Determinants of renewable and sustainable energy technologies acceptance: a comprehensive explanatory model for the biofuel case

The doctoral research aims to understand the acceptance of renewable and sustainable energy technology, specifically biofuel technology, by the general public and expert stakeholders. Study 1 identifies barriers and facilitators for biofuel acceptability through qualitative interviews with 32 EU stakeholders from various institutions and countries. The qualitative content analysis reveals four clusters of variables affecting biofuel acceptability. Study 2 builds an integrated model (i-SETA) for biofuel acceptance, incorporating psychological and contextual factors, tested on 807 laypeople from 8 EU countries. Study 3 validates the i-SETA model with 210 European expert stakeholders from four EU countries. The thesis provides valuable evidence-based concepts to promote biofuel acceptance and adoption

Stakeholders mapping for sustainable biofuels:An innovative procedure based on computational text analysis and social network analysis

The identification and engagement of stakeholders is a challenge whose outcomes have a strong impact on a project’s success. This is even more relevant when the project concerns the introduction of sustainable technologies; these technologies are often less competitive on the market than traditional ones, both in terms of development complexity and production costs. This paper presents a stakeholder identification and mapping procedure, based on an Interest x Influence model, that emphasizes a quantitative methodological approach. The method has been applied on publicly available online data to identify and map potential stakeholders of a European research project aiming at creating a new biomass-derived biofuel. A semi-supervised procedure, built by combining computational text analysis and social network analysis techniques, has been used to calculate Interest and Influence scores for each potential stakeholder toward the project. The results show that stakeholders can be ranked on both dimensions and mapped on a bi-dimensional space according to their level of Interest and Influence. Within projects aiming at developing technologies for sustainability in which a wide range of stakeholders are involved at a transnational level, this stakeholder mapping technique provides a useful tool that can be adopted even with little knowledge on specific fields of application. A further asset of this approach lies in the possibility of profiling stakeholders on the basis of their Interest in the target project: this allows us to know the contents of a stakeholder (or stakeholders category) Interest, and therefore to have useful information for addressing the targeted stakeholder by means of a content design which is based on specific content categories, substantiating the stakeholder(s) Interest in the specific project.</p

Public opinion about solar radiation management: A cross-cultural study in 20 countries around the world

Some argue that complementing climate change mitigation measures with solar radiation management (SRM) might prove a last resort to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. To make a socially responsible decision on whether to use SRM, it is important to consider also public opinion, across the globe and particularly in the Global South, which would face the greatest risks from both global warming and SRM. However, most research on public opinion about SRM stems from the Global North. We report findings from the first large-scale, cross-cultural study on the public opinion about SRM among the general public (N = 2,248) and students (N = 4,583) in 20 countries covering all inhabited continents, including five countries from the Global South and five ‘non-WEIRD’ (i.e. not Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) countries from the Global North. As public awareness of SRM is usually low, we provided participants with information on SRM, including key arguments in favour of and against SRM that appear in the scientific debate. On average, acceptability of SRM was significantly higher in the Global South than in the ‘non-WEIRD’ Global North, while acceptability in the ‘WEIRD’ Global North was in between. However, we found substantial variation within these clusters, especially in the ‘non-WEIRD’ Global North, suggesting that countries do not form homogenous clusters and should thus be considered individually. Moreover, the average participants’ views, while generally neither strong nor polarised, differed from some expert views in important ways, including that participants perceived SRM as only slightly effective in limiting global warming. Still, our data suggests overall a conditional, reluctant acceptance. That is, while on average, people think SRM would have mostly negative consequences, they may still be willing to tolerate it as a potential last resort to fight global warming, particularly if they think SRM has only minor negative (or even positive) impacts on humans and nature

Cosa guida od ostacola l’accettazione sociale delle tecnologie energetiche rinnovabili e sostenibili? Un approccio meta-analitico

