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