Societal readiness for just energy transitions: toward an integrated conceptual framework
- 1Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo, Norway
- 2Section for Environmental Impacts, Akvaplan-niva, Tromsø, Norway
- 3SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim, Norway
Abstract
The success of energy transitions depends not only on technological innovation and policy interventions but also on societies' ability to understand, support, participate in, and adapt to transition-related change. Although societal readiness has received growing attention in sustainability, innovation, and responsible research and innovation research, it remains insufficiently integrated into the just energy transition literature. Existing studies rarely treat societal readiness as a distinct construct, instead addressing related concepts such as social acceptance, trust, participation, justice, governance capacity, institutional preparedness, and adaptive capacity in isolation. This fragmentation limits understanding of the conditions that enable equitable and effective transitions. This mini-review synthesizes literature that explicitly or implicitly addresses societal readiness in just energy transitions and develops an integrated conceptual framework. The review identifies four interconnected dimensions: social acceptance and trust; participation and justice; governance and institutional capacity; and socio-economic and adaptive capacity. Together, these dimensions capture the conditions that shape the ability of individuals, communities, and governance systems to engage with and support transition processes. Research has focused primarily on social acceptance, participation, and justice, while behavioral and discursive indicators, multidimensional assessment approaches, and interactions among readiness dimensions remain underdeveloped. Participation emerges as a key mechanism linking readiness dimensions, while conflict and resistance may indicate weaknesses in transition processes rather than societal unreadiness. Overall, societal readiness is conceptualized as a multidimensional and relational condition emerging from interactions among and within its dimensions. The proposed framework advances a more integrated understanding and assessment of societal readiness to support effective and equitable just energy transitions.
Related
- Technology readiness and energy transitions: Evidence from renewable energy finance and institutional quality
- A Spatially Explicit Societal Life Cycle Cost Framework for Sustainable Biographite Production in the United States.
- Fertilizer and soil health for sustained crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and conceptual framework
- A conceptual framework for life cycle sustainability assessment of mobility systems
- The conceptual scope of landscape services: A framework for assessing services related to the environment at the landscape scale
BibTeX
@article{rashidian2026societal,
title = {{Societal readiness for just energy transitions: toward an integrated conceptual framework}},
author = {Mahla Rashidian and Froukje Maria Platjouw and Diya Chakravorty and Kathrine Ivsett Johnsen and Charlotte Teresa Weber and Anders Arvesen},
journal = {Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fsuep.2026.1995730},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fsuep.2026.1995730},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Societal readiness for just energy transitions: toward an integrated conceptual framework
AU - Mahla Rashidian
AU - Froukje Maria Platjouw
AU - Diya Chakravorty
AU - Kathrine Ivsett Johnsen
AU - Charlotte Teresa Weber
AU - Anders Arvesen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Frontiers in Sustainable Energy Policy
DO - 10.3389/fsuep.2026.1995730
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fsuep.2026.1995730
AB - The success of energy transitions depends not only on technological innovation and policy interventions but also on societies' ability to understand, support, participate in, and adapt to transition-related change. Although societal readiness has received growing attention in sustainability, innovation, and responsible research and innovation research, it remains insufficiently integrated into the just energy transition literature. Existing studies rarely treat societal readiness as a distinct construct, instead addressing related concepts such as social acceptance, trust, participation, justice, governance capacity, institutional preparedness, and adaptive capacity in isolation. This fragmentation limits understanding of the conditions that enable equitable and effective transitions. This mini-review synthesizes literature that explicitly or implicitly addresses societal readiness in just energy transitions and develops an integrated conceptual framework. The review identifies four interconnected dimensions: social acceptance and trust; participation and justice; governance and institutional capacity; and socio-economic and adaptive capacity. Together, these dimensions capture the conditions that shape the ability of individuals, communities, and governance systems to engage with and support transition processes. Research has focused primarily on social acceptance, participation, and justice, while behavioral and discursive indicators, multidimensional assessment approaches, and interactions among readiness dimensions remain underdeveloped. Participation emerges as a key mechanism linking readiness dimensions, while conflict and resistance may indicate weaknesses in transition processes rather than societal unreadiness. Overall, societal readiness is conceptualized as a multidimensional and relational condition emerging from interactions among and within its dimensions. The proposed framework advances a more integrated understanding and assessment of societal readiness to support effective and equitable just energy transitions.
SN - 2813-4982
ER -