Greater Manchester Energy Futures
Multi-disciplinary Action Research, Creative Backcasting
Role: Process design, Facilitation, Research, Prospectus development
Action Research into the potential of a Greater Manchester Municipal Energy Company commissioned by Jam and Justice and funded by Mistra Urban Futures
Co-ordinated by Energy Democracy Greater Manchester with Carbon Coop, Britt Jürgensen and Hannah Knox
This multidisciplinary action research project into the role of municipal institutions within the provision of energy in Manchester asked how workers and citizens might become more involved in the governance of the energy system, as a way of addressing societal issues such as fuel poverty and climate change. It brought together a group of climate activists, council officers, technology experts, elected politicians, trade unionists, grid specialists, researchers, co-operative practitioners and self-proclaimed policy wonks to explore the opportunity of democratically controlled energy in Greater Manchester.
The research led to the publication of the GM Energy Futures prospectus and the creation of the Power in the City walks that explored Manchester past, present and future energy system through an immersive performance.
“Greater Manchester stands on the brink of an energy system transformation, with new business model opportunities, citizen and worker engagement channels, and innovative forms of governance emerging.
We propose Greater Manchester Energy Futures a bold and ambitious, municipal enterprise with the ability to act as convener of new partnerships and initiator of energy and infrastructure projects. Such a company has the potential to radically re-configure the regional energy system for the benefit of citizens, customers, workers and the wider environment, in a way that generates resources for re-investment in services and infrastructure.
Here we collect a series of potential ventures for GM Energy Futures, each prospectus imagines the company at a different stage of its development in the years ahead, allowing the reader to track it progressively extend the scope and scale of its operations as new opportunities emerge and capacity and confidence grows.
Whilst these project ideas are purely speculation, all have a basis in present day technologies and pre-figurative initiatives running elsewhere today, all can be replicated in Greater Manchester in this unique enterprise.” (excerpt from the introduction to the prospectus)