"Who's in charge here?" : - A case study of municipal leadership within energy transitions on the Åland Islands, Finland

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Department of Thematic Studies Environmental Change

MSc Thesis (30 ECTS credits) Science for Sustainable development

Anna Häger

“Who’s in charge here?”

- A case study of municipal leadership within

energy transitions on the Åland Islands,

Finland

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Copyright

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1 Abstract

Energy transition (ET) to renewable energy sources (RES) has been identified as a crucial action needed in combating climate change. These societal transitions have barriers which are hard to quantify and thus hard to incorporate in energy modelling scenarios. Full-scale island societies offer a unique position in observing societal changes that accompany ET technology. Islands also offer an understanding of how holistic sustainable development agendas and clear leadership can help facilitate an ET at a local level by identifying local barriers and bottlenecks. The autonomous territory, the Åland Islands, was chosen as a case study to investigate the role municipal governance leadership has on ET. 15 municipal actors in three different governing roles, from five different municipalities, were interviewed in individual semi-structured interviews. The results show that economic barriers were not perceived as a hindrance if local ET planning and budgeting is done thoroughly and followed up. The main barriers identified are social and include gender and age imbalances, lack of transparent communication, segregation of stakeholders and lack of cooperation between municipalities. The interviewees all saw benefits with undertaking an ET, both

economically and socially, but seem unsure of who should take on this responsibility. There is lack of local adoption and holistic planning for ET, even if the actors in the municipalities express their willingness to undertake one – but with no clear regional ET agenda or leader to shoulder the task, it is unlikely that Åland will achieve the energy goals set to be reached 2030.

Keywords: energy island, local leadership, renewable energy transition, small-scale society,

sustainable development

2 Abbreviations

CBI – community-based initiatives CC – climate change

EC – European Commission EO – energy optimization GHG – greenhouse gases GI – grassroot initiatives

MA – municipal assembly (kommunfullmäktige) MB – municipal board (kommunstyrelse)

MC – municipal committee (kommunnämnd)

MCE – Municipal Chief Executive (kommundirektör) MTD – Municipal Technical Director (kommunteknisk chef) RES – renewable energy sources

RMA – represent of the municipal assembly (representant för kommunfullmäktige) SDA – sustainable development agenda on Åland (bärkraft.ax)

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3 Introduction

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released from fossil-based energy sources have been identified as the main driver of climate change (CC) (Rogelj et al., 2018). Deep decarbonization and a transition to renewable energy sources (RES) have been recognized as profound means of measure in

achieving the goals stated in the Paris Agreement (Vaillancourt et al., 2017; Kristjansdottir and Busch, 2019; Li and Strachan, 2019; Arabzadeh et al., 2020).

Transforming the World’s current energy system from fossil fuels to RES, will without any doubt be a costly affair (IRENA, 2017b). Although ignoring the accumulated costs CC will inevitably have, will prove to be even higher (BlackRock, 2015).

Energy modelling is widely used in the attempt of solving the equation of how an energy transition (ET) to RES would give most “bang for the buck”, i.e. combating climate change whilst

maintaining a stable grid (Zakeri, Syri and Rinne, 2014; International Energy Agency, 2019; IRENA, 2019b). These models, although powered by an unfathomable amount of quantitative data, might prove to have blunt outcomes when implemented in real-life society. This is because they often lack a qualitative trait which is hard to quantify and model: people (Li and Strachan, 2019). Possible future energy scenarios and their outcomes that have been compiled using modelling analysis are often based on quantitative datasets retrieved from techno-economic sources (Ringkjøb, Haugan and Solbrekke, 2018). These give us estimations on how long and to what costs a global energy transition to RES would take and what impacts it may have on GHG emissions and CC (Rogelj et al., 2018; IRENA, 2019b). One critical factor often missing in these prognoses are the datasets which are hard to quantify, for example societal biases, attitudes, habits, culture, traditions, identity, a hesitation towards change etc. This leaves a gap in the probability and feasibility of any scenario that involves major societal reformations, such as an energy transition to RES (Bowker and Star, 2000; Veltri, 2017; Li and Strachan, 2019). In other words, energy transition modelling and simulations done without a parameter of social sciences, are vague estimations on possible future outcomes.

Kowalska-Pyzalska (2018, p 10) narrowed down the adoption of ET technology to three key points • Energy changes made will have an actual positive impact

o Underlines the importance of accessible and understandable information • Novel technology is accessible, easy to use and provides benefits

o Cutting energy costs, increasing life standard, with well-functioning technology • Mutual narrative with a clear strategy and goals for multi-level stakeholders

o To ensure measurable progress and adaption, executive leadership is needed In other words, ensuring the success for RES and ET will require a master action plan that a majority can agree on and benefit from. The RES technology to make the transition is said to be available (Jacobson et al., 2017), and that the barriers holding an ET back lie in political and social factors (Geels et al., 2019). To overcome these, bold and clear leadership is crucial (Li and

Strachan, 2019; Torney, 2019).

“Without [leadership]…society is often unable to respond to the long-term, large-scale challenges that affect humanity. Leadership is a driver for change, showing a direction and motivating others to follow” (Gupta et al., 2010 p 463)

Political and societal factors are major enablers, but may also be bottlenecks, when seeking to invoke a full-scale societal change, such as an ET. Another aspect that needs to be acknowledged when undertaking ET and implementing novel energy policies, which enables rapid energy transitions, is that change takes time. Especially those that involve changes in habits and culture.

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Studies on how society reacts towards innovation and new technologies are not a novel research field (Rogers, 1962). This coupled with the economic and political perspectives in society, lays out additional barriers that need to be addressed and adapted to working in favour of ET and not against it (Geels et al., 2019; Li and Strachan, 2019).

So even if we manage to create the perfect energy modelling scenario, have accessible technology, and a clear sustainable development agenda on what we want to achieve – does it matter, if no one takes the lead and acknowledge their accountability?

This thesis was inspired by a public poll conducted in August 2019 on the autonomous region of the Åland Islands (Åland). In the poll locals on Åland were asked who they believed had the highest accountability in promoting regional SD (Appendix 1). Based upon this poll and the local

sustainable development agenda goals surrounding energy, the outline and framework for this thesis was shaped. Contextualizing public opinion, views on sustainable development and RES, and local leadership roles and accountability in a case study.

4 Aim and Research Question

This master thesis aims to answer how governing municipal actors on Åland view their accountability and scope of leadership in a local ET.

