically refers to participation in energy exchange. Energy exchange is taking shape through the development of local, decentralised energy systems. Emerging in neighbourhoods and based on Peer-to-Peer and Transactive Energy models, these Local Energy Market Systems (LEMS) enable local production, storage and distribution of energy. However, designed to prioritise the interests of the grid, LEMS frame energy exchange solely as a transaction or trade, subjecting residents to the roles of profit-motivated buyers and sellers and thereby overshadowing the potential for fostering active inclusion and creating social value. With its unique mix of entertainment venues, social housing and large renewable asset owners, Amsterdam Zuidoost poses unique challenges and opportunities for becoming a pioneer in a socially inclusive transition. To move beyond the rational and market-driven constraints which govern current energy exchanges, this project takes a new anthropological approach, framing it as a primarily social, community-based and relational practice. By means of extensive ethnographic and research-through-design activities, the potential for socially inclusive energy exchange in Amsterdam Zuidoost is explored. Characterised by tight-knit social silos, residents stick within their own circles and thus social cohesion and a sense of community is lacking. Whilst entrepreneurial behaviour is evident, it remains behind doors and the skills and capabilities of local neighbourhoods is hidden and untapped. To tap into the overlooked potential of local expertise and to expand social networks, this project suggests a new type of exchange, coined as ‘relational giving’. Through the giving of services and actions in return for local tokens opportunity is created for the formation and strengthening of social relationships. ‘Relational giving’ translates in the concept of ‘energy actions’: local energy related actions such as handy work and education. Local tokens are introduced as a tool to support relational giving, incentivising energy actions, recognising contributions and, importantly, facilitating exchange between the socially distant. The vision for relational energy exchange is told through the mix media outputs of this project. Besides video, an energy actions enactment game is designed to activate stakeholders and a framework for a ‘Social Local Relational Energy Ecosystem’, which considers the roles of multiple actors in unlocking social energy, is presented. Ultimately, this project aims to inspire and offers a new perspective on energy exchange, introducing tangibility to an entangled and unexplored space. Energy is repositioned not as a commodity to be bought and sold, but as an agent for building inclusive and socially cohesive communities.

When we think about the fact that 70% of the earth is covered by water, it may be easy to assume that water is abundant and that it would never have to be an issue in terms of having a constant supply to drink. In reality, it is a very complex matter for everyone to be able to access and drink safe water. Water is essential to maintain life on earth but as a resource it is not always located and in the state that is ideal for consumption. Often what is accessible is either contaminated, in dispute or not appropriate for its intended use. With regards to water safety, Bangladesh is the country with the largest proportion of people exposed to arsenic contamination around the world, the situation of which has been described by the World Health Organisation (2010) as the “largest mass poisoning of a population in history”. From the various technologies available, it has been established that Piped Water Supply Systems show a lot of promise in providing safe water to Rural and Peri -Urban communities of Bangladesh. Issues with this new system include lack of trust in the system, high costs, infrastructural and technical issues and operation and maintenance issues. These along with a lack of knowledge on water safety and varied literacy rates are some of the factors that contribute to low acceptance of the system. Awareness and educational campaigns have had a positive influence on communities regarding their choice of safe water sources. New and effective methods of building awareness through different channels is needed for long term impact and behaviour change. Approximately 50% of the rural households own and use smart phones with Internet access, and this number is rapidly increasing. This shows scope for monitoring water supply systems and building knowledge with smart phones in order to reach and engage communities. Uncertainties within the system were identified and information topics under the themes of Water quality, Health, Water practices and Water sources was designed to be communicated to the people of Bangladesh through the TAPP smart phone application, in order to build their knowledge and understanding of water safety. The long term goals of this project includes acceptance and engagement of Bangladeshi communities towards Piped Water Supply(PWS) systems and to affect the behaviour of people with regards to their choices on consuming safe drinking water. The use of ICT as the communication channel is relatively low cost and has a broad range of possibility to reach the citizens. The impact can be great if the knowledge penetrates within the families, and thus help in changing people’s decisions around drinking water.

