Governments in several European countries have developed policies that encourage companies to share ownership of renewable energy projects with local communities. Shared ownership presumes that company and community actors have common goals, can form effective partnerships and negotiate fair outcomes. But there is a lack of research on shared ownership, in particular, how it is constructed by different actors, and the role of trust in shaping practice. This study addressed this gap, drawing on qualitative data from in--depth interviews with 19 UK stakeholders from industry, community and advisory backgrounds. Thematic analysis revealed strong support for shared ownership in principle, but significant challenges in practice. Actors held different rationales and contrasting views on whether the policy should be discretionary or mandatory. A lack of trust was prevalent, with developers expressing scepticism regarding the capacities and representativeness of community actors; and community actors viewing developers as solely motivated by profit, instrumentally using communities to gain planning consent. We conclude that for shared ownership to become conventional practice, it will be necessary to provide mechanisms that facilitate partner identification at an early stage, which can help to build relations of trust between actors, within a more stable and supportive policy context.
Community energy initiatives are set up by volunteers in local communities to promote sustainable energy behaviors and help to facilitate a sustainable energy transition. A key question is what motivates people to be involved in such initiatives. We propose that next to a stronger personal motivation for sustainable energy, people’s perception that their community is motivated to engage in sustainable energy and their involvement in the community (i.e., community identification and interpersonal contact) may affect their initiative involvement. We tested this proposition with a questionnaire study among inhabitants of seven local communities (N = 439). Results suggested that community factors are uniquely related to initiative involvement (willingness to actively participate and attendance of an initiative meeting) next to personal sustainable energy motivations. In particular, stronger community identification and more interpersonal contact with other community members increased the likelihood that people become involved in a community initiative, but the perception of the sustainable energy motivation of one’s community was not uniquely related to initiative involvement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
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