The impact of climate change and the capacity to mitigate its negative impacts are unevenly distributed across and within societies; it is the poorer, marginalised and vulnerable groups who are the most acutely affected. ACCTING has collected 358 narratives via individual interviews in 13 European countries to capture some of the experiences of those vulnerable groups. These narratives on inequalities in enablers and hindrances for advancing behavioural change span eight thematic research lines – each addressing an EU Green Deal policy area. Read our dataset including all 358 narratives collected.
Luigi, Italy, lives independently in an energy community
“My name is Luigi, I am over sixty years old and I am retired. I was an inmate and lived in a psychiatric hospital, then in a shelter and finally in an independent flat. I have two children, who live in another city and visit me when they have time.
For many years I knew that a foundation was building these ecological houses where I live now, and that I could go there when they were ready. These houses are built of brick, with straw inside, to insulate them, and they have solar panels on the roof. There is an accumulator that stores the energy for when the sun is out. In the summer, there is a lot of energy, and a transformer sends it into the public electricity grid, while when we need energy we can take it from the same grid and so what we earn and what we spend is compensated. I’ve been living here for three months now and I’m very happy because the house is bigger than the one I was in before, it’s more spacious, and we pay very little for electricity. We practically only pay for water and the tax for garbage. In the house where I was staying before, I went as far as paying bills of 90 and even 130 euros, whereas here, since I arrived in August and it is still quite warm, I have never had to pay for electricity.
When I joined the Foundation’s project years ago, before the little houses were ready, they gave me a course to be a cook and I worked in the kitchen. I also took a cook’s exam. Then, after a few years, they told me about the energy community and told me that the houses were ready and that I could have one.
“They told me I would be living there, but it took almost ten years in the end. I said, Let’s hope I’m still alive by then! If I am still here, I would certainly be very glad.”
These houses are like our own. We pay taxes but don’t pay rent. They are ours for life, even if we get to live a hundred years. But when we are gone, they will become someone else’s. The Foundation has other projects like this in other cities. This is a project that embraces the whole region. They go around checking that everything works and that all the people are well. So, we are not alone, because we are part of this Foundation and we are partners. As an obligation, for me, who no longer works, I only have to do my own shopping, make my own food and keep the house clean and tidy. We are free people, and we could also marry and bring another person to live here, for example, if we wanted to. Then they help us if we have any problems. I, for example, once broke my mobile phone and had to buy a new one. I spent 200 euros, so I asked if they could lend me 50 euros. They gave it to me and said they wouldn’t take it back, and to let them know if I needed money from time to time.
There cannot be a better place for me to live than here. With my social pension of EUR 650 a month I could not pay rent, pay the bills, maintain the car and feed myself. But I can now because I don’t pay rent or electricity. So, I have about 100 euros a month left in my pocket and I can do some small expenses for myself.”
