Dr. Devon Wemyss

Work at ZHAW

Position

• Senior Research Associate
• Research & Lecturing in Sustainability, Collaboration and Behaviour Change

Focus

• Energy & Sustainability
• Behaviour change
• Digital and social innovation
• Collaboration & transdisciplinary processes

Teaching

• Executive Education: Sustainable Innovation
• Master: Collaboration & Co-creation in Innovation Ecosystems
• Master: Sustainability
• Bachelor: Behavioural Economics
• Bachelor: General Management Group Seminar (GM-Forum)

Experience

• Scientific Assistant
  Eawag, Dübendorf, CH
  2013 - 2014
• Environmental Scientist
  Pöyry, Zürich, CH und Burkina Faso
  2010 - 2011
• Environmental Engineer
  CH2MHill, Calgary, Canada
  2009 - 2009

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD Science & Technology Policy Studies / Investigating digital tools for climate-relevant individual behaviour change
  University of Sussex
  2019 - 2024
• MSc. Environmental Science / Human-Environment Systems
  ETH Zürich
  2009 - 2012
• BEng. Civil Engineering / Environment
  McGill University
  2003 - 2008

Continuing Education

CAS Higher and Professional Education
ZHAW
08 / 2024

Network

Membership of networks

• Associate Editor - Environment and Behaviour
• European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
• Innovation Booster Evlauation Committe - Living Labs for Decarbonisation
• Cewas (International centre for water management services) Startup Alumni

ORCID digital identifier

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1615-7515

Social media

Linkedin

Projects

• Co-Evolution and Coordinated Simulation of the Swiss Energy System and Swiss Society / Team member / ongoing
• Living Labs Interfaces for Energy Transition / Project leader / ongoing
• Energy Startup Day / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• Innovation Monitor: Startup Database and Monitor / Deputy project leader / ongoing
• Social Power Plus / Team member / completed
• Extending the lifespan of mobile devices / Team member / completed
• Social Innovation for the Energy Transition / Team member / completed
• Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research: Group on Energy Entrepreneurship and Future Innovation Dynamics / Team member / completed
• Social Power Project / Team member / completed
• UNCTAD Strategic Foresight / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Wemyss, D. (2026) 'Towards a common intervention framework : a taxonomy of theory and techniques for digital energy behaviour change', Energy Research & Social Science, 135(104659). doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104659.
• Blumer, Y., Wemyss, D. and Braunreiter, L. (2024) 'Beyond the usual suspects : contrasting perspectives of developers and peripheral users of model-based energy scenarios', Environmental Research: Energy, 1(4), p. 041001. doi: 10.1088/2753-3751/ad96be.
• Cellina, F. et al. (2024) 'Can app-based communities support energy sufficiency in households? Evidence from a one-year quasi-experiment in Switzerland', Sustainable Cities and Society, 114(105771). doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2024.105771.
• Cellina, F. et al. (2024) 'Households in energy transition : promoting household energy-sufficient routines via app-based peer-to-peer interaction', Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 52(100868). doi: 10.1016/j.eist.2024.100868.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2023) 'Leveraging realities of saving energy at home : contributions of co-design to behavioural interventions', Energy Research & Social Science, 104(103258). doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2023.103258.
• Sovacool, B. K. et al. (2023) 'Social innovation supports inclusive and accelerated energy transitions with appropriate governance', Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), p. 289. doi: 10.1038/s43247-023-00952-w.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2023) 'Looking beyond the hype : conditions affecting the promise of behaviour change apps as social innovations for low-carbon transitions', Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, (47), p. 100702. doi: 10.1016/j.eist.2023.100702.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2019) 'Does it last? : long-term impacts of an app-based behavior change intervention on household electricity savings in Switzerland', Energy Research & Social Science, 47, pp. 16–27. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2018.08.018.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2018) 'Examining community-level collaborative vs. competitive approaches to enhance household electricity-saving behavior', Energy Efficiency, 11(8), pp. 2057–2075. doi: 10.1007/s12053-018-9691-z.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

• Blumer, Y., Whett, K. and Wemyss, D. (2025) 'How does the public perceive energy models and scenarios? First insights from the Swiss Household Energy Demand Survey (SHEDS)', in 5th SSH Energy Workshop, Zurich, Switzerland, 16-17 June 2025.
• Cellina, F. et al. (2021) 'Social power plus : empowering households to energy sufficiency through co-designed app‑based community energy challenges', in Conference Proceedings : BEHAVE 2020-2021. Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, pp. 89–93. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-23771.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2021) 'Mainstreaming sustainability transitions : from research towards impact', in 12th International Sustainability Transition Conference (IST), Karlsruhe, Germany, 5-8 October 2021.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2017) 'Reaching the finish line : analysis of the differences between active participants and drop-outs in a behaviour change intervention', in Consumption, efficiency and limits : eceee 2017 summer study on energy efficiency, pp. 1775–1784.
• Wemyss, D. et al. (2016) 'Keeping up with the Joneses : examining community-level collaborative and competitive game mechanics to enhance houshold electricity-saving behaviour', in 4th European Conference on Behaviour and Energy Efficiency, Coimbra, Portugal, 8-9 September 2016.

Other publications

• Blumer, Y., Sierro, F. and Wemyss, D. (2025) 'Hohes Nachfragepotenzial für LEG : Lokale Elektrizitätsgemeinschaften', Bulletin.ch, 2025(8), pp. 44–47. Available at: https://www.bulletin.ch/hohes-nachfragepotenzial-fuer-leg.
• Jud, S. et al. (2020) The role of higher education institutions in open innovation. swissuniversities. Available at: https://www.swissuniversities.ch/fileadmin/swissuniversities/Dokumente/Organisation/SUK-P/SUK_P-2/White_Paper-The_Role_of_Higher_Education_Institutions_in_Open_Innovation.pdf.
• Bencsik, B. et al. (2020) Erfolg durch Partnerschaft : neue Kollaborationsmodelle für einen Energiemarkt im Wandel. SCCER CREST. Available at: https://www.sccer-crest.ch/fileadmin/FILES/Datenbank_Personen_Projekte_Publikationen/Publications/White_Papers/Final_White_Paper9_2020_WP1_Erfolg_durch_Partnerschaft.pdf.
• Loerincik, Y. et al. (2019) Wege zur erfolgreichen Zusammenarbeit zwischen öffentlichen Einrichtungenund Cleantech-Startups?. Swiss Environment and Energy. Available at: https://www.innovation-monitor.ch/media/news/Eqlosion_article_2019_DE5.pdf.
• Castri, R. et al. (2016) 'Triggering electricity-saving through smart meters : play, learn and interact', in Proceedings of the 1st ever energy-feedback symposium : Teddinet 1st energy-feedback symposium "feedback in energy demand reduction: examining evidence and exploring opportunities, pp. 248–256.
• Braunreiter, L. et al. (2016) Understandig the Role of Scenarios in Swiss Energy Research. Winterthur: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. doi: 10.21256/zhaw-1137.
• Wemyss, D. and Blumer, Y. (2015) Indicators of innovation : empirical insights into activities, challenges and strategies of Swiss energy sector start-ups. Winterthur: ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.
• Blumer, Y., Wemyss, D. and Moser, C. (2015) 'How cities can foster local action in energy efficiency by utilizing middle actors : insights from a Swiss case study', in ECEEE summer study proceedings. Stockholm: European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, pp. 653–660.

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