This thesis will answer the following research questions (RQ):

1 Who takes the leadership responsibilities for an energy transition within a municipality governance structure?

2 What do municipalities view as bottlenecks and barriers in an energy transition? 3 Which role does the local sustainable development agenda play in an energy transition?

5 Background

The Åland Islands was chosen as a site for a case study for this thesis work. This is because Åland is not a typical case of ET on islands, as it possesses several unique traits concerning its

governance, take on sustainable development and local awareness.

5.1 Energy transitions in island settings

Due to their geography, islands are often challenged with solving their energy supply and

maintaining a stable grid, especially those based on RES (Kuang et al., 2016). This varies of course due to for example geographical location, natural resources, population density etc (Kuang et al., 2016; Karampela et al., 2017; IRENA, 2018). For example, Iceland has unlimited potential of geothermal energy, high population density in its urban areas, but is dependent on fossil-fuelled traffic to ensure operative actions of the country (Kristjansdottir and Busch, 2019). The latter being a general concern for almost all islands (Kuang et al., 2016).

There are around 2200 inhabited islands in the European Union (EU), with approximately 15

million inhabitants. In 2019 the European Commission (EC) released their, hitherto, most ambitious energy proposal, ‘Clean Energy for all Europeans’ (European Commission, 2019). This is based on their earlier initiative ‘Clean Energy for EU Islands’ (European Commission, 2017). In the

proposal, they state energy targets to be met by 2030, international means of action, and the desire to be a leading change actor of the World, by backing the Paris Agreement and setting a long-term decarbonization strategy for 2050.

In the EU energy proposal (European Commission, 2019), islands are recognized in their

dependency to fossil fuels, but also their potential to generate RE thus stimulating green economies in rural areas, by “providing a long-term framework to help islands become more energy

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independent. (This) will result in better energy security, improved air quality and the creation of new jobs and business opportunities, boosting islands' energy self-sufficiency” (European

Commission, 2019).

5.2 The Åland islands

Åland is located in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. The island society has a total population of nearly 30 000 inhabitants, with population sizes ranging from less than 90 to 11 600 people spread across the islands’ 16 municipalities (fig. 1).

Figure 1 Simplified map of Åland showing its 16 municipalities and areas. Urban areas in black, rural areas in grey and archipelago in white. Source: Mats Adamczak, 2020

Most Ålanders live in the rural area of the main island (Fasta Åland). The largest group of inhabitants can be found in the urban area, which is the city of Mariehamn. The archipelagic municipalities of Åland are found east of Fasta Åland, which is less densely populated (fig. 2).

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Figure 2 Distribution of the Ålandic population (percentage). The total population size of Åland is approximately 30 000. More than half of them live in the rural areas of the main island. Source: ÅSUB, 2019

5.3 Governance of Åland

Åland is an autonomous region under Finnish governance since 1920 and has since 1922 had its own parliament and government with public elections held every 4th year. The municipalities politically elect municipal assemblies (MA, kommunfullmäktige) who appoints municipal boards (MB, kommunstyrelse), - committees (MC, kommunnämnd), and municipal civil servants for example municipal chief executive (MCE, kommundirektör) and municipal technical director (MTD, teknisk chef) (fig. 3). This study focuses on the governance structure in the Åland

municipalities. More precisely on how responsibility on matters related to local energy transitions are dealt with between municipal assembly (MA), municipal chief executive (MCE) and municipal technical director (MTD).

Figure 3 Governance hierarchy of Åland. Source: Kommunförbundet på Åland

7 % 54 % 39 % Archipelago Rural Urban

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5.4 Local sustainability agenda - bärkraft.ax

Following the legacy of the global action plan Agenda 21, laid forth by the United Nations (1992), the local government and parliament on Åland implemented its own sustainable development agenda (SDA) in 2014. It was later revised in 2016 to match the 17 sustainable development goals of the UNs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015). In 2019, the SDA was awarded the European Commission’s European Sustainability Award 2019 in the category of public bodies under 100 000 individuals.

The SDA consists of seven goals with underlying targets, describing progress to be met if the goal is to be achieved. Following the revision, a networking forum called bärkraft.ax (translation:

buoyancy/viability) (fig. 4) was founded. The networking forum works to implement and safeguard

the progress of SD on Åland. It also creates a mutual discussion platform for local multilevel stakeholders, which are members of the network.

Figure 4 The networking forum implementing the locally adapted sustainable development agenda (SDA) on Åland is called bärkraft.ax. Source: bärkraft.ax (2016)

The SDA declares that “All municipalities, authorities and other public sector operations are

expected to take active part in the realization of the agenda and to act as examples by thoroughly applying the principles of sustainability to their own working practices”.

This master thesis will look more closely at the middle governance of Åland, i.e. the municipalities, in the aspect of municipal SD. The choice is based on the findings made by Kivimaa et al. (2019), who underline the importance multi-level perspective (MLP) intermediaries may have on societal transitions. This involves facilitating process’ and the speed of how fast ET innovation and

technology is absorbed in society. Barriers of accepting essential changes in our for example habits and culture may be less challenging if intermediaries of society normalize these. In other words, how actors within municipality governance can function as a facilitator and champion in SD and an inspirational example for others to follow.

5.5 Energy on Åland

Evaluating, accessing, and predicting a possible ET is of great importance to ensure success and well-allocated resources. Establishing a correct baseline for the current energy situation is needed to evaluate and follow the progress of any ET. Not only for transparency for involved stakeholders but also for the sake of contributing to future development in other areas and locations.

According to the most recent SDA progress report1, Åland used 1 194 GWh during 2005, of which 7,5 % came from RES. A decade later, in 2015, this figure was 1 484 GWh of which 32 % stemmed

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from RES. In conversations2_{with civil servants at the Energy Department of the Government of} Åland, new energy figures will hopefully be produced more frequently to better address the SDA goals being implemented and followed up upon.

When it comes to GHG emission Åland stands out in when compared to other regions in the EU, but not in a good way. According to Ivanova et al. (2017), the carbon footprint was the highest on Åland among 177 regions in 27 EU countries. With 5,5 tonnes of CO2 per year and person, Åland has a long way to go to get below 2 tonnes to reach the goals of 2050 (UNEP, 2019).

Figure 5 The electricity transmission grid on Åland. Source: Kräftnät Åland. Edited by author.

Currently, Åland still depends on electricity being imported through cables from the mainland of Sweden and Finland (fig. 5) as there are no large scale powerplants on Åland. Most electricity to Åland is imported from Sweden (fig. 6), meaning that the source of energy utilized in producing the electricity, whether it be fossil fuel, nuclear or RES, depends on Sweden. The 110 kilovolts (kV) cable from Finland was laid in 2015, to ensure a stable energy grid on Åland.

