Patrick Devine‐wright
Biographic Data
| ID | 290120 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Patrick Devine‐wright |
| GIVEN NAMES | Patrick |
| FAMILY NAME | Devine‐wright |
| SIGNATURE | WRIGHT P D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Exeter |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5768-4835 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 80 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1134 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 80 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Using spatial imaginaries to understand contested senses of place and just transitions in decarbonising industrial regions
A novel analytical approach to unpacking multiple senses of place in industrial decarbonisation. • Complex and ambivalent senses of place could exist in industrial towns other than pride in industry. • Divergent place visions between cluster stakeholders and host communities stem from different ontologies of industrial places. • Growing industry-community disconnection strengthens the need to go beyond job impacts for just transitions. The climat…
For, against, or on the fence? Developing a critical-spatial approach to social acceptance to examine conflict over a power line in Sweden
Grid networks are electrical distribution infrastructures that are typically represented as essential for society, however, constructing new power lines often creates conflict. Developing a critical-spatial approach to social acceptance, this research defined such conflicts as underpinned by spatially-embedded and multi-scalar power asymmetries between different stakeholders and organisations. Attending to the spatial dimensions of power, we exte…
How stakeholders legitimate ‘acceptable’ national energy transitions through spatial imaginaries and imagined publics: A Swedish case study
Low carbon energy transitions reconfigure geographies of energy generation, distribution, and consumption, and are often subject to contestation. Social acceptance research has neglected relations between socio-political and market acceptance, and the role of socio-spatial beliefs in legitimating technology deployment. This research addressed these gaps in two ways. First, we devised a novel methodology integrating participatory GIS in semi-struc…
A Place-based, Just Transition framework can guide industrial decarbonisation with a social licence
A growing policy focus in many economies is decarbonising energy-intensive industries such as steel, chemicals, and cement, responsible for a quarter of global CO 2 emissions. While policy discourses underscore the need for rapid, cost-effective industrial decarbonization, how to implement decarbonization in ways that are fair and just to workers and local communities and build a social licence to operate remains unclear. This perspective address…
Integrating citizens’ assemblies into local climate governance: Lessons from a UK case study
Despite the growing international use of citizens’ assemblies to address climate change challenges, there remains a lack of consensus about the best means of integrating these into existing political decision-making contexts, particularly at the local level. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research which evaluates the ‘robustness’ of efforts to integrate mechanisms such as climate assemblies into structures of governance whilst also examining t…
Realising a locally-embedded just transition: Sense of place, lived experience, and social perceptions of industrial decarbonisation in the United Kingdom
Prospects for public participation in energy transitions in Canada: Householders' interests in hosting, coordinating, and trading electricity at the local level
In Canada, climate change and the rising cost of fossil fuel‐based energy are driving a transition to cleaner local energy systems—combining renewable energy, storage, and smart devices. While these technologies are important, without public support and participation, they will not ensure a just and sustainable transition. In this context, we analyze data from a nationally representative survey (n = 941) of Canadians’ views towards local energy s…
Spatial imaginaries underpin community objections to shale gas exploration in the UK
Who is the ‘public’ when it comes to public opinion on energy? A mixed-methods study of revealed and elicited public attitudes to shale gas extraction
Shale gas is a contentious energy source. Yet, ‘imagined’ notions of the public (for example, NIMBYs) rarely reflect the reality of public opinion. We use an inductive, empirical approach to define UK publics in relation to shale gas extraction, drawing on multiple data sources (social media, a national survey, and two local surveys) and composite measures. Cluster analyses and thematic coding reveal a diversity of responses ranging from active o…
Energy democracy, public participation, and support for local energy system change in Canada
In the face of climate change and associated energy system change, there is a growing literature and more general recognition of the ‘four Ds’ (decarbonization, decentralization, digitalization, and democratization). Yet there has been very little quantitative work that analyzes public perceptions of these changes. Utilizing data from a Canada-wide, nationally representative survey (n = 941), this study conducted provincial and regional assessmen…
