Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
(Too) high hopes? How Austrian energy community actors construct their roles in the energy transition
https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0009-0008-8865-4776
Energy communities (ECs), as forms of social innovation, have the potential to contribute to sustainability transitions in the energy system. Hence, policymakers place great hopes in ECs as drivers of the energy transition and impose 'transformative goals' on EC actors. However, earlier work revealed differentiated motives (e.g., personal gain, hedonism, economic reasons) on the part of these actors, with system transformation not always being the most important goal. Hence, this empirical study aims to provide a more nuanced picture of how individual actors, namely, founders, intermediaries, and influential early members of ECs, set about understanding and constructing their roles in the energy transition. Using the concept of actor roles in transitions and taking a discourse–theoretical approach, we study the case of Austria, where recent legislative changes enabled the formation of renewable ECs. Drawing on extensive desk research, 15 in-depth interviews, and participant observations in four community meetings, we identify four ideal–typical role constructions of EC actors: grassroots, entrepreneurial, local hero, and techno-centric. In fact, these roles vary significantly in their transformative potential, with the grassroots role emphasizing empowerment for a profound social and ecological transition, the techno-centric focusing on technological advancement, while the entrepreneurial role prioritizes economic aspects, and the local hero role centers on a limited, small-scale approach. Our findings challenge the widespread assumption of EC actors taking a 'transformative' role and reveal novel insights into the different roles’ main concerns that need to be considered in the implementation of energy policies.
(Too) high hopes? How Austrian energy community actors construct their roles in the energy transition
https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0009-0008-8865-4776
Energy communities (ECs), as forms of social innovation, have the potential to contribute to sustainability transitions in the energy system. Hence, policymakers place great hopes in ECs as drivers of the energy transition and impose 'transformative goals' on EC actors. However, earlier work revealed differentiated motives (e.g., personal gain, hedonism, economic reasons) on the part of these actors, with system transformation not always being the most important goal. Hence, this empirical study aims to provide a more nuanced picture of how individual actors, namely, founders, intermediaries, and influential early members of ECs, set about understanding and constructing their roles in the energy transition. Using the concept of actor roles in transitions and taking a discourse–theoretical approach, we study the case of Austria, where recent legislative changes enabled the formation of renewable ECs. Drawing on extensive desk research, 15 in-depth interviews, and participant observations in four community meetings, we identify four ideal–typical role constructions of EC actors: grassroots, entrepreneurial, local hero, and techno-centric. In fact, these roles vary significantly in their transformative potential, with the grassroots role emphasizing empowerment for a profound social and ecological transition, the techno-centric focusing on technological advancement, while the entrepreneurial role prioritizes economic aspects, and the local hero role centers on a limited, small-scale approach. Our findings challenge the widespread assumption of EC actors taking a 'transformative' role and reveal novel insights into the different roles’ main concerns that need to be considered in the implementation of energy policies.
(Too) high hopes? How Austrian energy community actors construct their roles in the energy transition
https://orcid.org/http://orcid.org/0009-0008-8865-4776
Energy communities (ECs), as forms of social innovation, have the potential to contribute to sustainability transitions in the energy system. Hence, policymakers place great hopes in ECs as drivers of the energy transition and impose 'transformative goals' on EC actors. However, earlier work revealed differentiated motives (e.g., personal gain, hedonism, economic reasons) on the part of these actors, with system transformation not always being the most important goal. Hence, this empirical study aims to provide a more nuanced picture of how individual actors, namely, founders, intermediaries, and influential early members of ECs, set about understanding and constructing their roles in the energy transition. Using the concept of actor roles in transitions and taking a discourse–theoretical approach, we study the case of Austria, where recent legislative changes enabled the formation of renewable ECs. Drawing on extensive desk research, 15 in-depth interviews, and participant observations in four community meetings, we identify four ideal–typical role constructions of EC actors: grassroots, entrepreneurial, local hero, and techno-centric. In fact, these roles vary significantly in their transformative potential, with the grassroots role emphasizing empowerment for a profound social and ecological transition, the techno-centric focusing on technological advancement, while the entrepreneurial role prioritizes economic aspects, and the local hero role centers on a limited, small-scale approach. Our findings challenge the widespread assumption of EC actors taking a 'transformative' role and reveal novel insights into the different roles’ main concerns that need to be considered in the implementation of energy policies.
(Too) high hopes? How Austrian energy community actors construct their roles in the energy transition
Sustain Sci
Vogler, Andrea (Autor:in) / Kump, Barbara (Autor:in)
Sustainability Science ; 19 ; 701-714
01.05.2024
14 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
Energy communities , Energy transition , Actor roles , Social innovation , Sustainability transition discourses , Ideal types Environment , Environmental Management , Climate Change Management and Policy , Environmental Economics , Landscape Ecology , Sustainable Development , Public Health , Earth and Environmental Science
Modelling Actors And Roles For AEC Community
| British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007
Actors in transition: shifting roles in Swedish sustainable housing development
| Online Contents | 2019
Actors in transition: shifting roles in Swedish sustainable housing development
| Online Contents | 2019
| BASE | 2006
Mapping Actors and Roles in Construction Knowledge
| ASCE | 2009