Import of fossil fuels, i.e. mineral oil, is one of the major contributors to islands GHG emissions (Kuang et al., 2016). A double factor as the fuel first must be transported to islands and then utilized there. Household heating in Europe stands for approximately 28 % in GHG emissions according to Ivanova et al., 2017. Import of heating oil (fuel oil) to Åland has decreased since 2005 with 43 %, whilst there is an increase of diesel being imported to Åland. The gasoline that is

imported was approximately the same in 2019 as it was in 2005 (fig. 7). The electricity production using fuel/heating oil has decreased on Åland since 2005, this is due to local bioenergy production in the form of woodchip heating and small-scale biogas production on Åland (fig. 7). Noteworthy is that the ferries that traffic the archipelago on Åland uses fuel oil to traffic the archipelago. Poor local traffic alternatives cause Åland having a very high ratio of individually owned cars, nearly 760 cars per 1000 inhabitants. Nine out of ten cars use gasoline as fuel, whilst the majority of service vehicles utilize diesel 3.

2_{In person with the author during February 2020}

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8 % Import Sweden 75,8 % % Import Finland 4,5 % % Oil 0,0 % % Wind 18,6 % % Bioenergy 1,0 % Electricity mix 2019 (313 GWh)

% Import Sweden % Import Finland % Oil % Wind % Bioenergy

% Import Sweden 69,3 % % Import Finland 7,2 % % Oil 0,9 % % Wind 22,5 % % Bioenergy 0,1 % Electricity mix 2015 (287 GWh)

% Import Sweden 84,5 % % Import Finland 6,9 % % Oil 1,6 % % Wind 7,0 % % Bioenergy 0,0 % Electricty mix 2005 (267 GWh)

Figure 6. The electricity mixes on Åland between 2005-2019. Charts showing the source for producing or importing electricity. Origin of imported electricity to Åland, for example RES or non-renewable energy, is not shown. Source: ÅSUB, 2020

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Figure 7. Import of mineral oil to Åland 2005 – 2019 in cubic meter (m3_{). The highest amount of heating oil (also known as fuel oil)}

was imported in 2005 with 39011 m3_{and has decreased to 22343 m}3_{in 2019. Amount of diesel being imported has increased by 47}

% since 2005. Amount of gasoline that is imported to Åland has decreased slightly since 2005. Source: ÅSUB, 2020

Åland will become less dependent on importing electricity from the mainland after 2021. This is due to that a new wind park is planned to be built and taken in to use at the end of 2021. Increasing the local wind energy potential from approximately 18 % to 65 % 4_{. This is partly funded by the} local government as part of fulfilling the SDA.

When it comes to the local energy distributors and suppliers, Åland has one major actor that functions as the transmission system operator (TSO), Kraftnät Åland Ab. They oversee and maintain the entire grid of Åland, including the oversees import of electricity and IT. Kraftnät Åland Ab does not sell or buy energy but supplies it to Åland. There are instead three local energy companies which sell and buy electricity to local inhabitants:

• Mariehamns Energi Ab – owned by the municipality of Mariehamn, supplies both electricity and district heating (only in Mariehamn).

• Allwinds – owned by wind power producers Ålands Vindenergi Andelslag and Leovind Ab, supplies wind power exclusively.

• Ålands Elandelslag – cooperative and owned by its clients, supplies the electricity. According to their web page 5_{, the imported electricity mix in 2018 was derived from of 15,6 % RES, 42,5 %} nuclear power and 41,9 % fossil-fuelled power.

Finally, worth mentioning is that there are smaller district heating companies and cooperatives on Åland. These vary immensely in capacity and number of clients, what they all have in common is that they primarily use renewable substrate as a source of energy, for example wood chips and pellets, but also biogas. These actors are not connected to any mutual district heating grid but are scattered around the island and can also be found in the archipelagic municipalities.

5.6 Previous research

This thesis was conducted to explore how islands may serve as a blueprint in RES deployment and development. The findings of which I hope is relevant for multilevel stakeholders and actors within

4_{According to Vind AX Ab www.vind.ax}

5_URL_{https://www.el.ax/elenergi/elens-ursprung/}_{Visited the 20.06.2020}

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000

Gasoline Diesel Fuel oil

Mineral oil import to Åland 2005 - 2019

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transdisciplinary sustainability. Especially those engaging in societal energy transitions. This thesis focused on the research fields of:

• Leadership within sustainable development and societal transitions • RES for islands

• Adaption of local sustainability agendas • Diffusion of innovation

• Agents of change • Energy communities

As background for the formulation of relevant RQ’s and topic interview guide, studies of peer-reviewed articles was undertaken to provide a body of background on what has been studied before, to which extent and what conclusions were made. The most used databases for this study was Scopus, Elsevier, Google Scholar and Linköping University Library. To limit the scope, articles published within the last 5 years were prioritized. The following search words, with varying combinations, was used:

*Island* and renewable energy *Island* and energy system transition

*Island* and energy optimisation *Island* and agents of change

*Island* and intermediaries *Island* and local governance

*Island* and leadership and sustainable development *Island* and municipal governance

*Island* and sustainable development

An additional and extensive literature review was not feasible within the time frame of a master thesis. Selected and relevant previous research, that serves as a sufficient backdrop for thesis, is presented below.

5.6.1 Roles of leadership within energy transitions

Commencing an ET as part of SD requires thorough planning on what goals are to be met and how to get achieve them. What it also calls for is someone to take the lead and have a holistic

perspective of the progress. Although leadership can take on many forms, and might not always be an explicit role held by single individuals but a trait shared with other actors within a society (Gunningham, 2018; Geels et al., 2019).

One way of addressing ET comes from bottom-up pathways i.e. grassroot initiatives (GI). These have become more widespread with the increasing environmental awareness and sustainable development movement in the last decades, influencing societal change and political actions (Seyfang and Haxeltine, 2012; Hossain, 2016; Landholm et al., 2019). These community-based initiatives (CBIs) are often a central part of the GI sustainability movement and there play an important part. They could potentially enhance local resilience and may contribute to creating ownership and sense of purpose. According to some studies they might potentially serve as an important part of deep decarbonization actions and energy transitions (Landholm et al., 2019). Yet it remains to be shown how GI innovations, such as CBIs, can function at a more strategic level and

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to what extent it can contribute to full-scale societal transitions (Seyfang and Haxeltine, 2012), for example deep decarbonization and energy transitions.

