Coevolution of institutions and residents toward sustainable glocal development: a case study on the Kuni Umi solar power project on Awaji Island

Abstract

Establishing effective institutions to promote renewable energy (RE) is an urgent battle in the war against global warming. The RE program Kuni Umi Solar Power Plant with Resident Participation (KSPP) on Awaji Island in Japan has succeeded in large-scale RE deployment in the short term. This paper regards the KSPP as an example of institutional change and examines it from four perspectives—(1) path dependency and exogenous shock, (2) institutions as mediating micro- and macro-factors, (3) residents as micro-actors, and (4) macro- and micro-outcomes—and provides empirical research using a survey of residents. First, institutional change in Awaji has occurred with its rich social and natural capital resources and the crisis it has faced due to depopulation and a mega-earthquake as contrasting backdrops. Second, KSPP had an effective institutional design that integrates different actors—the feed-in-tariff (FIT) system at a national level, the NPO Kuni Umi Association that builds and manages the KSPP, and the Awaji residents who financed the project. Third, Awaji residents were key micro-actors in supporting the KSPP project. Our questionnaire survey shows that the initial period of living in Awaji significantly affects people’s willingness to invest in socially responsible investments, whether for environmental protection or regional activation, because of their attachment to the region. Finally, we show that KSPP is achieving RE deployment and local activation as macro-outcomes of institutional change. Further, the prefectural resident survey shows that residents’ attachments were significantly enhanced after the KSPP. From the case study, we conclude that a key to institutional change in achieving sustainable development goals is an institutional scheme that matches the specific conditions of a region, promotes cooperation among private and public actors, and integrates goals that bring a dynamic evolutionary process of micro-actors and macro-outcomes.