This paper is interested in sustainable energy initiatives in French rural areas. It follows up the UK debate about ‘localism’. UK policy localism has been cast as neoliberal, framing communities as competent and competitive actors, morally responsible and accountable for their destiny.
In France, the emerging policy localism is surfing on an ongoing political structuration of innovative rural territories – ‘Positive Energie Territories’ (TEPOS). The paper presents and discusses the results of a rough census (undertaken in 2012) of significant experiences in this domain. It points to a few experiences and depicts them as risky, trial-and-error transcalar processes that endow locally emergent energy issues with a political dimension. To this extent, they amount to a different way of doing energy policy.
The analysis points to an ambiguity in French policy localism. This localism may pave the way for an upscaling of the ongoing TEPOS political structuration, or tend to make TEPOS into demonstration territories within a neoliberal RTD policy approach. In the latter case, it may not necessarily fit territories to pursue their political structuration with a view to the energy transition.
This paper is interested in sustainable energy initiatives in French rural areas. It follows up the UK debate about ‘localism’. UK policy localism has been cast as neoliberal, framing communities as competent and competitive actors, morally responsible and accountable for their destiny.
In France, the emerging policy localism is surfing on an ongoing political structuration of innovative rural territories – ‘Positive Energie Territories’ (TEPOS). The paper presents and discusses the results of a rough census (undertaken in 2012) of significant experiences in this domain. It points to a few experiences and depicts them as risky, trial-and-error transcalar processes that endow locally emergent energy issues with a political dimension. To this extent, they amount to a different way of doing energy policy.
The analysis points to an ambiguity in French policy localism. This localism may pave the way for an upscaling of the ongoing TEPOS political structuration, or tend to make TEPOS into demonstration territories within a neoliberal RTD policy approach. In the latter case, it may not necessarily fit territories to pursue their political structuration with a view to the energy transition.
Titre
en
French Policy Localism: Surfing on ‘Positive Energie Territories’ (Tepos)
1
CIRED -
centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement
( 135977 )
- 45 bis, avenue de la Belle Gabrielle - 94736 Nogent-sur-Marne Cedex
- France
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement UMR56 ( 11574 )
;
École des hautes études en sciences sociales ( 99539 )
;
AgroParisTech ( 148117 )
;
École des Ponts ParisTech ( 301545 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR8568 ( 441569 )
2
PACTE -
Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales
( 675 )
- Siège : IEP - BP 48 38040 Grenoble cedex 9
- France
Université Pierre Mendès France - Grenoble 2 ( 3886 )
;
Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 ( 51016 )
;
Sciences Po Grenoble - Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble ( 89636 )
;
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR5194 ( 441569 )
3
UMR METAFORT -
Mutations des activités des espaces et des formes d'organisation dans les territoires ruraux
( 182207 )
- 9 avenue Blaise Pascal CS 20085 F-63178 Aubière
- France
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique UMR1273 ( 92114 )
;
AgroParisTech ( 148117 )
;
VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement ( 301767 )
;
Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture ( 302049 )
4
Réseau pour la transition énergétique
( 409344 )
- France
5
CETCOPRA -
Centre d'étude des techniques, des connaissances et des pratiques
( 123745 )
- 17, rue de la Sorbonne 75005 Paris
- France
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne UR2483 ( 7550 )
Page/Identifiant
281-291
Langue du document
Anglais
Nom de la revue
Energy Policy
(ISSN : 0301-4215)
Publié par Elsevier
Revue non référencée dans Sherpa-Romeo
Vulgarisation
Non
Comité de lecture
Oui
Volume
78
Date de production/écriture
2014
Date de publication électronique
2014-12-12
Date de publication
2015
Audience
Internationale
Financement
This work was carried out with the financial support of the French Agency for the Environment and the Energy (ADEME) (Programme: ‘Mettre l’innovation sur la trajectoire du facteur 4’, Convention 11 10C 0079) and of the French National Research Agency (ANR, programme sociétés innovantes, convention 2011-SOIN-003-01, projet COLLENER).