THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS

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Seeking clues for sustainable energy future, this paper focuses on the social dimension of renewable energy developments. It aims to gain insight into this dimension and to clarify its significance. With this purpose, it reviews the general understandings, key assumptions and the different views in the relevant literature, on the basis of two main themes: local opposition and participation. While doing this, it adopts a view that renewable energy developments should be promoted without sacrificing the social pillar of sustainable development. In order to achieve socially acceptable solutions and transition to sustainable society, such a view points to a need for understanding social context of renewable energies and searching for more democratic and fair processes, and above all, a change in the dominant policy paradigms. The “what?” and “how?” questions in the context of our country necessitates further research on the social and policy dimensions of renewable energy. Since the subject has not been adequately addressed yet, this paper is considered to serve as a reference and to open up a new research field.

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Renewable Energy , Sustainable Development , Local Opposition , Participation.

dokuz eylul university the journal of graduate school of social sciences

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dokuz eylul university the journal of graduate school of social sciences