Social innovation for regional energy transition? An agency perspective on transformative change in non-core regions

Abstract

Regional energy transitions are largely understood as technology-driven processes. We argue that social innovation (SI) is as important and that scrutinizing it calls for an agency perspective. Analysing two examples of SI in energy in Austrian non-core regions, we show how resources, relations and reflexivity enabled agency to promote SI and consequently sustain energy transition. We find that SI produces new regional resources and capacities, provides directionality for transformative change, and herewith aids the consolidation of transition pathways. Hence, we conclude that agency and SI are key variables of sustainability transitions and transformative change that deserve more scholarly attention.