Lacey-Barnacle et al 2022 CWB and just transitions.pdf (561.65 kB)
Community wealth building in an age of just transitions: exploring civil society approaches to net zero and future research synergies
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 05:19 authored by Max Lacey-BarnacleMax Lacey-Barnacle, Adrian SmithAdrian Smith, Tim FoxonTim FoxonCommunity Wealth Building (CWB) is a burgeoning international policy agenda for local economic development that seeks to enhance democratic ownership, retain the benefits of local economic activity and empower place-based economies and workers. Parallel to this, in the context of net zero transitions, there has been increasing interest in approaches to enhancing civil society and community ownership over local energy provision. However, in academic and practitioner debates, there has been very little interaction between these two strands of thinking and action on the need for radical change in current energy provision, particularly as part of a wider transformative change away from dominant neoliberal economic thinking, policies and structures. In this Perspective, we explore the various ways in which synergies exist between CWB and energy transitions by considering two civil society approaches to transitions; namely, the Thousand Flowers transition pathway and research in Grassroots Innovations. We examine how community energy could be strengthened through CWB, by showing how the ideas within these two approaches respond to the five core principles of CWB. Promising future directions for research and practice are identified, including linking up CWB and just transitions strategies, a renewed focus on local financial innovation and the growing role of anchor institutions in supporting net zero transitions, particularly where CWB supports economic democracy transformations in new net zero economies.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Energy PolicyISSN
0301-4215Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Volume
172Page range
a113277 1-9Department affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2022-11-03First Open Access (FOA) Date
2022-11-03First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2022-11-03Usage metrics
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