Energy Transition in the Baltic Sea Region

"The climate urgency requires us to transition to an efficient, renewables based economy as soon as possible. This book is a welcome and timely contribution to the energy transition policy discourse in the Baltic Sea region. I am sure the experiences and best practices from across cities, regions and states will inspire action far beyond the region."

Krista Mikkonen, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change of Finland

"We already know that decarbonizing our economies at the pace and scale called for by climate science will face unprecedented obstacles. Increasingly, however, we are discovering that the greatest obstacle may not be a dearth of technological solutions or finance, but one of public opinion: whether expressed in the form of localised resistance against renewable energy projects or rejection of national climate action by a wavering electorate, lacking social acceptance threatens to undermine progress towards the necessary energy transition. Drawing on a region that offers pioneering insights, the diverse group of authors represented in this book offers a unique perspective and valuable lessons on perhaps the most intractable climate policy challenge yet."

Michael Mehling, Deputy Director, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

"The energy transition is not about business or official state strategies. First of all, it is about society - how individuals and communities change their habits of energy consumption and how they evolve to energy prosumers. This book helps to understand the social transformations and practical implications of policy measures targeted at transition to clean energy. The most needed analysis to understand the depth of processes we all are facing."

Tomas Janeliunas, Director of Energy Research Institute, Vilnius University, Lithuania

"This is a topical book with hands-on policy recommendations for those in and outside of academia who want to learn about the crucial role of bottom-up activities in an energy transition: a comprehensive collection reflecting on various aspects of an energy transition using diverse approaches and examples from countries in the Baltic Sea Region."

Christian von Hirschhausen, Technical University Berlin, Germany

"One of the most important contemporary questions connected to climate change mitigation and energy transition is how to translate the scientific and political consensus about the need to limit the human impact on our environment into societal consensus and support. This edited volume examines these issues from a regional perspective and provides important insight into the complexity of energy transition and the role of various societal actors in it. A must-read for anybody interested in the Baltic Sea Region, energy transition, or climate change."

Matús Misík, Department of Political Science, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

This book analyses the potential for active stakeholder engagement in the energy transition in the Baltic Sea Region in order to foster clean energy deployment. An essential resource for scholars, students and policymakers researching and working in the areas of renewable energy, energy policy and citizen engagement.

This book analyses the potential for active stakeholder engagement in the energy transition in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) in order to foster clean energy deployment.

Public acceptability and bottom-up activities can be critical for enduring outcomes to an energy transition. As a result, it is vital to understand how to unlock the potential for public, community and prosumer participation to facilitate renewable energy deployment and a clean energy transition - and, consequently, to examine the factors influencing social acceptability. Focussing on the diverse BSR, this book draws on expert contributions to consider a range of different topics, including the challenges of social acceptance and its policy implications; strategies to address challenges of acceptability among stakeholders; and community engagement in clean energy production. Overall, the authors examine the practical implications of current policy measures and provide recommendations on how lessons learnt from this 'energy lab region' may be applied to other regions.

Reflecting an interdisciplinary approach in the social sciences, this book is an essential resource for scholars, students and policymakers researching and working in the areas of renewable energy, energy policy and citizen engagement, and interested in understanding the potential for bottom-up, grassroots activities and social acceptability to expedite the energy transition and reanimate democracies.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.