Introduzione. Come conseguenza dei cambiamenti climatici, le tecnologie energetiche sostenibili e rinnovabili svolgono un ruolo centrale nel mitigare questi cambiamenti o nel consentirne l'adattamento. L'accettazione sociale di tali tecnologie (in riferimento sia all’atteggiamento di accettabilità sia all’intenzione di accettazione) è un'area di ricerca in crescita negli ultimi anni e per questo è essenziale sintetizzare queste ricerche entro una prospettiva unificata e comprensiva di ciò che è stato studiato per capitalizzare tale conoscenza cumulativa. Obiettivi. La presente ricerca si propone di indagare le principali determinanti psicologico-sociali, contestuali e tecnologiche dell'accettabilità e dell’accettazione di tali tecnologie, fornendo un quadro completo del fenomeno, attraverso una serie di meta-analisi. Metodo. Gli articoli inclusi nelle presenti meta-analisi sono stati cercati nei database Scopus, WoS e PsycInfo e sono stati selezionati e inclusi nello studio seguendo le linee guida PRISMA. Successivamente, per analizzare i dati, sono state svolte una serie di “random-effect meta-analysis”. Risultati. Dalle meta-analisi sono emersi i maggiori predittori dell’accettabilità e accettazione sociale delle tecnologie energetiche sostenibili, evidenziando come le variabili con un impatto maggiore sull’accettabilità e accettazione siano quelle legate ad aspetti psicologico-sociali dell’individuo che adotta le tecnologie energetiche, ma contribuiscano anche le credenze circa il contesto di adozione e circa le caratteristiche della tecnologia stessa. Le variabili con un impatto minore sono invece risultate essere quelle sociodemografiche individuali. Limiti. Sebbene la ricerca prenda in considerazione un gran numero di studi, analizzando diverse tecnologie energetiche, molte tecnologie sono sottorappresentate. Aspetti innovativi. In letteratura è presente un’importante lacuna dovuta all’assenza di meta-analisi che abbiano indagato l’accettazione sociale di un ampio spettro di tecnologie energetiche. Le poche meta-analisi esistenti, infatti, hanno esaminato singole tecnologie energetiche o un numero limitato di esse. Le presenti meta-analisi mirano invece a indagare diverse tecnologie energetiche (di mitigazione e adattamento) differenziate in base al loro TRL (Technology Readiness Level). Parole chiave: Meta-analisi; accettazione sociale; tecnologie energetiche

Storytelling: a strategy for brand communication

Objectives: The purpose of this research is to understand how storytelling supports existing brands and how it may help starting brands in their first phase of life. Based on the analysis of a case study able to highlight the strong connection between storytelling and brand, the paper highlights the role of the packaging, labeling, and the company’s architecture. Methodology: This paper combines aspects of theory with suggestions coming from the analysis of a case study. This methodology is appropriate for developing a theory through deep comprehension of the empirical phenomena and the context in which they take place (Yin, 2009) Findings: The case study analyzed herein underlines that the phenomenon of storytelling involves not only big company, but also small businesses. Moreover, it highlights that storytelling can be a new way to manage the brand. Research Limits: This study is limited in that it analyzes only one single case. Practical Implication: What emerges from the case study is that a brand’s image can be conveyed through various elements, bringing the company into direct contact with the consumer. Originality of the Study: The contribution we intend to provide is connected with the reduction of insufficient knowledge of the new relationship role between brand and storytelling (Kapferer, 2008). In some scholarly contributions there are many interesting scientific studies with reference to brand and storytelling analyzed separately, but few of them deepen the meaning of the new role of storytelling as it strengthens a brand

The Role of Place Attachment in Promoting Refugees’ Well-Being and Resettlement: A Literature Review

Refugees are at great risk of developing mental health problems. Yet, little is known about how to optimally help this vulnerable group as there is a lack of evaluated refugee mental health interventions. The current article presents the results of a literature review which investigates the importance of place attachment for the promotion of refugees’ well-being in the resettlement process. This review concentrated on the most recent and current literature regarding the potential role, importance, and relevance of people–place bonds in the dynamic process of refugee resettlement. It examines literature from the field of positive and environmental psychology, highlighting key theoretical concepts and research findings as well as gaps in research. The review revealed that little is known about the dynamics of place bonding, while the debate rages on about the geometry of the psychological constructs of person–place relationships. Yet, knowing more about which needs should be satisfied for easing place bonding could be of crucial importance for facilitating refugee well-being. Ultimately, improving the knowledge and understanding of the phases of this dynamic process could be useful for a more successful implementation of refugee resettlement practices and activities