Information receivers or change makers? Citizen representations in co-created energy transition pathways

The transition arena approach is among the prominent approaches for advancing sustainability transitions by bringing together diverse actors to co-create future visions, goals and pathways towards low-carbon change. These arenas engage participants from civil society, policy, technology and business, thereby expanding the circle of individuals who can influence low-carbon policy development. Drawing on the concepts of user representation and imagined publics, we critically examine the outputs of four energy transition arenas regarding the roles envisioned for citizens and the policy measures implicating and targeting them. In the 19 co-created transition pathways, the most frequently proposed policy measures are economic and informational instruments, with the role of citizens predominantly perceived as relatively passive, being most commonly characterised as that of green consumers and information receivers. This leaves the more active citizen roles disconnected from planned policy actions. This finding raises questions about the ability of knowledge co-production to transcend conventional expert-centred conceptions of agency in sustainability transitions. We conclude by outlining directions for strengthening the representation of active citizen roles in future knowledge co-production processes.