Community Energy Initiatives User Guide
Contents
1. Length of residence in the locality averaged 24 years and ranged from 6 months to 80 years the majority were owner occupiers 75 and lived in detached homes 55 In terms of national identification the most common labels used by participants were Welsh 30 English 85 and British 28 Across the six projects there was little variation in age or gender profiles in comparison to the sample overall Devising quantitative measures Principle components factor analysis PCA using oblique rotation was used to create scale measures from items intended to measure New Ecological Paradigm NEP environmental beliefs and norms and social identification For NEP items PCA produced a two factor solution explaining 48 of variance An additive scale of 5 items concerning pro science and technology beliefs dominant social paradigm or DSP had an alpha reliability of 0 76 a second scale of 5 items reflecting concern for nature new ecological paradigm or NEP had an alpha reliability of 0 61 The two factor structure for this scale replicates previous applications of the NEP items e g Wall Devine Wright and Mill forthcoming For environmental beliefs and norms a PCA was undertaken on the six items producing a two factor solution with 3 items at the personal level consequences responsibility and moral norms alpha 0 77 and 3 items at the community level alpha 0 72 In each case items capturing normative beliefs loaded2. Owner Occupier Mortgage _ Private tenant _ Council Housing Association Tennant _ How would you describe your home Detached Semi detached _ Terrace _ Flat
3. C in other places The project has only gone ahead because _ of local community support and involvement I understand more about renewable C energy as a result of the project I am more aware of climate change as a L result of this project eae a e SIE als SES En AE iar ait e Sie Seal E E Ee 0 Ee ee Ve I feel more positive about renewable L energy as a result of the project We would like to know more about your general attitudes towards the environment This helps us to understand the reasons why people take part in certain activities Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with these statements Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly There are no limits to growth for nations C E F C F like the UK Local communities have some responsibility to prevent climate change Making changes to the environment L rarely causes serious problems Science will help us to live without C conservation Humans were created to rule over nature C ee ee e E Ey ee e e EE a IE Tes E E E E I feel a personal obligation to do E whatever I can to prevent climate change Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly The balance of nature is delicate and C C C C C easily upset The Earth is like a space ship with C limited room and resources I feel it s my responsibility to behave in _ ways to prevent climate change Plants and animals do not exist
4. council Falstone Solar photovoltaic panel and Public 250 000 26 100 biomass boiler in village shop sector tea rooms and visitor centre partnership Gamblesby Ground source heat pump for Village hall 42 100 27 91 renovation project on village hall committee Data collection and analytic strategy Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data in each location Interviews were conducted with local stakeholders and individuals involved in instigating supporting and opposing the projects Questionnaires were distributed to local residents the data from which forms the main basis of this paper Surveys with covering letters translated into the Welsh language for Welsh case studies were delivered by project researchers to each house in the village or target area except in the case of Gamblesby when due to researcher illness Surveys were part delivered and part posted to local residents The survey was designed with a mixture of open ended and closed both binary and likert type 1 5 response formats to questions Sections of the survey addressed socio demographic details project involvement beliefs about the project environmental beliefs and worldviews and social identification with the community Specifically 20 items were intended to capture project beliefs and were based upon policy documents DTI 2006 and academic literature e g Slovic 1999 Zoellner and Schweizer Ries 2005 concerning issues such as e
5. UK Data Archive Study Number 5714 Community Energy Initiatives Embedding Sustainable Technology at the Local Level 2005 Community Energy Initiatives RES 338 25 0010 This research project was funded by Economic and Social Research Council under the Sustainable Technologies Research Programme grant number RES 338 25 0010 Data description This project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under Sustainable Technologies Programme Research context Arising from qualitative interviews with national and regional stakeholders reported elsewhere and scrutiny of a database of over 500 UK community renewable energy projects devised as part of the research project data was collected in six small scale rural settlements where community renewable energy projects had been successfully implemented three in Wales Llanwyddn Moel Moelogan and Bro Dyfi and three in the North of England Kielder Falstone and Gamblesby between June and September 2005 see figures 1 and 2 The rationale for collecting data in two regional areas of the UK was to enable the identification of wider political and institutional factors shaping the emergence of the projects reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the project as a whole Figure 1 Locations of community energy projects in Wales and North England Kielder Moel Moelogan Falstone Llanwddyn 4 ia gt Bro Dyfi Gamblesby The projects were intended to
