Invisible energy policy and schools: how energy issues feature in the policies and documents of a UK secondary school

Abstract

There is a growing research literature focused on ‘invisible energy policy’ that explores the complex links between policies in non-energy sectors and energy demand. Invisible energy policies are those that do not include energy as a visible policy objective but still pose implications for energy demand that are largely unrecognised in non-energy organisational settings. Within this innovative area of analysis, to date, little attention has been paid to how ‘energy’ features in the discourse of non-energy contexts. This paper makes a distinctive contribution by examining how energy issues, such as energy demand, travel, and energy skills, do or do not feature in the policy and wider strategy of a non-energy policy setting. The research focuses on the content of policies and other documents in the non-energy policy context of UK secondary schooling, using a case study approach. It aimed to identify how energy surfaces and/or remains absent in different types of documentary evidence at the school. The textual analysis shows how openings for energy to surface as a concern at the school are often heavily bounded in specific policy areas, such as sustainability and education. It also foregrounds the lack of recognition in the sample for how school operations and strategy can produce demand for energy more fundamentally. It argues that these openings for energy to surface can provide points of negotiation to discuss the more fundamental energy impacts of policy. The paper concludes by reflecting on the analysis’ implications for research on ‘invisible energy policies’ and low-carbon transitions.