Abstract
The transition to low carbon energy systems cannot solely rely on technological innovation. It also requires social innovation. In the context of energy transition social innovation can be defined as innovation that is social in its means and which contributes to low carbon energy transition, civic empowerment and social goals pertaining to the general wellbeing of communities. This article presents the editorial comment of the special issue “Social Innovation and the Energy Transition”. It seeks to answer the questions, “what does social innovation mean in the face of energy transition, and what are its implications?” This special issue yields 20 article contributions by authors from different academic disciplines within the behavioral and social sciences. From these contributions, key topics relevant to social innovation emerge, pertaining to: (i) technological innovation leading to new market models, actor configurations, and institutional settings creating room for social innovation; (ii) new governance arrangements; (iii) community energy, its impact, implications, and social incentives and policy to empower it; (iv) new participative research approaches to test and learn from livings labs and best practices; (v) ‘green nudges’ to stimulate behavioral change; and (vi), serious energy games. The editorial ends with suggestions for future research.
Highlights
Earlier this month (December 2018) the Katowice Climate Change Conference was held, officially known as the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (i.e., ‘COP24’), [1,2]
We define social innovation in the realm of energy transitions as, “innovations that are social in their means and contribute to low carbon energy transition, civic empowerment and social goals pertaining to the general wellbeing of communities.”
When regarding social innovation the contributions to this special issue presents a number of key issues: (i) technological innovation leading to new market models, actor configurations and institutional settings creating room for social innovation; (ii) new governance arrangements; (iii) community energy, its impact, implications, and social incentives and policy to empower it; (iv) new participative research approaches to test and learn from livings labs and best practices; (v) green nudges to stimulate behavioral change; and (vi) serious energy games
Summary
Earlier this month (December 2018) the Katowice Climate Change Conference was held, officially known as the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (i.e., ‘COP24’), [1,2]. Resistance to renewables is usually rooted in social and behavioral concepts like attitudes and values, strategies and policies, organizational structures and processes, delivery systems, and services throughout existing energy systems [7] Tackling these problems demands technological solutions (i.e., technological innovation) and new ways of collaboration, decision-making, and of mobilizing society. For example, have difficulties to adapt their behaviors when this is required for adoption and optimal use [10,11,12] Another problem related to the social dimension concerns the resistance to energy innovations—for instance by incumbents in the industry, governmental bodies, traditional energy suppliers, or by local communities—who perceive these innovations as disruptive or even threatening, and seek for opportunities to slow down or co-opt their development [13,14].
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