In a systemic review by Hossain (2016) on GI, the author points out that the impact grassroot movements have in achieving sustainable development on a full-scale societal level, might not be lower than one would hope for. The review further points out that academia struggles in how to quantify GI level impact and the importance of more explorative research on the matter if it should be implemented in future research. This is supported by Geels et al. (2019) who underlines the importance of GIs and their ability to help increase societal absorbance of innovative technology need in an energy transition.

The phenomena were addressed in a study on modelling socio-technical transitions, Li and Strachan (2019) In which they explored how climate policy and behaviour may affect the outcome of energy transitions. Their study was based on the findings of Rogers (1962), in which he explored how new technology and innovation are absorbed by society. They investigated decarbonisation pathways and outcomes, that were either societally or governmentally led and if the respective parties either followed or resisted change. They came to the conclusion that “it is not who leads per se that is the

most critical, but rather the level of the initial effort and subsequent commitment from both leader and follower actors that appears to regulate the pace at which decarbonisation pathways unfold”

(Li and Strachan, 2019, p. 67). But much has happened within the field of diffusion of innovations since the ’60s, and also to how people communicate, acquire knowledge and what makes an impression of influence on them. This field of research is of relevance and its relation to how leaders in a society influence and impact the rate of innovation diffusion.

Noteworthy is that the study by Li and Strachan (2019) expresses that systemic inertia, i.e. a state of status quo, could make an energy transition hard in achieving. Their studies found that

socio-technical transitions were most successful when led by the government and followed by society. This is because the government has a mandate of power to stimulate an energy transition using its legislative rights such as providing subsidies on low-carbon technology, accessibility to public transport, sharpening building standards that promote energy efficiency, carbon taxes etc. However, success also occurred in the scenarios where society led and the government followed, which tells us that environmental action at a grassroot level indeed has an impact. A case which is possibly true and most applicable to countries of the North-western hemisphere were the study was conducted. But to summarize it, a possible scenario for an ET to take place on the case study Åland is when both the government and civil society are on the same page of what needs to be done, and that the government leads, and society follows. This is based upon the selection of articles reviewed for this thesis. A question that arises from this assumptive summary is, who within a governing structure takes the lead for an ET on Åland?

5.6.2 Barriers and bottlenecks

As mentioned in the introduction of this thesis, an ET to RES will have challenges when implemented. Switching from fossil fuels to 100 % RES all at once can bluntly be compared to trying to change a wheel in motion. There will be complications.

One of the complications often laid forth as a major bottleneck for ET, according to the literature reviewed, is the financing of such a transition (United Nations Development Programme, 2015; Geels et al., 2019). One study, by Seetharaman et al. (2019), found that economic barriers might have a more indirect effect than compared to technological, social, and political ones. The authors of the study drew this conclusion because fossil fuels often are more heavily subsidised than RES. Therefore it could be argued that finance might not ought be viewed as one of the major barriers for ET.

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Utilising existing resources to amend the highest ET barriers is of importance. Promoting an ET requires identifying which systems and frameworks are needed for an ET. This could, for example, be identifying which key actors of society that needs to be engaged, removing policy barriers, increasing multi-level stakeholder participation etc (Ruggiero, Varho and Rikkonen, 2015). Ruggiero (2018) underlines in his study the importance of collaboration with multi-level actors of society because this affects top-down and bottom-up actions which will favour an ET deployment. An aspect raised in the previous chapter on the role of leadership within ET. Lack of transparency, forced upon actions and initiatives, etc, minimize the likelihood of RES technology adoption in society. ET seems to be a societal transition that needs to be understood, communicated, accepted, and desired by the majority of society for it to succeed (Rogers, 1962; Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2018; Ruggiero, 2018; Geels et al., 2019). An ET that shows transparently the economic benefits, is more likely to recruit early adopters as advocates. Which could inspire the remaining majority needed to push the transition over the ridge of ET innovation adoption. Pioneers in society are likely to join an ET early due to feeling that they are part of something greater than themselves. People can be part of various parts of these phases, dependent upon their situation and the innovation it concerns (Rogers, 1962; Kowalska-Pyzalska, 2018; Ruggiero, 2018; Geels et al., 2019; Li and Strachan, 2019).

The final social aspect that I will highlight, is the age and gender imbalance in related matters (IRENA, 2019a). The importance of female representation in RES was studied by Allen, Lyons and Stephens (2019, p 9), who concluded that “[By] broadening engagement and recognizing the role

of women, a new form of collaborative leadership is emerging that is redistributing power to promote a transition to more equitable, resilient, and sustainable energy systems”. It was not

however addressed by a majority of the articles studied for this thesis, but also not laid forth as a “none-issue” and could be studied more in-depth in future studies. This issue is likely addressed in the research field of energy justice or similar.

5.6.3 Sustainable development agendas

Conceptual and mutual frameworks on SD are often held forth as a need for multi-level societal actors to rally around. Structuring how to execute actions required to obtain SD. Regardless of the actor's differences in background, or field of expertise, an SD agenda stipulate goals, targets, and order of priority often needed to achieve SD. The UN’s 17 SDG (United Nations, 2015) and Ålands SDA (Network bärkraft.ax, 2017) are two examples of such agendas. The first being a global perspective that was accepted by the majority of world leaders. The second is an Åland local adoption of it, accepted by GAX and all the municipalities on Åland.

Local adaptions of the UN’s SDG might prove to be a double-edged sword. Whilst increasing the probability of SD adsorption for the local multi-level actors, it can also risk straying from the bigger picture of SD (Gusmão Caiado et al., 2018). Although, there is no clear consensus to what SD means, the most applied definition is the one found in the so-called Brundtland Report which states that “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission on

Environment and Development, 1987 chapter 2).

Local adaptation of SD could be a useful application for getting the action going. A locally adapted sustainability agenda may help shed light at local areas where SD is applicable and truly beneficial. It could also increase local public awareness and inspire to action, creating a mutual narrative for local top-down and bottom-up actors (Geels et al., 2019). It is of importance that a local SD agenda is written and structured in such a fashion that it strengthens ownership between multi-level actors, rather than creating segregation between them. This could be argued to be a goal of SD in itself.

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RES is often given its section in SD agendas, it can be found in both the UN’s SDG and Ålands SDA. In the latter, RES is dictated as the sixth out of seven goals (Network bärkraft.ax, 2017, p 16). The SDA goal on RES, which is based on the UN’s SDG goal number 7 ‘Affordable and clean energy’ and 13 ‘Climate action’, reads that Åland aims to have “Significantly higher proportion of

energy from renewable sources, plus increased energy efficiency”. The SDA goals and targets are

set to be reached by 2030, which raises the questions on how the governing actors on Åland plan to execute actions needed to reach this goal.