6. about this questionnaire please do not hesitate to get in touch Your contact for the study is Dr Sue Hunter Principle Researcher Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development De Montfort University The Gateway Leicester LE 9BH Telephone 0116 207 8836 Email sehunter dmu ac uk Website www staffs ac uk IESR communityenergy htm Thinking about the insert type of project project in insert place name How long have you known about the project Have you been involved in the project in any way Including attending any public meetings YES L NO If yes how have you been involved Have you made any direct contribution to the project such as your time money or skills YES C NO L If so what kind of contribution was it Have you had an opportunity to express your views of the project YES C NO E If so what was the opportunity Have your views of the project changed over time Yes NO DO If so why Do you think there have been or will be any positive outcomes of the project going ahead Please list any you can identify Do you think there have been or will be any negative consequences of the project going ahead Please list any you can identify Who do you think should be responsible for organising projects like this within the community What does community mean to you Below are some statements about perceptions of the project Please indicate how much y
7. fication feel a sense of belonging with the community feel a sense of pride in the community feel that can participate fully in community activities feel that cannot communicate my own needs within the community effectively recoded References Bonaiuto M Breakwell G M and Cano I 1996 Identity processes and environmental threat The effects of nationalism and local identity upon perception of beach pollution Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology 6 157 175 Department of Trade and Industry 2006 The Energy Challenge Energy Review Report 2006 Department of Trade and Industry London Dunlap R Van Liere K Mertig A Catton Jr W and Howell R 2000 Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm A Revised NEP Scale Journal of Social Issues 56 3 425 441 Slovic P 1999 Trust emotion sex politics and science Surveying the risk assessment battlefield Risk Analysis 19 4 689 701 Stern P C Dietz T Abel T Guagnano G and Kalof L 1999 A Value Belief Norm Theory of Support for Social Movements Human Ecology Review 6 2 81 97 Wall R Devine Wright P and Mill G forthcoming in 2007 Comparing and combining psychological theories to explain environmentally significant behaviour the case of commuting Environment and Behavior Zoellner J Ittner H and Schweizer Ries P 2005 Perceived Procedural Justice as a Conflict Factor in Wind Energy Pla
8. highest on each factor Finally PCA produced a single factor social identity scale consisting of the four items with an alpha reliability of 0 78 Specific items used in each scale are listed in full below Scale measures a Environmental worldview Dominant social paradigm Science will help us live without conservation of species Making changes to the natural environment rarely causes serious problems Humans were created to rule over nature There are no limits to growth for nations like the UK Technology will solve many environmental problems New ecological paradigm The earth is like a spaceship with limited room and resources The balance of nature is delicate and easily upset Exploitation of resources should be stopped One of the most important reasons for conservation is to preserve wild areas Plants and animals do not exist primarily for human use b Climate related beliefs and norms at personal and collective levels Personal level items feel a personal obligation to do whatever can to prevent climate change feel it s my personal responsibility to prevent climate change In general think that climate change will be a very serious problem for me and my family Collective level items Local communities should not take action to prevent climate change recoded Local communities have some responsibility to prevent climate change Climate change is not a serious threat to my community recoded c Social identi
9. nhanced awareness trust certainty of outcome control over decisions taken and fairness Due to space limitations values were not measured however environmental worldview was measured using a10 item New Ecological Paradigm scale Dunlap and VanLiere 2000 and climate change related environmental beliefs were measured using 6 items about awareness of consequences ascription of responsibility and moral norms at both personal and community levels of analysis drawn from Stern and colleagues Value Belief Norm theory 1999 Social identity contextualised in the respondent s relation to the local community was measured using 4 items concerning belonging pride communication and participation drawing on previous work by Bonaiuto Breakwell and Cano 1996 For measures of project beliefs NEP environmental beliefs norms and social identification respondents rated their level of agreement with each statement on a scale from 1 to 5 representing strongly disagree to strongly agree Sample Of 676 distributed 208 completed questionnaires were returned representing an overall response rate of 31 which varied little across the six places The sample consisted of 95 males and 107 females with six missing values The age profile indicated a predominantly older sample with few respondents aged under 35 approx 10 most respondents aged over 55 years 47 and 28 of respondents indicating that they were retired
10. nts Planning Process Paper presented at the 6 Bi annual Conference of Environmental Psychology University of Ruhr Bochum September www dmu ac uk i i m Staffordshire J S UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY T LEICESTER BEDFORD northumbria UNIVERSITY ESS SRG Energy in the Community Gauging your Opinions Thank you for agreeing to complete this opinion survey It is designed to gauge your attitudes and opinions relating to a wide range of issues that concern insert village name including issues relating to the insert project name It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council ESRC based in Swindon and is part of a large research project co ordinated by De Montfort University Staffordshire University and Northumbria University It is important to the research team that you answer as many questions as possible This is because we want to compare as many questions as possible This will help us give a more accurate view of everyone s views in insert village name We would ask that one individual in the household completes the survey The results are of great use to both local and central agencies who are interested in how individuals perceive local energy initiatives and so you can be sure that the opinions you express here will not be written in vain At no point in the survey are details required that could identify you All responses are strictly confidential If you require further information
