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A grassroots sustainable energy niche? Reflections on community energy in the UK

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 19:07 authored by Gill Seyfang, Sabine Hielscher, Tom Hargreaves, Mari MartiskainenMari Martiskainen, Adrian SmithAdrian Smith
System-changing innovations for sustainability transitions are pro- posed to emerge in radical innovative niches. ‘Strategic Niche Management’ theory predicts that niche-level actors and networks will aggregate learning from local projects, disseminating best practice, and encouraging innovation diffusion. Grassroots inno- vations emerging from civil society are under-researched, and so we investigate the UK community energy sector to empirically test this model. Our analysis draws on qualitative case study research with local projects, and a study of how intermediary organisa- tions support local projects. We examine the extent and nature of interactions and resource flows between projects and intermediary actors in order to evaluate the utility of niche theories in the civil society context. While networking and intermediary organisations can effectively spread some types of learning necessary for diffu- sion, this is not sufficient: tacit knowledge, trust and confidence are essential to these projects’ success, but are more difficult to abstract and translate to new settings. We discuss the implications of our findings for niche theory, for community energy and other grass- roots practitioners aiming to build robust influential niches, and for policymakers.

Funding

Community Innovation in Sustainable Energy; G0490; EPSRC-ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL; EP/H051139/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Journal of Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

ISSN

2210-4224

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

13

Page range

21-44

Department affiliated with

  • SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2014-11-20

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2014-11-20

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2014-11-20

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