Clear support for an unclear concept? Public attitudes towards local energy systems in the United Kingdom
Decentralisation offers one route to energy system decarbonisation, and local energy systems (LES) provide focal points for decentralisation. LES involve the integration of different generation, storage, and demand-side technologies across heat, power, and transport systems, within defined localities. Public support is necessary for LES deployment at pace and scale, but while past research has examined public attitudes towards individual technolo…
Imagining and emplacing net zero industrial clusters: A critical analysis of stakeholder discourses
Decarbonizing industrial sectors is a critical global challenge, involving the creation of new industrial spaces—‘net zero industrial clusters’—co‐locating energy sectors and ‘hard‐to‐abate’ industries such as oil refining and steelmaking. This paper provides the first empirically grounded geographical investigation of these emerging spaces. It employs a place‐based research agenda to unpack how UK net zero industrial clusters (ICs) are imagined …
Great Britain's spatial twitter activity related to ‘fracking’
Fracking has proven to be a contentious issue in Great Britain, receiving wide press coverage from the initial sale of exploration and development licences, to the current moratorium. This research tracks the public activity online related to this ‘fracking’ journey by analysing over 317 million geolocated tweets from 2015 to 2020, mapping their location to compare the spatial distribution against the shale gas exploration sites. To spatially nor…
Do the ends justify the means? Problematizing social acceptance and instrumentally-driven community engagement in proposed energy projects
Proposed energy projects across rural working landscapes play an important role in energy transitions. While community engagement has been increasingly a part of these projects, instrumental motivations for engagement and the emphasis placed on achieving social acceptance has remained uncritically examined. Here, we aim to highlight relationships between actor rationale, the structuring of engagement processes, and how communities perceive the dr…
The best-laid plans: Tracing public engagement change in emergent Smart Local Energy Systems
To be fair, acceptable and ultimately successful, decentralised energy projects involving technological innovations require engagement with users, local communities and wider publics. Yet relatively few studies have adopted a dynamic, temporal approach to understand how publics are engaged with as projects develop over time. We address this gap by researching three case studies of ‘Smart Local Energy System’ (SLES) demonstrator projects involving…
Do You Know What'S Underneath Your Feet: Underground Landscapes & Place-Based Risk Perceptions Of Proposed Shale Gas Sites In Rural British Communities☆
Resource extraction relies on human interaction with the underground, often near rural communities. Yet, little research has explored localized, place-based relationships to the underground and subsequent concerns tied to proposed energy activities. This paper highlights the importance of place in localized risk perceptions of proposed shale exploration in two rural communities in the United Kingdom. Through qualitative case studies we examine ho…
Decarbonisation of industrial clusters: A place-based research agenda
Decarbonisation of industrial clusters is crucial for climate change mitigation and net zero policy goals, involving the deployment of technologies including hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. Industrial clusters co-locate large-scale facilities for electricity generation and distribution, oil refineries and the manufacturing and distribution of products including fertilisers, glass, plastics and aerosols. Given the geographica…
We could have been leaders”: The rise and fall of offshore wind energy on the political agenda in Ireland
Many countries have ambitious plans for increasing the generation of electricity from offshore wind energy in the coming decades. Realising these ambitions requires concerted, often innovative, political action across several policy domains. To understand the unique political challenges facing offshore wind deployment, this article presents a case study of the Republic of Ireland, where decades of sporadic political ambition to support offshore w…
Environmental justice implications and conceptual advancements: Community experiences of proposed shale gas exploration in the UK
Environmental justice (EJ) concerns about shale gas have recently emerged. Relatively little is known about the lived experiences and on-the-ground EJ concerns of UK communities facing drilling proposals. We address this knowledge gap through a UK case study of Woodsetts, South Yorkshire, where a prolonged planning process has created anticipatory EJ issues that demonstrate how injustices occur prior to development, creating damaging effects on a…
The challenges of engaging island communities: Lessons on renewable energy from a review of 17 case studies
Islands have attracted growing attention as sites of renewable energy generation, both for generating commercial low-carbon energy and to improve local energy conditions. However, significant challenges exist in achieving fair distribution in the benefits and costs of developments located on or around islands and in engaging local communities on proposals for installations. A broad literature exists on the merits of different community engagement…
