Amsterdam Energy Collective Platform

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

By Daniel Bieckmann
energy, agency, participation, design-based democracy, grassroots power

This platform aims to build local agency over energy in Amsterdam, by providing information and concrete mechanisms of resident participation.

The world is facing a complex ecological challenge, that requires a quick transition to carbon free or even carbon negative energy systems. Due to the widespread presence of energy in modern society, this energy transition provides a window of opportunity to re-structure existing power structures and hierarchical relations.

Amsterdam is also tasked with this energy transition. Currently, the city is highly dependent on fossil fuel energy sources, with only approximately 6% of total consumed energy coming from renewable energy sources. However, there is also a window of opportunity. Currently, the municipality of Amsterdam is led by a green, left and progressive coalition. This coalition has both explicitly stated to aim for making Amsterdam a leader in the energy transition, and has shown willing to stimulate the role that residents play in the decision-making process in the city.

However, even though the municipal government is willing to include citizens, concrete mechanisms of participation in larger issues is missing. Thus, the plenty local energy initiatives that are occurring across the municipality of Amsterdam have little collaboration, shared learning, and coordination. What is needed is a place of collaboration, and concrete shared decision-making, through which a varied group of actors in the municipality of Amsterdam can push the energy transition forward in an inclusive and efficient way.

Thus, the Amsterdam Energy Collective (AEC) platform aims to provide a centralized overview of the energy system of Amsterdam. Thus, it includes an extensive map that shows the currently available renewable energy infrastructure of the municipality:

The AEC platform builds upon and integrates existing energy platforms and resources, but connects it through action potential by allowing residents to propose and assign new projects on energy in the municipality of Amsterdam- this will create a database of wants and needs around the topic of energy in the municipality of Amsterdam. More than a place to gather information, the platform can be used as a tool to facilitate discussion and generate new ideas through on the ground workshops, in which existing energy projects and infrastructure can be evaluated, after which local residents, under the guidance of one of the many active community organizations, can come up with locally relevant energy projects that both address the local needs, and build upon the locally available assets of communities.