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). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104659
• Blumer, Y., Wemyss, D., & Braunreiter, L. (2024). Beyond the usual suspects : contrasting perspectives of developers and peripheral users of model-based energy scenarios. Environmental Research: Energy, 1(4), 41001. https://doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/ad96be
• Cellina, F., Gerosa, T., Granato, P., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Wemyss, D., & Kienast, P. (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). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.105771
• Cellina, F., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Wemyss, D., Profeta, G., & Granato, P. (2024). Households in energy transition : promoting household energy-sufficient routines via app-based peer-to-peer interaction. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 52(100868). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100868
• Wemyss, D., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Jud, S., & Cellina, F. (2023). Leveraging realities of saving energy at home : contributions of co-design to behavioural interventions. Energy Research & Social Science, 104(103258). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103258
• Sovacool, B. K., Brugger, H., Brunzema, I., Dańkowska, A., Wemyss, D., Vernay, A.-L., Betz, R., Avelino, F., de Geus, T., Dembek, A., Duetschke, E., Hielscher, S., Iskandarova, M., Müller, L., Musiolik, J., Ranville, A., Schleich, J., Stasik, A., Strumińska-Kutra, M., et al. (2023). Social innovation supports inclusive and accelerated energy transitions with appropriate governance. Communications Earth & Environment, 4(1), 289. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00952-w
• Wemyss, D., Cellina, F., Grieder, M., & Schlüter, F. (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, 100702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100702
• Wemyss, D., Cellina, F., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., de Luca, V., & Castri, R. (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, 16–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2018.08.018
• Wemyss, D., Castri, R., Cellina, F., De Luca, V., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., & Carabias-Hütter, V. (2018). Examining community-level collaborative vs. competitive approaches to enhance household electricity-saving behavior. Energy Efficiency, 11(8), 2057–2075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-018-9691-z

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

• Blumer, Y., Whett, K., & Wemyss, D. (2025, June 17). How does the public perceive energy models and scenarios? First insights from the Swiss Household Energy Demand Survey (SHEDS). 5th SSH Energy Workshop, Zurich, Switzerland, 16-17 June 2025.
• Cellina, F., Carabias-Hütter, V., Castri, R., De Luca, V., Granato, P., Kienast, P., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., & Wemyss, D. (2021). Social power plus : empowering households to energy sufficiency through co-designed app‑based community energy challenges [Conference paper]. Conference Proceedings : BEHAVE 2020-2021, 89–93. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-23771
• Wemyss, D., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Jud, S., & Cellina, F. (2021). Mainstreaming sustainability transitions : from research towards impact. 12th International Sustainability Transition Conference (IST), Karlsruhe, Germany, 5-8 October 2021.
• Wemyss, D., Moser, C., Castri, R., Kovacs, N., Carabias-Hütter, V., & Lobsiger-Kägi, E. (2017). Reaching the finish line : analysis of the differences between active participants and drop-outs in a behaviour change intervention [Conference paper]. Consumption, Efficiency and Limits : Eceee 2017 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency, 1775–1784.
• Wemyss, D., Castri, R., De Luca, V., Cellina, F., Frick, V., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Gabani Bianchi, P., Hertach, C., Kuehn, T., & Carabias, V. (2016). Keeping up with the Joneses : examining community-level collaborative and competitive game mechanics to enhance houshold electricity-saving behaviour. 4th European Conference on Behaviour and Energy Efficiency, Coimbra, Portugal, 8-9 September 2016.

Other publications

• Blumer, Y., Sierro, F., & Wemyss, D. (2025). Hohes Nachfragepotenzial für LEG : Lokale Elektrizitätsgemeinschaften. Bulletin.ch, 2025(8), 44–47. https://www.bulletin.ch/hohes-nachfragepotenzial-fuer-leg
• Jud, S., Wemyss, D., Beckenbauer, A., Cometta, C., & Jaekel, M. (2020). The role of higher education institutions in open innovation. swissuniversities. 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., Kubli, M., Markard, J., Palmié, M., Wemyss, D., & Zobel, A.-K. (2020). Erfolg durch Partnerschaft : neue Kollaborationsmodelle für einen Energiemarkt im Wandel. SCCER CREST. 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., Mandron, A., Duclon, K., Marchand, C., & Wemyss, D. (2019). Wege zur erfolgreichen Zusammenarbeit zwischen öffentlichen Einrichtungenund Cleantech-Startups? Swiss Environment and Energy. https://www.innovation-monitor.ch/media/news/Eqlosion_article_2019_DE5.pdf
• Castri, R., Wemyss, D., Cellina, F., De Luca, V., Frick, V., Lobsiger-Kägi, E., Bianchi, P., & Carabias, V. (2016). Triggering electricity-saving through smart meters : play, learn and interact [Conference paper]. Proceedings of the 1st Ever Energy-Feedback Symposium : Teddinet 1st Energy-Feedback Symposium “Feedback in Energy Demand Reduction: Examining Evidence and Exploring Opportunities, 248–256.
• Braunreiter, L., Wemyss, D., Kobe, C., Müller, A. W., Krause, T., & Blumer, Y. (2016). Understandig the Role of Scenarios in Swiss Energy Research. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-1137
• Blumer, Y., Wemyss, D., & Moser, C. (2015). How cities can foster local action in energy efficiency by utilizing middle actors : insights from a Swiss case study [Conference paper]. ECEEE Summer Study Proceedings, 1, 653–660.
• Wemyss, D., & Blumer, Y. (2015). Indicators of innovation : empirical insights into activities, challenges and strategies of Swiss energy sector start-ups. ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

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