The GLOW Team launched the project in a dynamic Hive-based workshop on 22nd March 2022. Experts from the housing, energy, infrastructure, and digital futures as well as architecture and design explored the challenges and opportunities in household energy management (HEM) technologies’ interconnectedness with community energy demand [spatially, digitally, and socially].
The aim of this launch workshop was to provide an innovative dynamic approach to engaging stakeholders with how people manage energy in homes and what could be learned from bees’ social organization and communication. Building on a growing interest in sustainable energy transitions and energy democracy, this project workshop launch offered an accelerated approach for both communities and individuals to forge a new relationship with energy. Though the focus is on the energy sector and housing, findings from this project have wider implications and potential benefits in the food supply chain for instance, where collective needs necessitate an optimized individual response.