The FENICE – Fragile Elderly and eNergy in Italian Consumption Empirics project is part of Spoke 6 of the national Age-It initiative and aims to investigate how ageing processes intersect with energy poverty, environmental sustainability, and consumption patterns among older populations in Italy. The project focuses on three main areas: inequalities in access to energy and the resulting vulnerability of elderly households; social integration, fragility, and well-being among older immigrants; and the evolution of symbolic and status-related consumption in later life, particularly in response to environmental and technological changes. Its approach combines empirical analyses of microeconomic and environmental data, the development of new longitudinal indicators (e.g., AAI-EP), and the use of advanced techniques such as artificial intelligence for the automated extraction of qualitative information from corporate sources. In the medium term, the project seeks to produce robust evidence to inform public policies that foster social inclusion, promote active ageing, and support a fair energy transition, with particular attention to forms of inequality often overlooked by traditional welfare and sustainability models.
15 July 2024 – 28 February 2025)
The FENICE – Fragile Elderly and eNergy in Italian Consumption Empirics project (Age-It, Spoke 6) has completed the initial activities of WP1–WP3, aimed at building data infrastructures and designing empirical analyses. Within WP1, a systematic review of the literature on energy poverty, active ageing indicators, and renewable energy communities was conducted, leading to the selection and integration of data from SHARE (waves 4–9), EU-SILC, Exiobase and municipal sources (Legambiente/GSE). This work resulted in the construction of the longitudinal AAI-EP dataset and the REC dataset on local energy communities (Deliverable D1.1). Research staff were recruited and the collection of municipal socio-demographic variables was initiated. WP2 examined evidence on vulnerabilities among older immigrants, the effects of family reunification policies, and corporate age management practices in Italian firms. Microdata were acquired from ISTAT and non-financial reporting databases, and a methodology based on large language models (LLMs) for automated extraction of key indicators was designed, alongside an updated survey instrument. WP3 focused on the theoretical foundations of status consumption and its relationship with age and sustainability, defining an empirical strategy based on expenditure and mobility data before and during the COVID-19 restrictions, although recruitment delays for a research assistant slightly slowed progress. Overall, activities are in line with the project timeline, with minor delays in WP3. The next phase will involve the development of Active Ageing Index (AAI) measures using principal component analysis, longitudinal analyses linking energy consumption and ageing, the evaluation of the role of renewable energy communities, and the automated extraction of corporate welfare and sustainability KPIs