What is ‘local’ about Smart Local Energy Systems? Emerging stakeholder geographies of decentralised energy in the United Kingdom
Induced seismicity or political ploy: Using a novel mix of methods to identify multiple publics and track responses over time to shale gas policy change
Integrating sociotechnical and spatial imaginaries in researching energy futures
Co-creation as a social process for unlocking sustainable heating transitions in Europe
Providing heat is a key aspect of social life and a necessity for comfort and health in cold climates. Even though heat accounts for a large proportion of worldwide carbon emissions and is the largest energy end-use, it has remained largely untouched by efforts to decarbonize. Efforts to do so meet significant economic, social-psychological, technical and political challenges. Much is at stake. But what can make a difference? One increasingly dis…
Contrasting Views of Citizens’ Assemblies: Stakeholder Perceptions of Public Deliberation on Climate Change
It has been argued that a ‘new climate politics’ has emerged in recent years, in the wake of global climate change protest movements. One part of the new climate politics entails experimentation with citizen-centric input into policy development, via mechanisms of deliberative democracy such as citizens’ assemblies. Yet relatively little is known about the motivations and aspirations of those commissioning climate assemblies or about general publ…
Rethinking Nimbyism: The role of place attachment and place identity in explaining place‐protective action
The ‘NIMBY’ (Not In My Back Yard) concept is commonly used to explain public opposition to new developments near homes and communities, particularly arising from energy technologies such as wind farms or electricity pylons. Despite its common use, the concept has been extensively critiqued by social scientists as a useful concept for research and practice. Given European policy goals to increase sustainable energy supply by 2020, deepening unders…
Think global, act local? The relevance of place attachments and place identities in a climate changed world
Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications
Introduction Lynne C. Manzo and Patrick Devine Wright Part 1: Theory 1. Place Attachment and Phenomenology: Synergistic Dynamism of Place David Seamon 2. Comparing the Theories of Interpersonal and Place Attachment Leila Scannell and Robert Gifford 3. Place Attachment in an Age of Mobility Per Gustafson 4. In Search of Roots: Memory as Enabler of Place Attachment Maria Lewicka 5. Community Place Attachment and its Role in Social Capital Developme…
Towards a better understanding of people’s responses to renewable energy technologies: Insights from Social Representations Theory
In the past few years, social research has been examining what contributes to the attitude-behaviour gap in people's responses to large-scale renewable energy technologies. The NIMBY explanation for the gap has long dominated that area of research, but has also been criticised. Alternative proposals to NIMBY were advanced, but it is still evident that some of those maintain presuppositions of NIMBY and that this area of research needs more integr…
Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK
In the UK a new theme has emerged in policy discourse and the investment of public resources around the concept of community renewable energy. A series of central government funded programs have been established with the aim of supporting and subsidizing community-based projects at a local level, an approach to renewable energy development previously the domain of alternative technology activists working outside of the mainstream. Drawing upon po…
Empathy, place and identity interactions for sustainability
My country or my planet? Exploring the influence of multiple place attachments and ideological beliefs upon climate change attitudes and opinions
My neighbourhood, my country or my planet? The influence of multiple place attachments and climate change concern on social acceptance of energy infrastructure
Public engagement with large‐scale renewable energy technologies: Breaking the cycle of Nimbyism
In response to the threat of climate change, many governments have set policy goals to rapidly and extensively increase the use of renewable energy in order to lessen reliance upon fossil fuels and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Such policy goals are ambitious, given past controversies over large‐scale renewable energy projects, particularly onshore wind farms, that have occurred in many countries and involved bitter disputes between priva…
Integrating sociotechnical and spatial imaginaries in researching energy futures
Understanding People's Ideas on Natural Resource Management: Research on Social Representations of Nature
Ongoing fragmentation between social groups on the appropriate targets and relevant actors for nature conservation signals the need for further advancements in theorizing about the human-nature interaction. Through a focus on the complexity of social thought and confrontations between social groups, the theory of social representations may provide a useful addition to conventional approaches. However, environmental issues have so far not been amo…
