Ebla Research Collective is pleased to announce the publication of Collaborative Energy: Global Models for Electricity Imaginaries in Lebanon, produced in collaboration with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies – Beirut.
The research was supported in part by the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
Against the backdrop of Lebanon’s prolonged electricity crisis and rapid expansion of decentralised solar energy, the report asks what more collaborative and equitable forms of energy provision might look like.
Drawing on global experiences and emerging initiatives in Lebanon, it examines models ranging from building- and neighbourhood-level initiatives to cooperatives and municipality-led partnerships, with a particular focus on governance, ownership, financing, participation and regulation.
The report argues that Lebanon’s energy transition is not only a technical challenge. It is also a social and political question about who controls energy infrastructure, who participates in decision-making, and how its benefits and burdens are shared.