Doing things differently: bridging community concerns and energy system modelling with a transdisciplinary approach in rural Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorMcGookin, Connor
dc.contributor.authorMac Uidhir, Tomás
dc.contributor.authorÓ Gallachóir, Brian P.
dc.contributor.authorByrne, Edmond P.
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderESB Networksen
dc.contributor.funderNational Science Foundationen
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-27T09:09:49Z
dc.date.available2022-10-27T09:09:49Z
dc.date.issued2022-07
dc.date.updated2022-10-27T08:41:32Z
dc.description.abstractThis paper reflects on the experience of co-producing energy strategies on the Dingle peninsula, a rural peripheral region in Ireland's South West. For the past three years, researchers from sociology, community development, and energy engineering have worked in partnership with Ireland's electricity distribution system operator and local non-profit organisations supporting enterprise and community development in the region. This involved coordinating the research with the transdisciplinary partnership established and widespread community consultation (including fifteen community meetings that received roughly 400 attendees) to understand the concerns and priorities of residents. The initial research focus was to incorporate stakeholder preferences into energy scenarios using a simulation modelling tool (Low Emissions Analysis Platform, LEAP). This was revised in favour of support for local development effort to prepare a strategic plan for the area across social, economic, and environmental domains. Widening the scope in this manner posed a serious methodological challenge but was necessary to respond to local needs and foster local impact. The results highlight the imperative of understanding the messy reality within which energy systems operate, and the need to align rural development with climate action policies via authentic engagement. A key contribution from this novel approach is to shine a critical light on the limitations of energy system models. This research serves to highlight the need for co-production/action research efforts that can support real-world transition processes and provide a better understanding of local contexts as an alternative to efforts that would seek to simply improve societal representations within energy system models.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUS-Ireland R, D & D Partnership Programme, Science Foundation Ireland, National Science Foundation (Grant number 16/US-C2C/3290); Dingle Peninsula 2030 Partnershipen
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid102658en
dc.identifier.citationMcGookin, C., Mac Uidhir, T., Ó Gallachóir, B. P. and Byrne, E. P. (2022) 'Doing things differently: bridging community concerns and energy system modelling with a transdisciplinary approach in rural Ireland', Energy Research & Social Science, 89, 102658, (14pp). doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102658en
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.erss.2022.102658en
dc.identifier.endpage14en
dc.identifier.issn2214-6296
dc.identifier.journaltitleEnergy Research & Social Scienceen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/13791
dc.identifier.volume89en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevieren
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres/12/RC/2302/IE/Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) - The SFI Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Research/en
dc.rights© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectCo-productionen
dc.subjectCommunity wellbeingen
dc.subjectEnergy system modellingen
dc.subjectParticipatory action researchen
dc.subjectRural developmenten
dc.subjectTransdisciplinaryen
dc.titleDoing things differently: bridging community concerns and energy system modelling with a transdisciplinary approach in rural Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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