Learning from the Transdisciplinary Case Study Approach: A Functional-Dynamic Approach to Collaboration Among Diverse Actors in Applied Energy Settings

Abstract

Bringing about a transition to more efficient, affordable and sustainable energy sources, carriers and technologies for all of humanity is one of the key challenges of the 21st century. Addressing this challenge effectively requires a complex linkage between multiple perspectives to be assessed within a transdisciplinary framework. Even today, however, there is scant communication across disciplines and among the various actors affecting and affected by such transitions. This section highlights the diverse approaches of past programmes and policies aimed at facilitating energy transitions and discusses some of the key issues associated with their successes and failures. It concludes with some thoughts on how such programmes and policies can be improved in the future by thinking in terms of processes rather than disciplines and taking into account multiple perspectives and the interdependencies between systems, as well as several important ethical dimensions.