It remains to be seen how beneficial SD agendas truly are since the concept is fairly new to

policymakers and other stakeholders who deal mostly with applying the concept to their respective areas. There are of course actors who argue that SD is not achievable due to various reasons that have not been brought up in this study, and that these points of view are valuable for finding the true meaning of what indeed is sustainable and what is development for matters such as ET.

5.6.4 Reflections on previous research

An array of research can be found in fields related to sustainable development. In this study’s case those of leadership, bottlenecks and barriers, and sustainable development agendas, the search words offered varying results of study-specific or relevant articles. The previous research reviewed above is a mere drop in the ocean of what can be found. Needless to say, there are numerous ways to portray an equally relevant yet different background on previous research. This would naturally have an impact on the outcome if a similar study were conducted.

Leadership, for example, is a broad field of research, and equally diverse. In this study, I found it to be of the utmost importance when it comes to the success and progress rate of sustainable

development. The relevance of the need to leadership was reflected in the selection of articles reviewed for this study, but there is much more to this field of research than portrayed above. When researching bottlenecks and barriers linked to for example sustainable development, and in this studies case energy transitions, there seem to be somewhat equal hindrances in societal

changes, regardless of the field. In other words, society will be highly diverse in how it responds to innovation depending on the origin of it. This could be related to how well known or how common that the innovation is to those in need of it. Energy for example is a commodity utilized by a majority of the world, but not fully understood by most. By this meaning the origin, distribution, measurements related to its potential, and the effect and amount needed, or used.

6 Materials and method

6.1 Methodology

The thesis’ aim and RQ, were deemed best to be answered by semi-structured interviews and by applying the methodology used in case studies. The methodology is suitable for social science studies that seek to go in-depth, answering questions of “how” and “why” a phenomenon in society occurs. The method allows, but also requires, a holistic perspective of matters which are hard to quantify. It is a qualitative form of research, that encompasses the multitude of societal layers and features, and allows it to be systematically studied (Ryan and Bernard, 2003; Roulston, 2010; Kallio

et al., 2016). This allows for answering how societal events happen, why, when, and by whom. It

also gives the option to compare how societal events and features differ from one actor to another. If it is not comparable, that it lacks an equal or compatible actor, the case becomes a critical case study.

Deconstructing and analysing qualitative data, retrieved from interviews, were therefore required when seeking to answer the study’s RQ with a valid theoretical concept. Social sciences are not easily translated to an objective result, as single interviews are subjective.

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My role as a researcher in this study was, therefore, to obtain the essence from subjective interview session and summarize these to an objective notion, a fundamental part of case studies (Harvey, 1990; Finlay, 2002; Yin, 2014). Another aspect of using case study methodology of critical cases is that it also allows the revealing of diverging opinions (Patton, 2014). These are also of interest for the results of this study itself, but especially for future studies.

The complementing methodological approach chosen was semi-structured interviewing.

Interviewing research provides richness and depth, anchored in the lived experience (Kvale, 1994; Lodico, Spaulding and Voegtle, 2006). Choice of interview methodology described further down in this chapter.

6.2 Case study – Åland

The case study of Åland is a critical one. This is because Åland, although sharing many traits with other so-called energy islands (European Commission, 2017), differs in many defining aspects such as the sheer number of municipalities, the autonomic governing of the region, the local SD agenda, etc. Åland is an interesting study on ET because of its unique regional governance and geography, but this also raises the bar for a qualitative study. Since there is no equal or similar island to compare Åland with, an objective analysis was needed to uphold the thesis aim, and it required specific, detailed, and empirical data.

6.3 Selection process

As seen in figure 1, Åland has 16 municipalities which can be divided into three categories: urban, rural, and archipelagic. As time was a limiting factor, all municipalities could not be included in this study. To get a holistic point of view in this critical case study, a total of five municipalities were studied. To broaden the scope of the study, I choose three municipal actors, which can each be found in every municipality on Åland. These actors are so-called key informants, i.e. their qualities, experience and background are relevant to this study’s aim and objectives. I deemed that a near third of all municipalities, including these actors, would provide a representative underlay for this case study.

Since there is only one truly urban municipality (in Åland measurements), this was included for obvious reasons. The two rural municipalities and two archipelagic municipalities were randomly selected6_{by using a web page tool, where 15 municipality names were entered and two then} randomly drawn7_{from each category.}

The municipalities will hereafter be referred to as either a ‘small’ or ‘large’ municipality in the analysis and result section. This is for two main reasons, the first being to increase the level of anonymity for those interviewed, as Åland is a small society where everyone knows everyone. Secondly, it serves the thesis aims bigger picture to categorize them as such. The threshold in this study for large versus small municipality is when the population is over or under 1500 inhabitants. In figure 3, the municipal hierarchy for how municipal organisation, planning and execution is structured within the Åland municipalities8 can be seen. Based on the study’s RQs, previous research, and the timeframe was given, three actors from each municipality where selected:

• Municipal chief executive (MCE) to represent holistic and executive leadership • Municipal technical director (MTD) to represent area-specific knowledge on energy

infrastructure in the municipality

6_{Author closed her eyes and then clicked an unknown number of times on refresh button.} 7_{https://www.textfixer.com/tools/random-choice.php}

8_{Figure 3 was drawn up by the author, after which it was reviewed and approved by the director of the Åland municipal}

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• A representative from the municipal assembly (RMA) to represent top-down municipal governance, economy and political will

Through the five randomly chosen municipalities service web pages, I obtained names, telephone numbers, and emails to the three municipal actors of interest. I contacted all 15 interviewees (4 female and 11 male) via phone, introduced myself, the study, and its aim. They were then asked if they would like to participate by being be interviewed, in their respective role for the municipality they served. This was done in advance, 6 weeks before the interviews were planned to take place. No actor declined.

Managing 15 individual interviews in five different places required some logistics. To facilitate scheduling I used an online web service, which provided bookable time slots in a calendar. I created five different calendars to make sure that the interviewees did not know about the other

municipalities, least their own and the actors for their municipality.

The interviewees could access the respective calendar using a link I sent to their email address. This enabled them to find a suitable time slot six weeks ahead of time, in their peace and space. Thus, avoiding any annoyance that may arise when trying to schedule a meeting, and saving me the valuable time of managing this. It also enabled me to control my logistics, avoiding double trips and saving travel miles. This was especially the case for planning my visits to the archipelagic

municipalities, as it takes more than five hours for a roundtrip to the most remote municipalities.

