ReTour - An inter- and transdisciplinary study of renewable energy te...

Increasing the share of energy produced from renewable sources is a major cornerstone of many supranational and national policies. For Austria, all scenarios conclude that energy from wind and photovoltaics will have to contribute significantly to Austria’s energy system by 2050. Against this backdrop, the research proposed here focuses on the development of wind and photovoltaic energy infrastructure in tourism regions. Developments in these regions harbour a substantial potential for conflict as touristic regions face difficult trade-offs between strong responsibilities to mitigate climate change and pressures on their valued landscapes. The project presented here investigates this area of conflict to study the more general question of how national policy goals might be translated into viable pathways at a regional level. We propose an innovative mixed-method approach, including choice experiments, virtual reality and geographic information system (GIS) applications, and serious gaming, to holistically address a long-lasting schism between social science research on renewable energy futures and techno-economic scholarly contributions. The presentation will offer new methodological perspectives, novel contributions to the social acceptance literature, and findings highly relevant to efforts geared at successfully transforming energy systems, with particular attention to sensitive landscapes. The final discussion of implications then offers insights for both theory and practice and a wide range of stakeholders, from academia, the policy community to the private sector.