TY - JOUR

T1 - Thinking, doing, organising

T2 - Prefiguring just and sustainable energy systems via collective prosumer ecosystems in Europe

AU - Wittmayer, Julia M.

AU - Campos, Inês

AU - Avelino, Flor

AU - Brown, Donal

AU - Doračić, Borna

AU - Fraaije, Maria

AU - Gährs, Swantje

AU - Hinsch, Arthur

AU - Assalini, Silvia

AU - Becker, Timon

AU - Marín-González, Esther

AU - Holstenkamp, Lars

AU - Bedoić, Robert

AU - Duić, Neven

AU - Oxenaar, Sem

AU - Pukšec, Tomislav

N1 - The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 764056, PROSEU. We would like to thank our collaborators in the different PROSEU Living Labs and in the initiatives for the continued cooperation during the project period. We also would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers of ERSS for their critical and constructive engagement with our work.

PY - 2022/4/1

Y1 - 2022/4/1

N2 - This article positions collective renewable energy prosumerism as a social movement that engages in energy system transformation. Collective renewable energy prosumer initiatives engage in ‘prefigurative’ work through their discursive framings (ways of thinking), their activities (ways of doing) and their understanding and enactment of social relations (ways of organising). The core of this article is a comparative analysis of the prefigurative work of 13 collective prosumers from 7 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom). The article discusses their contributions to energy system transformation, including renewable energy production, different mechanisms for involving citizens, local value creation, and the degree of desired and actual collaboration and networking within broader prosumer ecosystems. We then discuss these contributions against societal discourses and expectations towards prosumerism, such as energy democracy, energy justice, and environmental sustainability and decarbonisation. This reveals three tensions: 1) a focus on decarbonisation but not on broader environmental problems, 2) the involvement of certain people and not of others, and 3) the building of prosumer eco-systems while ignoring incumbency. Future research avenues are formulated to conclude the article.

AB - This article positions collective renewable energy prosumerism as a social movement that engages in energy system transformation. Collective renewable energy prosumer initiatives engage in ‘prefigurative’ work through their discursive framings (ways of thinking), their activities (ways of doing) and their understanding and enactment of social relations (ways of organising). The core of this article is a comparative analysis of the prefigurative work of 13 collective prosumers from 7 European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom). The article discusses their contributions to energy system transformation, including renewable energy production, different mechanisms for involving citizens, local value creation, and the degree of desired and actual collaboration and networking within broader prosumer ecosystems. We then discuss these contributions against societal discourses and expectations towards prosumerism, such as energy democracy, energy justice, and environmental sustainability and decarbonisation. This reveals three tensions: 1) a focus on decarbonisation but not on broader environmental problems, 2) the involvement of certain people and not of others, and 3) the building of prosumer eco-systems while ignoring incumbency. Future research avenues are formulated to conclude the article.

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120466771&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/2f63ba60-f790-3e93-aa9b-d7c8e4b346de/

U2 - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102425

DO - 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102425

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85120466771

VL - 86

JO - Energy Research and Social Science

JF - Energy Research and Social Science

SN - 2214-6296

M1 - 102425

ER -