6.4 Semi-structured interviews

All 15 interviews were semi-structured ones, i.e. they consisted of pre-formulated questions with open answers. This requires the interviewee to answer more than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This type of interview technique asserts that the interviewee in question is familiar with the interview topic (Kallio et al., 2016).

There were, of course, some questions that needed these responses so that I could avoid asking irrelevant questions, for example, if the interviewee was not familiar with specific detail, such as their opinions on a target found in SDA, it would possibly create discomfort to them if I were to have kept asking additional questions about the matter. Hence, some questions were asked to provide ‘yes’ or ‘no’, so that I could continue the interview in a streamlined fashion.

6.4.1 Interviews in person and recording

I wanted to get more personal interview experience, by doing the interviews in person, rather than via an online video link. This was because I wished to reduce possible events were the interviewee felt uneasy with the for example technology used, accessibility to appropriate communication technology, skills for setting up the gear before the interview, and a loss of the possibility to read body language (Deakin and Wakefield, 2014; Irani, 2019). This was to minimize the risk of possible divergence during the interview experience. That all sessions were equally set up and conducted. There was also a practical reason for this on my behalf, as I recorded all interviews with studio-quality microphones and software. This allowed me to be freer during the interviews, allowing the tone to more of a conversation. Using an online AI software9_{, I could transcribe the audio files to} text files, saving me valuable time in preparing the interview material of 15 interviews for analysis. The software was tested on beforehand, using the recording of the author reading the script and also staging an interview using two family members with different dialects and gender.

All interviewees were notified that the interviews would be recorded in the first contact made by the author. This was to ensure that they would not feel misled or exposed at a later stage. Two days

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before the interview was scheduled to take place, I emailed a GDPR consent form10_{to the} interviewees. The participants were asked to read through it and contact me if there were any questions. The participants were informed that they could give written or oral consent (recorded).

6.4.2 The interview session

I always met the interviewee at a site well-known to them, most often the municipal office and in either their own office or a pre-booked meeting. The interview always started with me thanking them for their time, explaining the study’s aim and objective once more, and if they had any additional questions before I started the recording. This is also when I collected the consent forms, either written or orally (recorded).

The interview was timed to take approximately 45 minutes, with an additional 15 minutes added as a buffer. This was to ensure that the interviewee was not stressed out by a limited timeframe, but also relieving me the pressure of keeping time.

All interviews were conducted in Swedish, the official language on Åland.

Interview guides are often used in semi-structured interviews (Kallio et al., 2016). I had prepared an interview guide, and created and arranged questions in the following themes:

A. Role in the municipality

B. Sustainability and mutual agenda C. Collaborations and network

D. Synergies and effects in societal transitions E. Drivers, motivators, and bottlenecks

This was to create a holistic setting and natural narrative to help answer my RQs and explore them thoroughly. The RQ’s were never asked explicitly but were incorporated into the interview guide material. This gave depth as it gave a context surrounding their answers, for example why they reasoned as they did, or what they based their opinions on. The complete interview guide (in Swedish) can be found in Appendix 2.

ET is in many ways quite abstract, as it means different things to various actors. For example, the MCE might have one understanding of what a bottleneck for an ET is, such as difficulties found in the municipal organisation, whilst the MTD has a more practical view of the problems. In literature, ET and deep decarbonization are often used in studies revolving around SD and RES. These terms, and what they incorporate, might, therefore, be more common knowledge to academia than to the general public. These terms were avoided to avoid confusion and risk the quality of the interview. In this study during interviews, the term energy optimization (EO) was used. EO was described as a series of actions that minimize or eliminates the use of fossil fuels as a source of energy within a municipality. This could, for instance, be dismantling oil burner stoves in public buildings, indoor heating regulation, insulation preventing energy losses, limiting kilometres driven, enabling fossil-free commuting etc (Ruggiero, 2018; Geels et al., 2019).

EO, therefore, seeks to incorporate, to a varying degree, what ET and deep decarbonization mean. It became clear to me during the pre-studies and writing of the interview guide, that local municipal actors grasped EO better than ET (Swedish Research Council, 2017). Hence, this term is found in the interview guide (Appendix 2).

10_{Template provided by Linköping University. Specific adaption of consent form approved by this study’s’ main}

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6.4.3 Extraction from the interviews

I transcribed the audio files using AI transcription tool, Sonix11_{, to text files, where one could read} questions and answers. These were double-checked to ensure they had not been mistranscribed. One such example was that the AI had not always succeeded in transcribing the local accent.

I created a spreadsheet with the five municipalities and their respective three interviews and summarized their main context according to the five themes in the interview guide (Ryan and Bernard, 2003). Divergent opinions and RQ related answers were highlighted.

The summary was not a word-by-word one, but a summary of keynotes to give me a better scope of the interviewee’s collective thoughts on the respective theme. Using this document of compilation, I began putting together the mutual answers to the study’s RQ. I also included divergent and

conflicting ideas, which adds body and depth to the RQs.

For the analysis, RQ 1 was answered by the questions found in A, B and C. Whilst RQ 2 was answered using the response given on questions in B, D and E. RQ 3 was answered from section B. In an attempt of ensuring anonymity, interviewees and municipalities names were erased in the compiled underlay for the study’s extraction and the final report. All interviewees were informed and consented to this.

For extracting qualitative data from the interviews, a methodology used by Lodico, Spaulding and Voegtle, (2006 p 311) was applied and adapted to this study. Figure 8 shows how the extraction of the material underlay of this thesis was extracted, treated, and interpreted.

Figure 8. Flowchart describing the extraction, summary, and analysis of interview material. Inspired by Lodico, Spaulding and Voegtle, (2006 p 311)

6.4.4 Reflexivity

Frequent comparison to the previous summary and the original word-by-word transcript assisted me in creating a narrative from 15 subjective points of view on a mutual topic, and summarize these. Seeing that the semi-structured interviews have open-ended questions, the outcome of the answers given therefore are of an inductive manner as part of a qualitative study (Roulston, 2010; Kallio et

al., 2016). The process of analysing the interview and the summaries of them, therefore, stands for

the outcome and result. Even when I sought to be the utmost objective in my analysis, the outcome would most likely be slightly different if repeated by a peer. This is due to unavoidable bias

depending on how the person analysing views, and associates, the respective trends and themes surrounding the given RQs of the thesis (Goddard, 2001; Finlay, 2002; Lodico, Spaulding and Voegtle, 2006; Yin, 2009).

