As part of the Smart, Sustainable, and Green (SSG) programme in East Birmingham, one of the city’s most deprived and culturally diverse areas, community engagement activities were delivered in partnership with Ark Victoria Academy to advance smart energy inclusion. East Birmingham is home to multi-ethnic and multi-lingual communities, including migrant families, low-income households, and intergenerational families navigating overlapping challenges of energy vulnerability and digital poverty.
Through a place-based, participatory approach grounded in storytelling and co-design, workshops were developed with mothers and children to exploreeveryday experiences of energy use, affordability, trust, language barriers, and digital confidence. The intergenerational model positioned children as digital heroes and mothers as key household energy decision-makers (energy heroes), fostering shared learning, mutual empowerment, and increased climate awareness within families.
The engagement demonstrated that in diverse urban neighbourhoods like East Birmingham, barriers to smart energy participation extend beyond access to technology. Structural inequality, housing conditions, cultural adaptation gaps, and mistrust of institutions all shape engagement. Delivering activities within a trusted school setting strengthened participation, reduced anxiety around “smart” systems, and built confidence across generations. These outcomes have emphasised the importance of SSG’s integrated approach to inclusive Net Zero transitions, digital equity, and community-led smart energy innovation. By embedding place-based engagement within a systems-thinking framework that connects digital transformation, sustainability, and community empowerment, SSG plays a pivotal role in ensuring that East Birmingham’s transition is not only technologically advanced, but also socially just, locally responsive, and genuinely inclusive.
Through a place-based, participatory approach grounded in storytelling and co-design, workshops were developed with mothers and children to explore everyday experiences of energy use, affordability, trust, language barriers, and digital confidence. The intergenerational model positioned children as digital heroes and mothers as key household energy decision-makers (energy heroes), fostering shared learning, mutual empowerment, and increased climate awareness within families.
The engagement demonstrated that in diverse urban neighbourhoods like East Birmingham, barriers to smart energy participation extend beyond access to technology. Structural inequality, housing conditions, cultural adaptation gaps, and mistrust of institutions all shape engagement. Delivering activities within a trusted school setting strengthened participation, reduced anxiety around “smart” systems, and built confidence across generations. These outcomes have emphasised the importance of SSG’s integrated approach to inclusive Net Zero transitions, digital equity, and community-led smart energy innovation. By embedding place-based engagement within a systems-thinking framework that connects digital transformation, sustainability, and community empowerment, SSG plays a pivotal role in ensuring that East Birmingham’s transition is not only technologically advanced, but also socially just, locally responsive, and genuinely inclusive.