Abstract
Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development. Local energy communities are a clear manifestation of this development. The questions the paper raises are as follows: can local energy initiatives be considered seedbeds of innovation? If so, how can such initiatives lead to innovations in the energy supply? We applied desk research and reviewed secondary literature. The questions are answered empirically and theoretically. Empirically, the paper analyses the causes and manifestations of local community initiatives throughout Europe and especially in the Netherlands, to discover the drivers and foci of the initiatives. Theoretically, the paper provides an institutionally oriented classification of local electricity initiatives, based on coordination, technology and performance. In a final step, the paper analyses the innovative capacity of the local energy initiatives. The conclusion is that local electricity initiatives can be considered a seedbed of innovation but with no potential to develop dominance in the electricity supply. The local initiatives will develop as niches inside the dominant central generating station electricity system and will add to the hybridisation of its products and services.
Highlights
Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development
Twenty years after the Rio conference on sustainable development, two things have changed dramatically: climate change has replaced sustainable development as the Grand Societal Challenge, and bottom-up innovation dynamics have developed in response to top-down failure [1]
Numerous local initiatives focusing on climate change/sustainable development have developed in the aftermath of the Rio conference, and they are still developing, such as those devoted to energy in the UK [3]
Summary
Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development. Numerous local initiatives focusing on climate change/sustainable development have developed in the aftermath of the Rio conference, and they are still developing, such as those devoted to energy in the UK [3]. The many local initiatives everywhere in Europe support the hypothesis that civil society and grassroot social movements, in particular, are important carriers of sustainability transitions. Part of the hypothesis developed here is that local groups have the ability to develop innovative social practices which are influencing change in wider cultural norms [4]. It makes sense to focus on bottom-up innovation and transition dynamics initiated by local groups, associations and organisations, to get a better understanding of the heritage of the Rio Summit on local sustainable development
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