Yanting Gu (p), Elisa Sabbadin, Ivan De Noni, Andrea Ganzaroli

Amir Maghssudipour

Smart grid technology plays a vital role in the twin transition process, combining digital, green, and non-green technologies to construct a sustainable power system that integrates resources and relevant users with the existing electrical grid. It aims to provide more efficient and energy-saving solutions for users through the adoption of updated digital technologies and the inception of sustainability. The development of the smart grid has received support from institutions, authorities, and academics. In particular, it has been placed in a predominant position under the regional smart specialization strategy in Europe, which emphasizes the focus on applying local advantageous resources, integrating knowledge across regions, and facilitating co-production activities.
However, research on the influencing factors of the increasing adoption of smart grid technologies is underexplored at the regional level. In this paper, we focus on the smart grid as a form of twin technology, examining the role of technological relatedness and collaboration in supporting the diversification of EU regions in smart grid technologies. To this end, we aim to investigate the drivers that explain the capacity of EU regions to establish smart specialization in the development of smart grid technologies, using smart grid patent data (Y04S patents) from 1978 to 2019 in 238 NUTS-2 European regions. The findings of this study helps us understand the characteristics of smart grid technologies and then propose strategies that better develop them. Also, it contributes to the development and fostering of regional specialization strategies in smart grid technologies.

Fatima Zahra Fakir (p), Silvia Rita Sedita, Mohammed Reda Boukhecha

Yanting Gu

This study conducts a thorough analysis of tourist behavior in Padova, Italy, focusing on the synergy between smart tourism and social media. Examining the influence of digital tools on decision-making and satisfaction, the research explores the dynamic interplay between smart tourism practices and the pervasive use of social media in the cultural destination. By emphasizing the intricate relationship between technology and tourism, the findings aim to provide valuable insights into the nuanced connections shaping tourist experiences. The study's outcomes offer practical guidance for optimizing cultural tourism experiences in Padova and hold broader implications for destinations seeking to leverage smart tourism and social media for enhanced visitor engagement and satisfaction.

Francesco Salustri (p), Leonardo Becchetti

Fatima Zahra Fakir

We outline mechanisms by which renewable energy communities (RECs) can make cooperation for the ecological transition easier. We show conditions under which the combination of surplus energy sale, self-production and self-consumption benefits create conditions for a stag-hunt game, or an original cooperative REC game that overcomes the limits of the multiplayer prisoner dilemmas typical of many ecological transition choices. We also outline a theoretical framework illustrating factors affecting profit bargaining between the two types of actors (prosumers and passive consumers) participating to the REC. We finally draw policy implications from our model identifying choices that can make RECs a driver of an accelerated ecological transition.

Amir Maghssudipour (p), Silvia Rita Sedita, Giuseppe Danese

Francesco Salustri

Accelerating sustainable and just transitions is a crucial challenge at the European level, and energy-related practices, activities, organizations, and ecosystems can play a pivotal role in achieving this objective. Energy communities, as a means to organize collective energy actions around open, democratic participation and governance, and the provision of benefits for members or the local community, emerge as critical instruments in this framework. They represent a way to develop energy efficiency, finance the transition, increase social acceptance, and stimulate people to adopt virtuous sustainable behaviors.
While various models of energy communities have been proposed, often based on singular case studies, the literature remains heterogeneous on the role energy communities play in sustainability transitions and associated changes.

This contribution seeks to address the following research question:
What roles do energy communities play in sustainability transitions?

To answer this question, a systematic literature review informed by a two-step process is conducted. First, a bibliometric analysis is conducted using contributions from the ISI WEB OF SCIENCE and SCOPUS databases, resulting in a collection of 541 papers. Second, an original content analysis is proposed to examine patterns, themes, and relationships within the existing contributions on the topic.

Preliminary findings suggest that, in addition to energy efficiency, as the less surprising contribution of energy communities to the energy transition, other effects are observed in places where energy communities are located, including:
a) Social change and innovation towards inclusion, socio-economic regeneration and innovation, and improved living conditions for vulnerable and low-income households.
b) Empowerment of citizens and the formation of local social capital, promoting environmentally benign lifestyles.
c) Technological innovation, such as the development of new clean energy technologies and platforms to facilitate operational compatibility and communication across community members, as well as the transition to a decentralized electricity system.
d) Different supporting activities based on renewable energy sources, including new developments in aggregation, mobility, energy sharing, self-consumption, and district heating and cooling.

Our work contributes to the theoretical understanding of the relationship between energy communities and sustainability transitions. Our analysis, in fact, singled out three main components of the intellectual structure of the literature on energy communities and sustainability transitions: energy policies and normativism (mainly at the European level); social aspects of energy communities (such as energy democracy and citizenships); and technical aspects of energy communities’ implementations.