Energy Detective Notebook

Context: who/when/where

Who: Youth

When: During Play Session

Where: Youth Center, GIGOS Nieuw Kempen

Description:

This tool was developed during the Rewolrding project for youth to observe and record energy use in their homes, asking about specific items and habits. This approach, potentially utilising visual aids like stickers to bridge language barriers, fostered tangible engagement and anchored the abstract concept of energy usage to their lived experiences. It built upon initial observations and contributed to the iterative development of project tools.

This exercise was observed to be a fun one, but due to being one of the first attempts, we could not capture too much of their attention and having paper and pen could have felt like a homework task.

References:

Huybrechts, L., Dreessen, K., & Schepers, S. (2012, August). Mapping design practices: on risk, hybridity and participation. In Proceedings of the 12th Participatory Design Conference: Exploratory Papers, Workshop Descriptions, Industry Cases-Volume 2 (pp. 29-32).

Extra:

Engagement with more-than-human entities

This project demonstrates indirect engagement with more-than-human entities through the mediation of energy flows and domestic technologies. The youth are observing and recording energy use through household items and appliances, which act as interfaces between human activity and broader energy systems. The energy itself represents a connection to more-than-human networks - power grids, natural resources, and infrastructure systems that extend far beyond the home. However, the engagement appears primarily anthropocentric, focusing on human habits and consumption rather than explicitly recognizing the agency or relationships with non-human actors in energy systems.

Interpretation as “retracing”, that is what we can learn from these activities when we think about data generation for our own research

Embodied knowledge: The project shows how abstract concepts (energy use) become meaningful when anchored to lived experiences and familiar spaces

Iterative tool development: The recognition that initial attempts didn't fully capture attention demonstrates the importance of responsive, adaptive research methods

Multimodal communication: The use of visual aids like stickers suggests that effective data generation may require moving beyond traditional academic formats

Temporal dimension: The project builds on "initial observations," indicating that retracing involves returning to and building upon previous engagements rather than one-off data collection

Advancement to PD (under at least one of the headings: re-tracing, reconnecting, re-

imagining, re-institutioning).

Under re-imagining: This project advances PD by reimagining how young people can become active researchers of their own environments rather than passive subjects of study. It challenges traditional research hierarchies by positioning youth as observers and data collectors, potentially leading to new understandings of domestic energy practices from their perspectives.

Under reconnecting: The project reconnects abstract policy concerns (energy use) with intimate, everyday experiences in the home, bridging scales from the personal to the systemic. It also reconnects research practice with playful, engaging formats that acknowledge young people's different ways of knowing and communicating.

Sample, extract, case study, or description.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lw_j-WjvJgX1r0t3IzricHXQnphoxvRY/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/119NGmydO4LsJANNvqxxo6S1EqPTw4LCS/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IjBMgB5um6Ro6L_Tphhajnf-UU25uafx/view?usp=sharing

Is there a toolbox (in development ) that you can share on this practice? 

Observational recording sheets/templates for documenting energy use patterns

Visual communication aids (stickers, potentially other graphic elements) to overcome language barriers

Iterative feedback mechanisms for refining tools based on participant engagement