Connections between Water, Energy and Landscape: The Social Acceptance in the Monachil River Valley (South of Spain)

Abstract

The relationship between water and renewable energy, as a vertebrate axis of the territory and landscape and its social acceptance in the Monachil river valley, was analysed. Qualitative interviews and surveys were designed and implemented using quantitative techniques that enabled the measure factors and dimensions of the perception of water, territory, and landscape. The main values and elements of the Monachil inventory, their links with ecosystem services, and traditional activities were identified. In addition, the influence of these premises on the acceptance of renewable energy projects was analysed. Results show that in Monachil, water is part of the territorial identity and landscape of the valley. There is also a strong link between the territory and hydroelectric power, which has generated a new energy landscape. More recently, solar energy has led them to pioneer an energy transition at the local scale. It is demonstrated how renewable energy infrastructures have been integrated into territorial practices.

Territorial Inequalities, Ecological and Material Footprints of the Energy Transition: Case Study of the Cantabrian-Mediterranean Bioregion

“…Even if they are polygonal areas, the territory is conditioned over an extended period of at least 30 to 100 years. Its installation must seek compatibility with traditional land uses and the maintenance of vital ecosystem services [88].…”