Little research so far has been devoted to understanding the enabling and constraining factors fo... more Little research so far has been devoted to understanding the enabling and constraining factors for the diffusion of sustainable energy grassroots innovations in Europe. This knowledge can help to scale up grassroots innovations that are contributing to the ongoing socio-technical energy transition process currently in Europe. Moreover, the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory has not yet been applied to explore the diffusion process of socio-technical innovations. This paper analyzes and discusses critical factors for the diffusion of grassroots innovations in the European energy sector. By applying a DOI conceptual framework to 225 grassroots innovations case studies from several European countries to identify not only enabling factors but also constraining their diffusion process, we employ a novel research approach. The analysis shows that while a variety of enabling and constraining factors exist, their occurrence differed across the components of the framework. We identify (lack of) institutional as well as financial support and networking as key enablers of the diffusion. Our results hint at the particular importance of assessing hindering factors for the diffusion of grassroots innovations. Nevertheless, we suggest that the DOI framework should be revisited and combined with transition management approaches to accurately account for the multilayered diffusion process of grassroots innovations.
Little research so far has been devoted to understanding the enabling and constraining factors fo... more Little research so far has been devoted to understanding the enabling and constraining factors for the diffusion of sustainable energy grassroots innovations in Europe. This knowledge can help to scale up grassroots innovations that are contributing to the ongoing socio-technical energy transition process currently in Europe. Moreover, the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory has not yet been applied to explore the diffusion process of socio-technical innovations. This paper analyzes and discusses critical factors for the diffusion of grassroots innovations in the European energy sector. By applying a DOI conceptual framework to 225 grassroots innovations case studies from several European countries to identify not only enabling factors but also constraining their diffusion process, we employ a novel research approach. The analysis shows that while a variety of enabling and constraining factors exist, their occurrence differed across the components of the framework. We identify (lack of) institutional as well as financial support and networking as key enablers of the diffusion. Our results hint at the particular importance of assessing hindering factors for the diffusion of grassroots innovations. Nevertheless, we suggest that the DOI framework should be revisited and combined with transition management approaches to accurately account for the multilayered diffusion process of grassroots innovations.
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Papers by Daniel Eckert