Abstract
This paper provides novel additional evidence on the characteristics of Collective Action Initiatives (CAIs), investigating their role within the European energy sector. It analyses and presents results of a survey administered in six European countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Estonia, and Spain. CAIs are studied in light of four key dimensions, those being their creation dynamics, the way they are organized, financed, and the activities they undertake. The results presented are also interpreted to reflect on their role as drivers of social innovation (SI) within energy transition in Europe. The analysis shows that the contribution of CAIs to the energy transition has a much wider scope than the development of energy projects and provision of energy services. CAIs are intrinsically socially innovative models of implementation as characterised by a strong level of citizen involvement and participation. Moreover, they have a potential multi-level role in the energy transition, from the technological and social perspectives. Indeed, alongside traditional energy activities, our results show that CAIs are evolving and expanding towards socially innovative activities, raising awareness on environmental issues, promoting citizens’ mobilization, and fostering social inclusion.
Highlights
Despite energy communities representing the most common Collective Action Initiatives (CAIs) in Europe, this paper focuses on a wider conceptualisation of CAIs, which includes, but is not limited to, grassroots associatiations, community energy initiatives [2], collective renewable energy prosumers [14], and renewable or citizen energy communities
Besides the financing obtained from their members, Estonian CAIs benefited from public funding through support measures and, in some cases, from bank loans
This paper contributes to the literature investigating the role of CAIs in the energy transition and provides novel evidence on their characteristics and activities across Europe
Summary
Citizens and local communities are increasingly playing an active role in energy transitions and delivering green energy projects. Community energy initiatives are often defined and classified as entities with a high degree of citizen ownership and control They are aslo deemed to provide collective benefits through local involvement, grassroots innovation and wider community and social activities [8,9]. Besides the traditional scope of acting along the energy supply chain, CAIs can include wider objectives and activities, such as environmental awareness, and contribute to spreading knowledge and acceptability about renewable energy, clean technologies, and reducing consumption across society [24] With their broad range of activities and high level of citizen involvement, CAIs are seen as playing an important role as drivers of citizen participation and Social Innovation (SI) in the European energy transition. The paper proceeds as follows: Section 2 describes the methods, such as the survey design and the analysis dimensions; Section 3 presents the aggregate survey results and characterizes CAIs across Europe to identify the prevailing trends; Section 4 discusses and compares the role and the development level of CAIs in different European countries, and elaborates further on CAIs as drivers of citizen participation and social innovation
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