eprintid: 10185442 rev_number: 6 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/18/54/42 datestamp: 2024-01-16 14:15:42 lastmod: 2024-01-16 14:15:42 status_changed: 2024-01-16 14:15:42 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Tsoeu-Ntokoane, Seroala creators_name: Mosabala, Thuso Donald creators_name: Kali, Moeketsi creators_name: Lemaire, Xavier title: Community imaginaries, participation and acceptance of renewable energy projects – substituting the quicksand of development with rocky fundamentals ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: C04 divisions: F34 keywords: project acceptability; community participation; imaginaries of development; decentralised renewable energy; Lesotho; rural electrification; mini-grids note: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). abstract: Community participation could contribute to sustaining energy projects, however some projects underestimate the value of meaningful project host communities’ involvement in decision-making. Rural community energy development projects in Lesotho often assume a top-down development-driven approach void of communities’ perspectives and desires. This study investigates opportunities Lesotho’s renewable energy projects, either led by communities or the government, provide. The authors draw from qualitative research to examine two cases, Semonkong and Motete’s participatory approaches. This study determined the magnitude of community participation in the two projects, from their initiation to the level of community participation in decision-making and implementation. The findings posit that community participation in both projects differs from minimal to no participation. They further revealed a blurry picture of community acceptance of the project where participation was relatively lower, thus bringing project sustainability into question. The Lesotho Electric Company deprived the Semonkong community the opportunity to participate in the decisions of the Semonkong mini-grid. In contrast, the Motete project consortium allowed a modicum of community participation hence higher social acceptance prospects. The study revealed that tensions, conflicts, and protests are implications associated with lack of community participation in the project of Semonkong. The sustainability of projects is dependent on the extent of the host communities’ involvement, acceptance, and trust. This study recommends community engagement for hammering and forging project acceptability and sustainability. date: 2024 date_type: published publisher: Informa UK Limited official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2292755 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2139545 doi: 10.1080/23311886.2023.2292755 lyricists_name: Lemaire, Xavier lyricists_id: XMLLE28 actors_name: Lemaire, Xavier actors_id: XMLLE28 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Cogent Social Sciences volume: 10 number: 1 article_number: 2292755 citation: Tsoeu-Ntokoane, Seroala; Mosabala, Thuso Donald; Kali, Moeketsi; Lemaire, Xavier; (2024) Community imaginaries, participation and acceptance of renewable energy projects – substituting the quicksand of development with rocky fundamentals. Cogent Social Sciences , 10 (1) , Article 2292755. 10.1080/23311886.2023.2292755 <https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2292755>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10185442/1/Tsoeu-Ntokoane%20%26%20al.%202024%20Community_imaginaries_participation_and_acceptance.pdf