Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Madrid (Spain)
April 18th, 2023
Summary:
The grand challenge of energy poverty is increasing in Europe and demands responses from a multi-actor approach. The social logic renders a variety of resources, skills, and perspectives that may play a crucial role in the development of networked responses to energy poverty through more spaces for interventions. However, the social entrepreneurship figure and intermediation's role in a fragmented energy poverty network is understudied in energy social science. Through the combination of several disciplines and fields of research, we explore how social entrepreneurship could contribute to alleviating energy poverty with a collective and network perspective. In an interpretative epistemology, this research process utilises several methods, starting with a systematic literature review to identify relevant topics in the intersection of social entrepreneurship, social innovation, and energy poverty in the just transition.
This literature review suggests the need for further exploration of the networked nature of energy poverty and the role of social entrepreneurship in the network. For that purpose, a hermeneutic phenomenological study is carried out to examine the experiences of social entrepreneurs within the energy poverty network. As a result, a spectrum of narratives of social entrepreneurship emerges, showing how the hybrid and collective nature of social entrepreneurship has the potential to coordinate the network. A particular case of this coordinating role is explored in the interplay between social entrepreneurship and large energy companies by proposing a conceptual model to advocate social energy departments within energy services companies. Those findings extend and enrich the knowledge about the role of the social entrepreneurship actor and, second, to stakeholders' management literature, advocate the prioritisation of vulnerable stakeholders through social intrapreneurship and organisational change. To tap into the potential of social entrepreneurship in energy poverty, tailor-made policies and an overall well-designed policy mix that fosters social innovation are necessary for the energy transition in Europe. Finally, we derive policy implications for Spain concerning building an energy poverty network, and we develop new avenues for research.
Descriptors: Organization and management of enterprises, Poverty, Energy, Other
Keywords: emprendimiento e innovación social, estudio de redes y comunidades, políticas energéticas sostenibles, pobreza energética, estrategias de sostenibilidad, y transiciones; social entrepreneurship and innovation, network and community research, sustainable energy policies, energy poverty, sustainability strategies, and transitions
Citation:
M.J. Manjón (2023), Bridging disconnections through social entrepreneurship to tackle energy poverty. Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Madrid (Spain).