11_{Sonix Inc.}_{https://sonix.ai/}_{Account created and used by exclusively by author during March – May 2020}

Tr

an

sc

ri

pti

o

n

Word by word transcription using Sonix AI, an online transcription software for all 15 interviews

1s

t

sum

m

ary

Interview guide used as limiting framework for which themes and specific interview questions that revolved around the RQs –

highlighted for next step of analysis Quotes of outlying character highlighted separately

2nd

sum

m

ary

Highlighted material on themes and trends (e.g. words used to describe) that were associated with the RQs, were re-written to summarizing texts describing the interviewees overall answers Interviews separated into two groups of large and small

municipalities

3r

d

sum

m

ary

Final extraction focusing solely on answering the RQs using the text from the previous step Identifying common themes organically for finding patterns Revisited quotes noted in 1st word-by-word extraction

Fi

na

l an

al

ys

is

Take home message from of all the actors interviewed, when compared within the group and to each other in the 3rd

round of summary – a final summary was produced. From which the discussion was laid forth, reconnecting previous studies with observed trends in this study

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6.4.5 Additional ethical aspects

The author of this thesis is an employee at the energy innovation company Flexens Ab Oy (FI 29480239). This thesis was not written on commission by the company. The company sponsored the author’s travelling fees and supplied the technology needed for interviews, as part of their ongoing demo project Smart Energy Åland 12.

7 Analysis & result

The following chapter is structured so that the collective opinions expressed by the three roles of the municipal actors can be seen. The respective municipality sizes, i.e. small or large municipality, separate the results. A summary of the respective RQ topic is found at the end of each section.

7.1 Leadership responsibilities for energy transitions

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE)

Small municipality All said that they recognised that it was upon them to oversee the budget set by the MA. If this included ET, they had varying opinions on how this would be executed. Some of them felt that it was up to them to oversee that ET is indeed executed, while others expected this to be dealt with by the MDT. This might mean that the outcome of execution is the same in both cases, but it was two MCEs who felt it was very much on them to see it through. These expressed a direct sense of accountability to be a driver within the

municipality, not only ET related but SD in general.

Both actors argued that municipalities have an important role in setting a good example for its inhabitants. One of these MCEs felt that much of the work for ET innovation and SD deployment was on them and that the municipality had strained liaisons resources sharing this work with.

A third MCE had a more laidback attitude, in comparison to the others, and did not take an active role in ET unless it was expected of them to do so. This actor instead expected that their fellow municipal colleagues and committees would be the drivers of an ET and that they had it upon them to maintain the budget and prepare material for presenting to the MA. The latter tasks were also expressed by the other two actors, but the key difference of these three is that two of them expressed a direct feeling of being responsible as drivers of municipal ET.

The three actors also varied in how ET was to be brought up in planning and budget. Two of the actors expected that the MC would prepare this with the MTD for the MA. One of the MCE did, however, feel a larger drive to advocate SD and ET on top of this.

Large municipality Recognized themselves as having the main responsibility for assuring that municipal ET was an ongoing action. They felt it upon them to foremost oversee the many levels of executive municipal actors involved in ET as part of municipal SD. But also, to instruct, update, and follow up progress’ made. Householding with the budget was their main responsibility, as this provided the means for executive actions of municipal ET. One of them held the

12_{Smart Energy Åland is an ongoing demo project run by Flexens Oy Ab, seeking to implement and facilitate VRES}

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municipality forth like a heavy actor in public procurement, and that it, therefore, had a responsibility to be a forerunner in EO and SD.

One of them described themselves as being highly involved in ET, working closely with the MTD and MC. This was because they had seen the overall economic value by measuring ET deployments made and translating this to something quantitative which allowed ET to be part of the municipal budget. This meant the MA could see progress and savings made over time, creating an underlay where ET is backed up by data and seldom a topic of dispute due to this.

The second MCE felt very passionate about making ET and SD a natural feature of the daily life of the municipal inhabitants. Providing nudges that stimulate fossil-free commuting and ensuring accessible information on ET. Both MCEs had a firm belief that the municipality should be a guiding example of ET for its inhabitants, inspiring them to do the same rather forcing it upon them.

Municipal Technical Director (MTD)

Small municipality All three worked with energy-related matters of their respective municipality, to varying degrees. Two of them felt that suggestions on ET were expected of them in their roles and that they would provide this to the MC for preparing it to MB and MA. They varied in how the ET was shared, one saw it as a matter that should be solved by several municipal actors, i.e. colleagues. Whilst the second one said that they felt solitary in ET matters, it was

seldomly anyone else but them who laid forth suggestions of ET. A third did not see why ET was on them and was hesitant towards on taking on work that had not been explicitly laid upon them.

Large municipality Had a somewhat differing view on accountability for leading a municipal ET. One found it to be very much their responsibility to investigate, plan, and execute ET. They also felt that they had good communication and

collaboration with MC.

The other MCE viewed it more upon them to help execute what the MC planned. But also found it upon the MB to check their work, so that it was in line with what the general plan by the MA. Their part in the equation was to manage planning from the MC and make sure it was executed.

Representative of the Municipal Assembly (RMA)

Small municipality Held, to varying degrees, the MCE and MTD forth as those responsible for a municipal ET. Two also held the MB accountable for preparing the material for executive actions on ET, and that these would be based on what input the MTD presented.

None of them had reflected especially on if ET was upon them to take up in municipal planning and budgeting, although they all believed that their work provided the financial means for ET.

Large municipality Had two different takes on who should be leading an ET. One held the GAX

minister of SD and energy forth as the regional leader of ET, and therefore also the respective municipalities. Not to plan it in detail; but the minister

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should provide means to facilitate and enable an ET, such as resources, networks, and novel ideas of execution. Also sees that the MA has a great portion of the responsibility of ET and that they should, alongside the budget, provides clear targets that an ET has to meet.

The other RMA had a deep belief that the executive municipal civil servants had this deeply rooted in their work, as they have a daily hands-on experience and the competence in what this involves. Yet, they also held the MA

responsible for taking it up in discussions when setting the municipal budget.

7.1.1 Summary of leadership responsibilities for energy transitions

There was no clear view on who the role of leadership in a municipal ET falls upon amongst the actors interviewed in this study.

