| Abstract |
Social innovation promotes civic engagement in the energy transition. The objective of this paper is to identify the critical factors which foster or hinder the development of social innovation initiatives for the energy transition in Portugal. For this, we identified crucial factors by reviewing relevant literature and working documents related to social innovation and the energy sector in Portugal, and we applied a SWOT analysis. The findings demonstrate that governmental policies supporting renewable energy implantation and social entrepreneurship, high dependence on imports of fossil fuels, equitable distribution of cost and benefits, and engagement of citizens on energy issues are some of the strengths. However, the lack of planning strategies, difficult access to finance, high initial investment cost, and government bureaucratic processes are some of the weaknesses. Several opportunities favour the social innovation initiatives in energy transition, and these include the high price of fuels, increasing importance of societal challenges, and promoting the circular economy. Some threats hindering the contribution of social innovation to the energy transition include land ownership, fossil fuel dominance, development of the other types of innovation, environmental impacts and food security. The approach undertaken provides a more holistic view of such a context and shows how policy strategies can be developed and applied to foster the energy transition process. |