landscapes of energies, a perspective on the energy transition

internationalInternational audienceThis chapter discusses the way in which cross-national comparison shall be approached. We assume that energy landscapes emerge at the crossroad of RE technology development and changes in current landscapes. We successively discuss different frameworks for approaching technology development and landscape change, before turning to the recent literature about landscape and renewable energy development. We conclude that cross-national comparison of landscapes of energies should be attentive to the type of landscape tradition at work in each country and account for the fact that the development of renewable energy endows these traditions with a renewed existence. Depending on the extent and the focus of the conflicts or controversies raised around RE projects, the method and focus of the analysis shall differ. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Hydropower exploitation in the Piave river basin (Italian Eastern Alps) : a critical reading through landscape

Renewable energies have been one of the main driving forces of European landscape change in the last ten years. Despite its acknowledged contribution to sustainable development, \u201crenewable\u201d is not ipso facto \u201csustainable\u201d: on the contrary renewable energies can have negative impacts and create both environmental and social conflicts. Landscape is often at the heart of these conflicts, both as an asset to protect and as a tool for use in debate. This situation leads us to reflect on the question of \u201clandscapes of energy\u201d. This paper investigates the relationships between energy production and the territory, using landscape as a tool for a critical review of past and current hydropower exploitation in the Piave river basin, in the Italian Eastern Alps. Regional policies and local practices related with the development of small hydropower plants are analysed from the point of view of the strategies, values and meanings expressed by the different stakeholders. The analysis reveals various weaknesses of the policies and the practices that undermine the objective of integrating energy into the landscape

Consumers in the Circular Economy - Essays on Extending Product Lifecycles

This dissertation sheds light on how a better understanding of consumer practices during product use can help us make consumption more sustainable. The role of consumers in circular economy models has been underexplored and marginalized. The discussion on product circularity is often framed around production and design, where consumers are treated as passive users of circular offerings. Instead, this dissertation elaborates on how consumers can have active roles in the circular economy by extending product lifecycles through maintenance. In this dissertation, I build on the cyclical view of consumption that looks at consumption through acquisition, usage, and disposal. The dissertation focuses on the usage phase of the cycle. To escape the traps of the previous attitude-behavior studies focusing on the individual consumer's attitudes and behavior, this dissertation draws from a more holistic view taking macro, meso, and micro perspectives into account. The research draws on practice theory and analyzes the different practice elements and their configurations. By taking a macro perspective, the findings of the dissertation elaborate on institutional regulations, market resources and social structures shaping practices during product use. Through a more micro and meso perspective, the findings bring new understanding to how consumers participate in lengthening product life spans and how they keep products part of their practices through product maintenance. The dissertation is comprised of three interlinked essays that draw from a longitudinal ethnographic study exploring consumption practices through a sustainable perspective. The study context focuses on leisure boating in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The context of leisure boating around the Baltic Sea provided an excellent context to study sustainable consumption practices due to the extensive use of unsustainable, environmentally destructive boat hull paints during maintenance practices