Abstract
This paper presents the results of a qualitative study exploring the role of formal social units in the sustainable energy transition process. A small community in North-east Italy was assumed as case study, in the context of a wider EU-funded research project aimed at understanding the individual and collective dimensions of energy-related choices. Starting from a general framework and integrated approach to explain sustainable energy transitions proposed by Steg et al. (2015), the main aim of our study was to identify the psychological and social factors that motivated the key actors to undertake an energy self-sufficiency path in the case-study area. Our analyses aimed at understanding the social, cultural, and socioeconomic dynamics in the energy transition process of the community. The study outlined how these factors contributed to foster collaborative actions between public decision makers, relevant stakeholders, civil society, and citizens. Results of a computer-supported qualitative content analysis using the software MAXQDA helped to shed light on the specific mechanisms and dynamics driving energy choices and energy-related behavior among the community. The implication for best practices and successful implementations of energy transition process in small communities emerging from this case study are discussed.
Highlights
As reported by the European Climate Foundation, “in July 2009, the leaders of the European Union and the G8 announced an objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050” (European Climate Foundation, 2010, p. 3)
The use of qualitative techniques allows for deep insights in understanding human experience in relation to energy decisions and decision-making processes in collective settings, during low carbon energy transition processes (Strauss and Corbin, 1990; Kvale, 1996)
The aim of using interviews in this paper was to discover common and emerging themes, distinctive aspects, patterns, sequences and causal relationships, possible hierarchies, and the general context of decision-making processes in collective units, as reported directly by the narrative of insider players in the decision-making bodies. It utilizes a narrative process of interpretation that is useful in gaining a deeper understanding of the drivers behind collective energy choices
Summary
As reported by the European Climate Foundation, “in July 2009, the leaders of the European Union and the G8 announced an objective to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050” (European Climate Foundation, 2010, p. 3). According to many international key players in this field (such as the IRENAInternational Renewable Energy Agency), energy transition is merely a transition to a low carbon economy through the transformation of the energy sector, requiring a massive effort to replace fossil energy sources with renewable energy sources, other authors have underlined the importance of evolutionary and historical approaches to sustainable energy transitions (e.g., Verbong and Geels, 2007; Smil, 2010; Hirsh and Jones, 2014). In the case of Europe, the pathway to energy transition has been planned through setting extremely ambitious goals and targets by the European Union and international agreements, and transposing these goals into targets of the member and associate states. Other paths, requiring more disruptive socio-technical transformations could be possible, the first step in the EU official strategy has been to design measures and policies to attain these commonly set goals
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