Community renewable energy: What does it do? Walker and Devine-Wright (2008) ten years on
Scale, history and justice in community wind energy: An empirical review
Populism, identities and responses to energy infrastructures at different scales in the United Kingdom: A post-Brexit reflection
Expanding the role for psychology in addressing environmental challenges
Environmental challenges, though daunting, present an important area for psychologists to apply their knowledge. Psychological theories, research methods, and interventions are essential for examining the questions about human impacts, tendencies, and capacities that are integral to constructing effective responses to these challenges. Although a great deal of relevant research has been done, there is scope for psychologists to be more extensivel…
Developing a critical agenda to understand pro‐environmental actions: Contributions from Social Representations and Social Practices Theories
Debates over the value and compatibility of different approaches to understanding and changing environmental‐relevant actions proliferate across the social sciences. This article reviews and discusses some of the (socio‐)psychological and sociological approaches in those debates. We will start by critically reviewing the (socio‐)psychological perspectives, highlighting two main shortcomings. First, they are often partial in their focus—concentrat…
Decarbonisation of industrial clusters: A place-based research agenda
Decarbonisation of industrial clusters is crucial for climate change mitigation and net zero policy goals, involving the deployment of technologies including hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. Industrial clusters co-locate large-scale facilities for electricity generation and distribution, oil refineries and the manufacturing and distribution of products including fertilisers, glass, plastics and aerosols. Given the geographica…
Energy Colonialism and the Role of the Global in Local Responses to New Energy Infrastructures in the UK: A Critical and Exploratory Empirical Analysis
Governments, namely in the global North, are fostering the deployment of large-scale low carbon and associated energy infrastructures (EIs), such as power lines, to mitigate climate change. However, when infrastructures are to be deployed, opposition is often found. Environmental justice—involving issues of distributive and procedural justice and recognition—and associated inter-group relations, has been identified as a key aspect for local oppos…
Local perceptions of opportunities for engagement and procedural justice in electricity transmission grid projects in Norway and the UK
Partnership or placation? The role of trust and justice in the shared ownership of renewable energy projects
Decentralising energy: Comparing the drivers and influencers of projects led by public, private, community and third sector actors
The potential contribution of decentralised energy (DE) to the low carbon transition has received increasing policy and scholarly attention. However, a predominant emphasis upon community-led initiatives has overlooked the potential of alternative configurations, in particular projects led by public, private and professional third sector actors. To address this gap, a comparative case study analysis was undertaken based upon in-depth interviews w…
Local attachments and identities: A theoretical and empirical project across disciplinary boundaries
Explaining public preferences for high voltage pylon designs: An empirical study of perceived fit in a rural landscape
A Place-based, Just Transition framework can guide industrial decarbonisation with a social licence
A growing policy focus in many economies is decarbonising energy-intensive industries such as steel, chemicals, and cement, responsible for a quarter of global CO 2 emissions. While policy discourses underscore the need for rapid, cost-effective industrial decarbonization, how to implement decarbonization in ways that are fair and just to workers and local communities and build a social licence to operate remains unclear. This perspective address…
History and identity in Northern Ireland: An exploratory investigation of the role of historical commemorations in contexts of intergroup conflict
This research used a social psychological perspective to explore the role of historical commemoration in contexts of intergroup conflict. A theoretical position was developed that indicated sociopolitical and psychological functions of commemoration at the group and individual levels of analysis. It was also claimed that commemoration can serve to reduce group cohesion if the manner in which commemoration is conducted is perceived to clash with i…
Role of social capital in advancing regional sustainable development
This paper argues that well-functioning social networks within regions can play a useful role in achieving sustainable development because they facilitate the speedy dissemination of novel information, expertise and resources across the region. In well-functioning networks all relevant key roles are occupied and played by individuals and organisations in a way that is credible, consistent, legitimate and equitable. Using insights from three netwo…
History and identity in Northern Ireland: An exploratory investigation of the role of historical commemorations in contexts of intergroup conflict