In order to overcome the existential threat of climate change the energy transition is needed. The energy transition has multiple challenges, one of them being that it risks increasing inequality. This challenge also occurs in Amsterdam Zuidoost. In Amsterdam Zuidoost almost one out of five households lives already in energy poverty, which risks to increase due to the energy transition. The LIFE project, located in Amsterdam Zuidoost, aims to reduce energy poverty and contribute to the transition towards clean energy. LIFE is an acronym for Local Inclusive Future Energy. The aim of the project is to stimulate smart energy use which enables flexibility of the local energy system. To ensure meaningful interaction between future users and the design of the project, this research aims to develop a framework that presents the conditions for interventions that contribute to a more inclusive energy transition in Amsterdam Zuidoost. For this research, inclusivity is conceptualised as the active involvement of citizens in the energy transition. This means that an open door policy is not enough, inclusion is a reflexive process in which the competences and desires of the excluded are put at the centre. The data collection method consisted of an exploration of the literature, ethnographic research in Amsterdam Zuidoost and an analysis of transcripts of interviews with key-informants. This led to a framework consisting of nine conditions for interventions for an inclusive energy transition. The established conditions are the following agency, identification of the community, skill development, multi-objectivity, the need for safety, communication methods, practical examples, lightheartedness and youth. These conditions were found to emphasise, ensure or stimulate the inclusivity of the interventions for the energy transition. The different conditions are heavily interlinked and are able to stimulate each other. Intentional participatory observations led to the suggestion of interventions that align with the found conditions. Some suggested interventions are a pop-up park, energy desk, training on how to save energy, heat photos, smart meters and energy classes at schools. These suggested interventions meet some of the conditions of the established framework, and therefore aim to contribute to a more inclusive energy transition in Amsterdam Zuidoost. Finally it is recommended to evaluate the outcome of the different intervention and compare those for further steps. Also investigating if the framework is applicable to other neighbourhoods or other types of transition might be of value.

The urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels due to their contribution to climate change and environmental degradation has become increasingly evident. The global emissions must be reduced to zero within the next few decades to avoid severe consequences. The recent invasion of Ukraine has further highlighted the importance of clean and affordable energy technologies to address economic, climate, social, and security priorities. While the energy transition is often approached from a technical standpoint, this thesis recognizes the significance of social dimensions in shaping behaviors, attitudes, and governance structures. By adopting a cultural perspective of energy consumption behavior, the study aims to provide a holistic understanding of the transition process. This thesis investigates the shift from a passive to a proactive energy relationship, taking into account the influence of changing context factors. It begins by framing energy relations through extensive literature research and research methods, resulting in the development of an energy relation framework. This framework emphasizes the role of individual autonomy and integration in shaping energy relationships. Historical research and trend analysis are conducted to examine the evolution of energy relations and identify potential future scenarios. Building upon the understanding of energy relations, the thesis proposes the design of an intervention that enables individuals to experience a proactive energy relationship. The Forekast is based on a redesign of a transformer box into an interactive intervention that increases energy awareness and highlights the interconnectedness of energy, weather conditions, and consumption patterns. The effectiveness and desirability of the intervention are evaluated through tests conducted at Energie Lab Zuid-Oost and a street test in ArenApoort. The evaluation assesses the impact of the intervention on residents’ engagement, knowledge-sharing, and adoption of sustainable energy practices. The thesis concludes by discussing the implications and value of fostering a proactive energy relationship, contributing to the acceleration of the overall energy transition. In conclusion, this thesis sheds light on the relational aspects of energy in the context of the energy transition. By examining the shift from a passive to a proactive energy relationship and proposing an intervention that serves as a catalyst for dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and empowering residents to actively engage in sustainable energy practices. Keywords: energy relationship, context factors, intervention design, proactive approach, energy transition.