University of Twente Student Theses
Narratives for Change: The underlying narratives of Aardehuis in establishing a community microgrid
Bertoncello Machado, L. (2024) Narratives for Change: The underlying narratives of Aardehuis in establishing a community microgrid.
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| Abstract: | This thesis explores the narratives, which are cognitive understandings of complex systems, found within the stakeholders of the eco-community Aardehuis, located in the village of Olst, in the Netherlands. This exploration has the main objective of understanding how an established niche’s narratives can be used to draw insights for establishing a new niche technology within. The new technology in question being a community microgrid: a collection of energy-related technologies (batteries, generators, transformers, etc.) made to decentralize the energy generation and consumption of a community from the national grid. More details are presented regarding what microgrids are, why Aardehuis is a promising contender, and how narratives play a significant role in promoting action. The study of the community is conducted through a novel framework proposed for analyzing a niche’s capability of on-boarding new innovations: the strategic niche narrative analysis (SNNA). Based on, as the name suggests, aspects of both strategic niche management, and narrative analysis. The investigation draws its data from semi-instructed interviews of ten Aardehuis stakeholders. Having the goal of uncovering how de Aardehuis’ stakeholders engage with the community, the structures in place (rules, cultural norms, and resources), and the insights that their experiences provide, both general and towards decentralization. The findings of this research detail a community that is in a unique position to take advantage of pre-existing infrastructure in their ongoing partnerships with the municipality of Olst and the SERENE project. In addition, the narrative synthesized from SNNA recommends focusing on the improvement of current networks, taking advantage of resident’s support for more self-sufficiency, and dedicating time to address de Aardehuis’ decision-making process. Overall, this investigation brings a new perspective to the energy transition field, as it attempts to operationalize methods of bridging technology and individual perspectives into recommendations for technological adoption. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 43 environmental science, 70 social sciences in general, 88 social and public administration |
| Programme: | Environmental and Energy Management MSc (69319) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/103139 |
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