Abstract
Renewable energy is essential for climate change mitigation, economic stability, and energy security. However, many projects face strong local opposition, exposing a disconnect between national support and local or community-level resistance. This research examines the social factors contributing to this opposition and introduces a Unified Framework, using an interdisciplinary approach to address these challenges effectively. A literature review identified several, often overlapping, factors influencing opposition, including procedural justice, socio-economic impacts, location-specific concerns, and demographic influences. Using Discourse Analysis, the study engages relevant theories, such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Social Representation Theory, the Theoretical Domains Framework, and Posthumanism, to develop the Unified Framework, which includes guiding questions to elicit valuable stakeholder insights.
The Unified Framework integrates theoretical insights to promote understanding, transparency, and collaboration. It focuses on recognising community concerns, building trust, and enabling adaptive project design. Applying the proposed framework to secondary data from the Lynedoch EcoVillage Microgrid case study in Stellenbosch, South Africa, demonstrated its potential effectiveness in reducing opposition and promoting acceptance if applied during the project’s design and implementation process. The effectiveness of the proposed framework was also assessed against the Energy Democracy Framework, which had previously been applied and tested on the Lynedoch EcoVillage Minigrid case study. The findings suggest that this framework can mitigate resistance, improve planning, design, and timelines and support sustainable energy transitions.
This study offers a structured approach to community engagement in renewable energy projects, contributing practical guidelines for improving project outcomes. While acknowledging some limitations due to reliance on secondary data, this research highlights the Unified Framework's potential to improve alignment with local communities, fostering sustainable, community-supported renewable energy solutions.