Rethinking collaborative action and citizen empowerment: Characterising a Whole-of-Society approach to the energy transition

The urgent need to progress the low carbon energy transition has stimulated new forms of governance to address the multiple challenges facing policy, regulation, and implementation. This paper suggests that some countries are adopting a range of measures for the energy transition that amount to a Whole-of-Society Approach, formerly deployed as a response to health crises and other emergencies. Despite having a range of governance implications, the main features of the approach have not been effectively described nor critically evaluated. This paper seeks to draw out the main characteristics of the approach based on a review of literature that uses the Whole-of-Society approach term. This suggests that the Whole-of-Society Approach has five key components: crisis; shared responsibility; inclusivity; leadership; and systems thinking. This paper then explores how these components have been reflected in energy transition policy discourse in the Republic of Ireland and Scotland, by analysing key policy documents. By highlighting how the Whole-of-Society Approach is used as a wider framework for the energy transition, the paper aims to stimulate further research on the wider implications, coherence, and effectiveness of the approach in progressing the energy transition.