Combining the Multilevel Perspective and Socio-Technical Imaginaries in the Study of Community Energy

Natalia Magnani and Valentina-Miriam Cittati
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Natalia Magnani: Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Via Verdi 26, 38122 Trento, Italy
Valentina-Miriam Cittati: Institute for Renewable Energy, Eurac Research, Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: The current paper contributes to the literature on community renewable energy by considering two projects developed in the north-west of Italy, in the Piedmont region. Community renewable energy is increasingly regarded by academic literature and policy discourse as crucial to ensure a socially and environmentally just energy transition. In spite of the growing diffusion of community renewable energy projects, there is still a lack of theoretically informed analyses. Our article tries to address this gap by combining two theoretical perspectives: the multilevel perspective and the socio-technical imaginaries approach. Applying the first perspective helps reconstruct the context and circumstances that have permitted the Piedmont’s energy community projects to emerge. Particular attention is given to the windows of opportunity created by the Regional Law 12/2018, which acknowledged the establishment of energy communities for the first time in Italy. The socio-technical imaginaries perspective allows the identification of collective ideas and meanings that emerge when individuals or groups promote a socio-technical innovation. Based on this analysis, three main future changes are associated with community renewable energy: an integral ecology approach, a stronger sense of community, and a local development opportunity for rural areas characterised by depopulation, a low employment rate, and high energy demand.

Keywords: community renewable energy; socio-technical imaginaries; multilevel perspective; energy transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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