Most of the MCEs found that it was part of their role to manage the budget set by the MA. MCEs in larger municipalities expressed a feeling of greater responsibility in overseeing an ET, but in the sense that they should manage and direct executive actors. The MCE’s of the smaller municipalities shared this feeling somewhat but relied more on the MDT to oversee an ET. “It’s a demanding role

to be pedagogical for a group, and even harder to be one for an entire municipality”

The MDTs all said they worked with energy-related matters. A majority said that they felt that ET was expected of them. Some of them referred to the chain of commands, that it was upon them to help prepare ET actions for the MC, MB, and MA to handle. Others said that they had scarce interactions with these actors and felt alone when undertaking any ET actions. This was more commonly expressed in the smaller municipalities, were resources in the form of personnel were scarcer than in comparison to the larger municipalities. The MDTs in these municipalities collaborated more with their fellow municipal actors but varied in their opinion of their accountability with overseeing and leading an ET.

Collectively the RMAs, in the municipalities interviewed, held the municipalities’ civil servants forth as those who should lead an ET. They varied in their opinion if the main responsibility should be on the MCE and/or MTD. They also held the lower levels of governance, MB and MC

accountable for preparing ET. The RMAs in the smaller municipality had not reflected on if it was upon them to plan a municipal ET. The opinion in the larger municipalities was the opposite to some extent, as they saw that the municipality’s size was an important aspect in being a change actor, due to leverage, in both ET and SD. They held the MA forth as those who could provide means for ET.

Some municipalities have no clear command chain of how to undertake an ET. There were actors in the municipalities who explicitly said that they did not see that ET was upon them to lead, execute or investigate. They instead referred to their fellow actors, who paradoxically, had said that they relied on the directives, input, feedback etc from the same actors who took a clear non-stand in ET. One held the GAX minister of energy and SD forth as the one who should be leading a regional ET, by providing means and resources at local levels.

7.2 Bottlenecks and barriers to energy transitions

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE)

Small municipality All expressed different bottlenecks and barriers. The economy was mutual for two of them. One found that people’s comfort for business-as-usual and an unwillingness to take part in an uncomfortable truth of what this meant, was a large barrier. The one MCE, who did not put the economy as a barrier, expressed that public procurement was a bottleneck. By this, they refer to the

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public procurement of ET. They suggested that this was a delicate balance of limited resources, whilst assuring that the ET specifics would secure best practice without straining the budget. And even if they wanted to get the best ET technology and services, they needed to make sure that the municipal resources could handle for example maintenance and that an ET would pay back financially.

Large municipality Had somewhat differing opinions on which barriers and bottlenecks existed. The first MCE said that lack of good plans is the largest bottleneck for EO. “EO is never negative for the municipal economy if it is undertaken based on

thorough planning that is built upon expertise and data that tells you how much the EO will save you. Otherwise, you will surely waste the taxpayer’s money” Good quality assessments and calculations payback fast and

minimizes the risk of misspending public finances.

The second MCE saw that the same advantages found in ET, economic and social ones, also were posed as bottlenecks. As the first is quantitative and therefore measurable, whilst the second is harder to quantify and therefore risk being neglected from a budget point of view.

One MCE also expressed a concern for a clear difference in how different age groups respond to ET. Groups with higher mean age focused more on the economy, and short-term payback, rather than climate and environmental impact. Those of lower mean age was more pro solutions that benefited the environment and climate more in the long run, were keen on trying

innovation, and that payback was accepted to be on long-term. The MCE had also observed that gender divided the older group in the opinion, but

seldomly the younger one.

Municipal Technical Director (MTD)

Small municipality Lack of economic buffer was a barrier identified by two MTDs, there was little to no room for risking potential hiccups related to a failed ET. One MTD had identified that possible project funding would reduce such risks, but that the municipality was not particularly active in these matters. The same MTD also found that the benefits that come with ET were not

communicated effectively to the inhabitants, which minimizes the chances of sparking the interest of it.

Lack of resources, such as personnel, was also expressed as a bottleneck. Smaller municipalities are expected to maintain the same quality of services as larger ones, although they have much fewer resources. The smaller municipalities lack the circumstances of planning projects, ET, or opportunity to enact creative thinking in their daily work.

One expressed the prevalence of old men in energy and ET forums, who seldom budge to new input and have become less agile to innovations. This referring mostly to the public sector, as they found the private sector more youthful and eager in many aspects.

Large municipality Both MCE’s agree that economy was a bottleneck. One expressed that this is

a larger concern for the smaller municipalities who lack resources, whereas the other expressed that the risk of planning municipal ET pro-actively might

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burden the daily services. As the smaller municipalities not always have in-house competence for ET and therefor needs to procure this from external resources.

Both shared the idea that some sort of trans-municipal plan or scheme was needed. This could help assist the smaller municipalities, but also benefit the larger ones in collaborations, and larger projects that required more actors. They viewed the lack of a general regional ET plan as a barrier and that its absence would generate higher end-costs and waste already strained resources in the municipalities.

Represent of the Municipal Assembly (RMA)

Small municipality All three believed that economic factors were the main bottleneck, but that this was not an issue if it was planned in advanced. They also reasoned that ET would be better in the long run, from an economic point of view. The issue lies in having the economic buffer in doing a larger ET investment because such purchases would require thorough investigation which they lack resources to undertake.

One of the RMAs pondered about how aware the MA’s on Åland were about the cost-benefits of an ET, especially those that already had been done. They suspected an elephant in every Ålandic MA’s meeting rooms, thus arguing that this is a bottleneck that could be amended if acted upon.

Another RMA found that the variance of public interest in SD was a potential bottleneck. Those who had recently relocated to the municipality and those in younger generations had more visions of SD deployment. Whilst those who had lived in the municipality longer, and those of the older generations were too comfortable in their lifestyle and did not wish for large changes in their municipality. This actor also found that getting these eager and inspired minds to sit down in the positions of municipal governance was hard.

Large municipality Both said that economy was a bottleneck. One RMA said they first need to

look at the demands of their jurisdiction, and then the municipality may take into account the additional adjustments which can be done to benefit

environmental and climate aspects of an ET.

One RMA said that municipalities have a great responsibility in executing their role as a change actor, but that the political dialogue for ET is lagging. Causing top-down governance to become less inactive than it ought to be. The other RMA saw a danger in making ET into a political discussion topic, as this risk spinning out of control; instead of being a matter of unanimous opinions, regardless of political orientation. The ET could become a subject that divides the MA if it is made political. Another concern was related to globally increasing right-wing populism, which risks being a barrier for ET, RES, and SD in general.

There was also a concern that the mean age was too high, and often

dominated by men, in places of power such as boards and committees whose work is related to energy. The RMA was concerned that this group are less prone to change, and that they are not drivers of change that favours ETs. They recognised that there were actors who did not fit this description, but that there is an underrepresentation of younger people, and especially women

&quot;Who&apos;s in charge here?&quot; : - A case study of municipal leadership within energy transitions on the Åland Islands, Finland