CASE STUDY - EDRC CITIZEN ASSEMBLY
Empowering a citizen assembly to co-create the UK’s energy future
Main dashboard to choose energy reduction scenario
The Challenge
The UK government needed actionable insights from citizens to shape energy transition policies. University College London, Lancaster, Leeds universities and Involve convened the EDRC Citizens' Panel in Manchester to evaluate collective social and technological changes required to meet the UK’s Net Zero targets. The diverse group of 40 citizens met regularly over two years, to learn about and explore the opportunities, risks, benefits and impacts of a wide range of energy demand reduction scenarios.
There was an infinity of potential changes to get there - across home energy performance, travel, food and consumption habits. However, participants needed a simple, user-friendly tool to help understand the implications of their choices and the impact change at scale.
Design approach
We designed for informed decision-making, not just data.
Our goal? Empower assembly members to evaluate trade-offs and prioritize changes that would reduce energy demand and cut emissions - without getting lost in complexity.
Key strategies:
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Focused scenarios: We curated a concise set of social and technological changes options, each tied to tangible energy and carbon outcomes.
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Co-design: We worked alongside participants to translate data into relatable examples—using scales and analogies that resonated.
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Iterative testing: We refined the dashboard’s scenarios, content, and navigation through rapid prototyping and testing, ensuring it was accessible and engaging.
Grounding the data with tangible examples
Using scales that can resonate with the audience
Technical approach
We built a tool that stays simple for participants while handling the complexity of the UK TIMES model behind the scenes. UK Times is a modelling tool that helps underpin the UK government's energy and climate strategy. The outputs from the models are ingested and normalised on a Rails backend, then exposed via a clean API.
The React frontend consumes this data to present six curated scenarios with fast filtering, side-by-side comparison and clear explanations.
Updates to the underlying model appear quickly: we designed the pipeline for near real-time refresh, with caching and incremental loads so the interface stays responsive even as data changes.
In practice this means:
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Six scenarios, one pattern: consistent components for maps, charts and summaries reduce cognitive load.
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Plain-English context: tooltips and in-line primers translate model terms into everyday language.
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Fast by default: lightweight API responses and client-side state keep interactions instant.
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Robust delivery: Rails for data integrity and scheduling; React for an accessible, interactive experience.
Impact
The interactive decisioning dashboard helped participants visualize trade-offs, weigh collective priorities, and craft recommendations aligned with the UK’s Net Zero ambitions.
Beyond the citizen assembly, this project delivers evidence-based insights to inform national energy and climate policy, proving that citizen-led innovation can bridge the gap between ambition and action.