Design for Collectives — Mini Episode: The Myth of the Passive Consumer

In this mini episode of Design for Collectives, Anna Chatzimichali, Associate Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bath, challenges one of the energy sector’s most persistent assumptions that consumers are passive, uninformed, and need incentives to change.

As smart meters, electrification, and flexibility programmes reshape how households interact with the grid, most policies still rely on top-down behaviour change. They assume people just need more information or financial motivation. But research tells a different story.

Anna explains why households are already actively managing energy, especially when they feel socially connected within their communities. Rather than treating people as passive recipients of policy, this episode argues for a bottom-up approach that starts with real social relationships and everyday practices.

Understanding how communities function could help policymakers target investment more effectively, design systems that reflect real behaviour, and accelerate the transition to net zero.

Because energy flexibility isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s a social one.

Next time: Energy as a social value.

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