Community engagement in energy transition: A qualitative case study

Abstract

Energy systems and their transition to more sustainable forms of production and consumption are of interest to researchers from multiple disciplines. Communitybased enterprises and grassroots innovations play a crucial role in different aspects of these transitions. They possess considerable social capital and are able to assemble a social and/or environmental vision. Some of them seek market opportunities to take action in order to construct the economic basis that will further their vision in broader societal contexts. The collective nature of these entities may add to the effectiveness of their actions. A better understanding of such entities may help foster sustainability transitions in local communities and exploration of their wider influences on national and global scales. This research extends current literature on community-based entrepreneurship and grassroots innovations by investigating a New Zealand community-based enterprise, which created a network of actions and organizations that used bottom-up innovative ideas to respond to the local energy situation. Although their efforts have been partially unsuccessful to date, much can be learned from their experiences.