11. ou agree or disagree with each statement by ticking one of the boxes below Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly I was motivated to become involved in _ C C C C the project I am in favour of the project O I feel that my views have been taken L into account about the project I feel a sense of pride in the project L The project has helped bring the E community together I feel personally responsible for the L project I do not feel a sense of trust in the organisations involved I think projects of this type are important _ for addressing climate change The committee leaders have the capacity _ to drive the project forward el Tele i eh EE a vi TT Ea ee ie BIE et gh ia al el Ey eT AE e EAT OO OF OG Uo Oo Oo 0 I think the setting up and development _ of the project has been carried out in a fair and open way LJ LJ LJ E The community as a whole has L responsibility for the success of the project LJ E Ll Ll When I first heard about the project L I was unsure it would succeed Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly I had access to decision making C C C C C concerning the project I feel that the project will not have an LI impact on climate change I had no ability to influence decisions L made regarding the project I feel a sense of trust in the project L organisers I think projects like this should be set up
12. primarily for human use Climate change is not a serious threat to my local community conservation is to preserve wild areas Local communities should not take action to prevent climate change Ll L One of the most important reasons for Ll m Technology will solve many L environmental problems Exploitation of resources should be L stopped Hw ie a Jer Aa ee ist Jer 7 A ek G i A A A OB T O i a a A A mE ey T amp 0 Ee p o O w In general I think that climate change will be a very serious problem for myself and my family In this part of the survey we are looking at some of the reasons that people behave in the ways that they do and become involved in different activities Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with these statements Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly I feel that I can participate L C L L E fully in community activities If something looks too complicated O I will not even bother to try it I avoid trying to learn new things when they look too difficult A ee E L E L L L When trying something new I soon C C C C give up if I am not initially successful Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly When I make plans I am certain I can E C L L E make them work If I can t do a job the first time I keep trying until I can I feel a sense of belonging within The community When I have something unpleasan
13. reflect a variety of renewable resources wind solar geothermal energy and biomass technologies for heat and power generation wind turbines solar panels ground source heat pumps and wood boilers scales of development from single building scale through local heat networks to a grid connected wind farm spatial location and institutional structure yet were intended to be similar in having successfully installed renewable technology and reported high levels of community involvement or beneficial outcomes in each place as indicated by materials produced by the project organisers The project at Moel Moelogan was distinctive in having been recognised as a best practice example of community renewable energy Key aspects of each project are summarised in table 1 Table 1 Key aspects of the six community renewable energy projects Location Technology context Institutions Funding Responses Llanwyddn_ Biomass district heating network Public 375 000 34 100 linking school and community private centre plus 19 local houses partnership Moel 3 grid connected 1 3MW wind 3 local 2 6 51 150 Moelogan turbines phase 1 later farmers million increased to 11 phase 2 Bro Dyfi One 75kW wind turbine grid Committee 83 555 32 100 connected CO operative Kielder Biomass district heating network Public 630 000 38 135 linking school youth hostel 6 sector houses workshop and castle local
14. t to do I stick to it until I finish it When I decide to do something I go right to it Failure just makes me try harder When I set important goals for myself I rarely achieve them w e e e e a a I feel that I cannot communicate my own needs within the community effectively I do not seem to be capable of dealing L with most problems that come up in my life When unexpected problems occur I don t handle them very well I feel insecure about my ability to do things community My life is determined by my own actions I am usually able to protect my personal Interests Ar k E E e i E E a e a E a e el EE isi a ie i viel E teh Ae e ie ee fate 4 Wal jel ie daly We ae igh fe tig a af ff Ht G 0 0 0 amp b amp b fb m 0 fa E LJ LJ I feel a sense of pride in the L L L L I can pretty much determine what will happen in my life Gender Male Female _ PROCS no raa EN Yo r occ paton soise e na aa r e OT EE a O a E Is this Full Time el Part Time Retired What is the occupation of the head of the household if different supe TRA EASA AAAA EDATS school age children E A a ARG children under 5 Are you a member of any community or environmental organisations and if so which Which nationality would you consider yourself to be Please tick Welsh English Scottish Irish _ British Other How would you describe your home circumstances
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search