Siltnamis = Warm House

Zivile Mantrimaitis

Connecting climate change and energy poverty in public debate.

Amount granted € 6 128
Project period 2021–2021
Lithuania

Festival Y?! group in Lithuania proposes the ‘Šiltnamis’ project to greatly advance on climate justice and energy povertydiscussions in Klaipeida’s district with multiplying effects across Lithuania and the EU. According to the 2019 EU barometer, Lithuania´s population falls behind the European average in thinking that climate change as the most serious problem, with only 14% of respondents answering positively. We believe that the perception of being unaffected by climate change and passive media role plays a major part in forming public opinion. However, Lithuanians are already affected by the indirect impacts of climate change, and our pilot project aims to showcase that through a number of media and community organizing activities around energy poverty. Within the EU, Lithuania has the second-highest number of people living in energy poverty. Klaipeida is the 3rd largest city, yet the city is having the highest number of people not able to pay their energy bills (13%) or to heat their homes adequately (36%). As with climate change, energy poverty is not widely discussed in politics, science, media, environmental organizations, or in the public and is a rather stigmatized issue, mostly because of its social aspect. Yet the two problems are very interlinked through topics of energy independence, sustainable energy production, and international climategoals. With this project, we aim to1)create an accessible narrative and uncover complex issues of climate change through stories of people experiencingenergy poverty in Klaipeda. By using relatable information, we aim to bring the Lithuanian public and institutions closer to the issue of climate justice.2)stimulate spark local movement for climate justice and universal clean energy through empowering citizens to demand potential solutions to energy poverty.3)influence the local authorities to make information about climate change and energy poverty available to all and takethe first necessary steps towards addressing these issues.