Modelling & Spatial Mapping of Residential-Sector Emissions for Sub-National & Urban Areas.

The residential sector accounts for 33% of energy-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions globally and must undergo rapid emissions reductions in order to support broader society-wide sustainability and net-zero transitions. Additionally, urban areas account for approximately 70% of global GHG emissions. To provide a baseline for urban climate action plans and mitigation strategies, sub-national municipalities must quantify their sectoral baseline emissions in detail and develop strategies for reducing emissions relative to these baselines. Therefore, it is important to establish clear methodologies for computing these baselines in accordance with the best available science. This paper establishes a novel methodology for developing a residential sector emissions model using a data-driven and spatial mapping approach. This would form an important component of future multi-sectoral baseline emissions inventories. •The residential sector emissions model combines publicly available census and building energy performance datasets in order to model and visualize the distribution of energy demand and resultant emissions across an urban study domain in Ireland.•The methodology presented was developed in line with the approaches and requirements of the Global Covenant of Mayors and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.•It is envisioned that this residential sector emissions model methodology could be applied in any urban area worldwide.

Systematically reviewing the use of participatory methods in energy system modelling and planning literature.

This article outlines the systematic review process undertaken to identify what progress has been made on the integration of participatory methods into energy system modelling and planning. As an emergent field that combines technical / social sciences, it presented a couple of interesting challenges. Firstly, the issue of language emerged as there is a wide range of different terms that may be used to refer to both the involvement of stakeholders in research and energy system modelling and planning tools. This required careful consideration of the research questions and search criteria during the initial scoping exercise. On from this, a conceptual framing of what a meaningful stakeholder participation involves was developed to help define the criteria for inclusion in this study and assess the literature to date. Finally, in synthesizing the literature reviewed to provide an overview of the field, several creative data visualizations were produced.•Systematic review process customized to identify literature covering the integration of participatory methods and energy system modelling and planning tools.•Conceptual framework developed to define criteria for inclusion in the compiled database.

The diffusion of sustainability and Dingle Peninsula 2030.

Instilling a collaborative approach can widen participation to a range of stakeholders, enabling the diffusion of sustainability and increasing local capacity to meet decarbonisation targets to mitigate against climate change. Dingle Peninsula 2030 has emerged as an international case study of a collaborative regional sustainability project, whereby a wide range of initiatives, beyond the initial remit of the project, have emerged in the area. This holistic scale of action is required for effective climate action. Using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framing, the interrelated nature of climate action has been shown through this study. In setting out to undergo energy projects a wide range of new initiatives emerged as community members became engaged in the process. Initiatives have emerged related to energy, transport, agriculture, education, tourism and employment, in what we have coined the 'diffusion of sustainability'.

Mapping emergent public engagement in societal transitions: a scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Transition discourses are gaining prominence in efforts to imagine a future that adequately addresses the urgent need to establish low carbon and climate resilient pathways. Within these discourses the 'public' is seen as central to the creation and implementation of appropriate interventions. The role of public engagement in societal transformation while essential, is also complex and often poorly understood. The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding regarding public engagement and to address the often superficial and shallow policy discourse on this topic. MAIN TEXT: The paper offers a review of evolving literature to map emergent public engagement in processes of transition and change. We adopt a pragmatic approach towards literature retrieval and analysis which enables a cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral review. We use a scoping review process and the three spheres of transformation framework (designated as the practical, political and personal spheres) to explore trends within this complex research field. The review draws from literature from the last two decades in the Irish context and looks at emergence and evolving spaces of public engagement within various systems of change including energy, food, coastal management and flood adaptation, among others. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the siloed and fragmented way in which public engagement in transitions is carried and we propose a more cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary approach which depends on bringing into dialogue often contrasting theories and perspectives. The paper also illustrates some shifting engagement approaches. For instance, nexus articles between the practical and political spheres suggest deeper forms of public engagement beyond aggregated consumer behaviour to align technological delivery with institutional and societal contexts. While most articles in the practical sphere draw largely on techno-economic insights this influence and cross-disciplinarity is likely to draw in further innovations. Nexus articles between the political and personal sphere are also drawing on shifting ideas of public engagement and largely stress the need to disrupt reductive notions of engagement and agency within our institutions. Many of these articles call attention to problems with top-down public engagement structures and in various ways show how they often undermine and marginalise different groups.

A compiled dataset of the energy usage indicators and unit energy consumption values available in Ireland.

This dataset supports the analysis outlined in (McGookin et al., 2021) "An innovative approach for estimating energy demand and supply to inform local energy transitions" [1]. It consists of four key elements: a range of different energy usage indicators (e.g. the number of employees or cars in a region), national unit energy consumption values, energy supply fuel shares per sector, and an overview of the housing stock. Firstly, the range of socio-economic statistics used as indicators of energy demand are primarily gathered from the Central Statistics Office's (CSO), along with sector specific sources like the Department of Transport or Fisheries. Secondly, the national energy demand and supply in the five sectors of agriculture and fishing, industry, residential, services and transport comes from the national reporting body Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. These two datasets are then used to form the national unit consumption figures for a range of indicators in each sector. A national unit consumption value gives an average energy demand per statistical unit, for example MWh/employee or MWh/km driven. This can be used to estimate subnational energy demand in the absence of recorded energy data below the national level. Finally, the Building Energy Rating database (which is reported quarterly by the CSO) provides details on the Irish housing stock and non-domestic building's primary heating fuels.