Facing the dire threats of climate change, public authorities are under increasing pressure to play a leading role in driving the move towards a low-carbon society.

A recent policy brief produced by the SMARTEES project and titled “Policy Brief: Social Innovation in the Energy Transition in Action” provides a detailed explanation as to why energy transitions are both a matter of technological solutions, as well as the result of social and political factors.

The brief goes beyond technical solutions, emphasising that a successful transition to efficient and environmentally-friendly energy systems is fostered and influenced by interactions among actors, factors and processes. Understanding these dynamics and their complexity is crucial for uncovering potential obstacles and thus for ensuring a successful energy transition.

The brief, which is based on a study of diverse communities across Europe that have experimented with the features of a low-carbon society through SMARTEES, illustrates the special role social innovation plays in energy transitions at the local level.

Furthermore, it outlines key characteristics of social innovations, as well as a number of policy implications relating to SMARTEES’ work thus far.

For a deeper look into energy- and mobility-related social innovation, readers can also check out:

• Report on Profiles of Social Innovation “In Action” for Each Cluster, which closely examines the social innovation characterising each of the five SMARTEES thematic clusters; and
• Report on Five Models of Social Innovation, which provides more details on the models of social innovation processes found within the five SMARTEES thematic clusters.

For more information on SMARTEES, click here.