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10 - Farming Landscapes, Energy Landscapes or Both?

Using Social Representations Theory to Understand the Impact of Energy Transitions on Rural Senses of Place

from Part III - Renewable Energy Transitions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

By
Richard C. Stedman  and
Roberta S. Nilson
Edited by
Christopher M. Raymond ,
Lynne C. Manzo ,
Daniel R. Williams ,
Andrés Di Masso  and
Timo von Wirth
Christopher M. Raymond
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Finland
Lynne C. Manzo
Affiliation:
University of Washington, Seattle
Daniel R. Williams
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Colorado
Andrés Di Masso
Affiliation:
Universitat de Barcelona
Timo von Wirth
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
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Summary

Social-ecological transitions are fundamentally about places – especially how place meanings and attachments act as lenses for interpreting change. Our chapter focuses on energy transitions in rural agricultural landscapes in New York. Agricultural place meanings underpin attachment for many residents, but are challenged by proposals for large-scale renewable energy development. This chapter explores how people interpret these proposed facilities using the perspective of social representations of place. multiple interpretations of proposed facilities are promoted by different groups based on their position towards the development: developers and energy advocates strategically portray solar installations as ‘farms’, replete with images they believe support agricultural meanings; those who resist these developments emphasise the large-scale industrialisation of the landscape and the loss of services such as open space and amenity value. These narratives of place contribute to understanding perspectives on energy transitions and broader rural change.

Keywords

Sense of placeenergy transitionssocial representationssolar energyagriculturelandscape meanings
Type
Chapter
Information
Changing Senses of Place
Navigating Global Challenges
 , pp. 131 - 143
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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