Social innovation supports inclusive and accelerated energy transitions with appropriate governance

Accelerating energy transitions that are both sustainable and just remains an important challenge, and social innovation can have a key role in this transition. Here, we examine the diversity and potential of social innovation in energy systems transformation, synthesizing original mixed methods data from expert interviews, document analysis, social innovation experiments, a representative survey, and an expert survey. Based on a thematic analysis of these data, we advance four key findings: (1) the diversity of social innovation in energy is best understood when recognizing core social practices (thinking, doing, and organizing) and accounting for changes in social relations (cooperation, exchange, competition, and conflict); (2) governance, policy networks, and national context strongly shape social innovation dynamics; (3) processes of social innovation are implicated by multidimensional power relations that can result in transformative changes; and (4) social innovation in energy generally has strong social acceptance among citizens, benefits local communities and is legitimized in key community and city organizations. We discuss an agenda for 9 future research directions on social innovation in energy, and conclude with insights related to national context, governance, and acceleration. In Europe, social innovation in energy is largely driven by governance in a national context, and receives strong acceptance from citizens, concludes a mixed methods analysis of surveys, experiments and expert elicitation.

Automated summary

Accelerating sustainable and just energy transitions remains a significant challenge, and social innovation plays a crucial role in this process. Through a comprehensive analysis of expert interviews, document analysis, experiments, surveys, and expert surveys, four key findings on social innovation in energy were identified: understanding the diversity of social innovation by recognizing core social practices and changes in social relations, the impact of governance, policy networks, and national context on social innovation dynamics, the critical role of multidimensional power relations in transformative changes, and the strong social acceptance and benefits of social innovation in energy among citizens and local communities. The analysis concludes that in Europe, social innovation in energy is driven by governance in a national context and receives strong acceptance from citizens.