One, no one, one hundred thousand energy transitions in Europe: The quest for a cultural approach

Far from being a univocal process, energy transitions involve several pathways and require research that connects multiple theoretical, disciplinary and methodological perspectives. The European scenario is a clear example of how the boundaries and the direction of such process are difficultly identifiable and merged with culturally situated meanings and practices. In this opening paper, drawing on a psychosocial background, we propose a cultural approach as an attempt to overcome the dichotomies between technical and human, social and individual accounts of energy transitions. In this framework, we illustrate the two main axes that guided this collection of research: a situated perspective, and a focus on different planes of transition (individual, community, societal). Then, we present the European scenario and introduce the contributions, which propose a large variety of epistemological perspectives, and theoretical, methodological and disciplinary integrations. We conclude with a commentary of the main challenges to be addressed in order to develop a shared scientific paradigm: the need for further integration towards shared interpretative frameworks, the quest for a constructive and future-oriented research attitude, the importance of connecting different planes of analysis to foresee alternative scenarios, and the need for proposals and solutions to be addressed to decision makers.