Abstract
A paradigm shift towards the so-called low carbon society is one of the main challenges that our societies have to face in the near future. In the framework of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Program research project MILESECURE-2050, empirical research was carried out to understand the social dynamics that may characterize this change in the future. The research involved a Europe-wide study of the communities that “anticipate”, at local level, some basic features of a future low carbon society, i.e. Anticipatory Experiences. The research analysed over 90 Anticipatory Experiences in 19 European countries. Some of the experiences analysed attempted to change a single aspect of their communities, such as developing sustainable transport, energy-efficient housing or the generation of property-level renewable energy. Others wanted to produce a holistic sustainable community that incorporated a fully functional and independent low energy network. In summary, all the Anticipatory Experiences developed, or are actively developing, sustainable ways of producing, consuming and transporting energy. The Anticipatory Experiences were found to be operating at different local scales, ranging from neighbourhoods and towns to major cities. Their anticipatory character may be defined as the ability to take decisions and develop practical solutions today, in order to resolve issues that the society in general, and the local community in particular, will have to confront in the near future, first of all those involving climate change and the depletion of “carbon” energy resources. Taking as its starting point the empirical evidence of the research, the paper investigates how the anticipatory features of these communities resulted in structural changes in both the energy system and the local social system and in radical changes in individual behaviours.
The future is already here —
it’s just not very evenly distributed
William F. Gibson
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The various projects and other research initiatives funded by the EC include, among the others: PACT (Pathways for Carbon Transitions), PASHMINA (paradigm shifts modelling innovative approach), SPREAD (Sustainable lifestyles 2050), POLINARES (EU Policy on Natural Resources) and GILDED (Governance, Infrastructure, Lifestyle). Dynamics and Energy Demand: European Post-carbon Communities), AUGUR (Challenges for Europe in the world 2030), WEO (World Energy Outlook), WETO-T (World and European Energy and Environment Transition Outlook Report), MEDPRO (Mediterranean Prospects), MILESECURE-2050 (EU Low Carbon and Energy Security), POCACITO (Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow)
- 2.
Multidimensional Impact of the Low-carbon European Strategy on Energy Security, and socio-economic dimension up to 2050 Perspective (MILESECURE-2050) was funded under FP7 programme and was carried out in the period 2013–2015.
- 3.
For an overview of the studies on the complex relationship between science, technology and society, see d’Andrea and Declich 2014.
- 4.
- 5.
Social sciences and especially sociology have a long tradition of research on sociocultural stress, dealt with under different conceptual labels such as anomie, cultural trauma, social crisis or social stress. Only making reference to general sociology, we can mention, e.g. Durkheim 2014; Merton 1938; Pearlin 1989; Beck 1992; Aneshensel 1992.
- 6.
Anticipatory Experiences approach was adopted for the social study of materials. See Caiati and Declich 2016.
- 7.
See in this regard the important activities carried out by UNESCO Chair in Anticipatory Systems, included the present volume.
References
Aneshensel, C.S. 1992. Social stress: Theory and research. Annual review of sociology 18 (1): 15–38.
Benford, R.D., and D.A. Snow. 2000. Framing processes and social movements: An overview and assessment. Annual review of sociology 26 (1): 611–639.
Beck, U. 1992. Risk society: Towards a new modernity. Vol. 17. Sage.
Burns, T.R. 2012. The sustainability revolution: A societal paradigm shift. Sustainability 4 (6): 1118–1134 ISO 690.
Caiati, G., L. d’Andrea, and M. Montefalcone. 2010. Societal Dynamic of Energy Transition. Pathways for carbon transitions Project PACT.
Caiati, G., G. Quinti, et al. 2014. Report on comparative analysis. MILESECURE-2050 Project.
Caiati, G., Quinti, G., et al. 2013. Report on integrated analysis of local anticipatory experiences in energy transition in Europe. MILESECURE-2050 Project
Caiati, G., and A. Declich. 2016. The social nature of materials. A brief overview and two case studies concerning the Energy transition context. Matériaux & Techniques 104 (6-7): 603.
d’Andrea, L., and A. Declich. 2014. Materials, Technology and Society: contributions from a sociological perspective. Matériaux & Techniques 102 (5): 507.
Durkheim, E. 2014. The division of labor in society. Simon and Schuster.
European Commission. 2013. A 2030 framework for climate and energy policies. Green Paper. In COM(2013) 169 final.
Jasper, J.M. 2008. The art of moral protest: Culture, biography, and creativity in social movements. University of Chicago Press.
Meadows, D.H., D.L. Meadows, J. Randers, and W.W. Behrens. 1972. The limits to growth. Vol. 102, 27. New York.
Merton, R.K. 1938. Social structure and anomie. American sociological review 3 (5): 672–682.
Nadin, M. 2010. Anticipation and dynamics: Rosen’s anticipation in the perspective of time. International Journal of General Systems 39 (1): 3–33.
———. 2016. Anticipation across disciplines. In Springer International Publishing.
Pearlin, L.I. 1989. The sociological study of stress. Journal of health and social behavior: 241–256.
Poli, R. 2017. Introduction to anticipation studies. Vol. 1. Springer.
———. 2014. Anticipation: a new thread for the human and social sciences? Cadmus 2 (3): 23.
———. 2010. The many aspects of anticipation. Foresight 12 (3): 7–17.
Quaranta G. 1982. L’associazione invisibile: giovani cattolici tra secolarizzazione e risveglio religioso. Sansoni
Quinti, G., G. Caiati, M. Gruenig, B. O’Donnel, O. Amerighi, B. Baldissara, and B. Felici. 2016. European Distributed Renewable Energy Case Studies. Low-carbon Energy Security from a European Perspective. Elsevier AP.
Rohracher, H. 2008. Energy systems in transition: contributions from social sciences. International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management 9 (2-3): 144–161.
Rosen, R. 1985. Anticipatory Systems. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
———. 1991. Life itself: a comprehensive inquiry into the nature, origin, and fabrication of life. Columbia University Press
Stirling, A. 2014. Transforming power: Social science and the politics of energy choices. Energy Research & Social Science 1: 83–95.
Teilhard de Chardin, P. 1962. L’énergie humaine. Éditions du Seuil
Tesla, N. 2008. The Problem of Increasing Human Energy: With Special Reference to the Harnessing of the Sun’s Energy. Cosimo, Inc.
Watts, C. 2011. Human energy concepts in the social sciences and how to model them. Working paper submitted for the Satellite Workshop on “Social Energy”, European Conference on Complex Systems, 2011, Vienna
Wolf, S., Mandel, A., Chabay, I., Jaeger, C., & Kondor, I. 2010. Social energy: a useful concept for analyzing complex social systems?
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Caiati, G., Quinti, G., d’Andrea, L. (2019). Energy Transition, Anticipation and Change: A Study on the Anticipatory Experiences of the Low Carbon Society. In: Poli, R., Valerio, M. (eds) Anticipation, Agency and Complexity. Anticipation Science, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03623-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03623-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-03622-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-03623-2
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)