YouPower is an open source web application that makes people more aware of their energy consumption and encourages them to look together for new solutions for CO2 reduction. The app does not only inform citizens about relevant data and actions, but also to enables them to share their experiences. The continuous interaction with other users will create a community that empowers citizens to look together for new solutions. People make a system smarter, and YouPower makes this possible. YouPower has been supported by the EU-funded project CIVIS.

About the Innovator

The Participatory Systems Initiative at Delft University of Technology focuses on design in complex social-technical systems, thereby coordinating and orchestrating self-organisation, fostering  emergence, providing stakeholders with the ability to act and take responsibility in today’s networked  society. Together with stakeholders, design principles for participation are explored in domains such as distributed energy management, citizen participation systems, and crisis management. YouPower is an example of an ICT system designed to facilitate this research.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CIVISproject

What is the innovation

YouPower is a “social app” designed to support social change and empower communities to reduce energy use and carbon emission.  The app is available through the CIVIS site, and through Facebook. As the goal of this project is to empower citizens, a handbook has been written in which the use of the app is core.

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Copyrights : 

CIVIS project

Out of the lab – Into the Market

This app has been used in a large scale pilot involving consumers in Stockholm and in Trentino. The app will be extended and deployed for future data collection on user behaviour by other partners in this project in the near future as new forms of collaboration emerge (in particular in the context of a new EU educational programme on ICT and Energy). In addition, the whole app is open source and can be used for free.

Benefits of participation in the Framework Programme

After more than 20 years of research in the field of distributed energy management, this project finally made it possible to involve citizens and let them encourage each other in the use of more sustainable energy.   The results of this test has led to new insights, which are currently being processed in new projects.