Project Create Acceptance
Cultural influences on Renewable Energy Acceptance and Tools for the development of communication strategies to promotE ACCEPTANCE among key actor groups |
Create Acceptance has been finalized succesfully in 2008. The main outcome of the project is the ESTEEM tool (Engage stakeholders through a systematic toolbox to manage new energy projects). This tool is developed for projects managers of new energy projects who want to improve the societal acceptance of their project by stimulating the participate of stakeholders. The ESTEEM tool, including the complete manual of the tool and interesting background information is freely available via www.esteem-tool.eu. |
Download the project folder here!
Project aim
Create Acceptance aims to improve the conditions for renewable energy technologies (RET) and technologies for rational use of energy (RUE) by developing a tool for assessing and promoting the social acceptance of such technologies.
Understanding Social Acceptance of renewable energy and rational use of energy technologies
The current understanding of social processes affecting the (non-)acceptance of renewable energy and rational use of energy technologies is limited. Project managers often assume that stakeholders will adopt and adapt to their innovation without resistance. In practice, however, stakeholders such as users, NGOs, neighbours or local public authorities often have different (and possibly conflicting) visions about the innovation and the future world in which the innovation should fit. If these diverging views are neglected, the project might face severe social resistance in the implementation phase. There is a need for empirically based research to understand the complex interactions between stakeholders, the ways these stakeholders block or facilitate the adoption of alternative technologies and, the (institutional) contexts favourable to the acceptance of technological innovation.
Objective of Create Acceptance: Developing a new multi-stakeholder tool to measure, promote and influence social acceptance
The project Create Acceptance started February 1st 2006, runs until march 2008. The project aims to improve the social acceptance of renewable energy and rational use of energy technologies. It aims at improving this social acceptance through the development of a tool that not only can measure societal acceptance, but can also be used to promote and improve societal acceptance by creating communication, participation and bridging mechanisms for key stakeholders. It builds upon a previous developed tool called Socrobust. The new multi-stakeholder tool will become publicly available to energy managers, policy makers, technology developers, intermediary energy service providers, and other possible users after conclusion of the project. This will occur by providing the tool and information about the tool on the projects website, including a manual.
The old tool: Socrobust
In 1999 the EC financed a research project to develop a tool platform to measure the social robustness of innovations: Socrobust (Project SOE 1981126 of the TSER Program of the European Commission). Socrobust was a feasibility study, it aimed at providing a technology developer or project manager with information on the assumptions build into a project design. It aimed at enhancing the social robustness by developing a map of the project’s future world and compare this map with the current situation (in terms of markets, regulations, technology and science). On the basis of discrepancies between both maps, the technology developer could develop an action plan for increasing the fit between project and future world.
Enhancements
Create Acceptance builds upon the Socrobust tool, but aims to enhance it from an innovator's tool into a multi-stakeholder tool. For this purpose Socrobust is a) critically reviewed; b) supplemented with recent insights from relevant scientific fields such as system innovations and participatory methods; and c) applied to five demonstration projects covering several (renewable) energy technologies in various European regions. The empirical results and stakeholders' experiences with Socrobust are then used to further refine and finalize the tool. Project results will be publicly available on the web and disseminated in scientific and popular publications.
Time scope
The project starts February 1st 2006 and runs for two years. The calendar & events page gives information about project meetings, project team workshops and stakeholder workshops.
Project partners
Create Acceptance is sponsored by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme Priority. All project partners are highly qualified European member states research institutes with backgrounds in energy and/or social studies of science and technology.
For more information, please contact:
Phone | +31 (0)224 568257 |
Fax | +31 (0)224 568338 |