This research used a social psychological perspective to explore the role of historical commemoration in contexts of intergroup conflict. A theoretical position was developed that indicated sociopolitical and psychological functions of commemoration at the group and individual levels of analysis. It was also claimed that commemoration can serve to reduce group cohesion if the manner in which commemoration is conducted is perceived to clash with i…
A Theoretical Overview of Memory and Conflict
The past decade has seen a flowering of interest in the topics of memory and history both within academia and outside (Olick and Robbins, 1998). In parallel, there has been a heightened awareness of the link between processes of remembering and issues of ethnic conflict, reconciliation and conflict resolution, perhaps best exemplified by the actions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (Asmal etal ., 1996). This chapter revi…
Situational influences upon children's beliefs about global warming and energy
This paper explores children's beliefs about global warming and energy sources from a psychological perspective, focusing upon situational influences upon subjective beliefs, including perceived self‐efficacy. The context of the research is one of growing concern at the potential impacts of global warming, yet demonstrably low levels of self‐efficacy amongst both adults and children to effectively respond to this large‐scale environmental problem…
Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity
The world's human population is becoming concentrated into cities, giving rise to concerns that it is becoming increasingly isolated from nature. Urban public greenspaces form the arena of many people's daily contact with nature and such contact has measurable physical and psychological benefits. Here we show that these psychological benefits increase with the species richness of urban greenspaces. Moreover, we demonstrate that greenspace users c…
Interactions Between Perceived Behavioral Control and Personal-Normative Motives: Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence From a Study of Commuting-Mode Choice
This article reports a two-phase study of travel-mode choice. It demonstrates a purposive sampling technique using regression residuals, which is useful for linking quantitative and qualitative phases in sequential research designs. It also illustrates the value of mixed methods in terms of increased confidence in findings. Applying Norm-Activation Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study shows that perceived behavioral control can mo…
Harnessing Community Energies: Explaining and Evaluating Community-Based Localism in Renewable Energy Policy in the UK
In the UK a new theme has emerged in policy discourse and the investment of public resources around the concept of community renewable energy. A series of central government funded programs have been established with the aim of supporting and subsidizing community-based projects at a local level, an approach to renewable energy development previously the domain of alternative technology activists working outside of the mainstream. Drawing upon po…
Close to the Edge, down by the River? Joining up Managed Retreat and Place Attachment in a Climate Changed World
Rethinking Nimbyism: The role of place attachment and place identity in explaining place‐protective action
The ‘NIMBY’ (Not In My Back Yard) concept is commonly used to explain public opposition to new developments near homes and communities, particularly arising from energy technologies such as wind farms or electricity pylons. Despite its common use, the concept has been extensively critiqued by social scientists as a useful concept for research and practice. Given European policy goals to increase sustainable energy supply by 2020, deepening unders…
Good Neighbours, Public Relations and Bribes: The Politics and Perceptions of Community Benefit Provision in Renewable Energy Development in the UK
The provision of community benefits has become a more common component of renewable energy project proposals in the UK. This raises questions as to the purposes these benefits are fulfilling and the ways in which they are perceived by the many different stakeholders involved in the processes of project development and approval. Are they seen as an effective strategic element in negotiations around planning consent; as a right for communities whos…
Disruption to place attachment and the protection of restorative environments: A wind energy case study
Public engagement with large‐scale renewable energy technologies: Breaking the cycle of Nimbyism
In response to the threat of climate change, many governments have set policy goals to rapidly and extensively increase the use of renewable energy in order to lessen reliance upon fossil fuels and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Such policy goals are ambitious, given past controversies over large‐scale renewable energy projects, particularly onshore wind farms, that have occurred in many countries and involved bitter disputes between priva…
Renewable Energy and the Public: From Nimby to Participation
Introduction (Patrick Devine-Wright, University of Exeter, UK) Section 1: Conceptual approaches 1. Symmetries, expectations, dynamics and contexts: a framework for understanding public engagement with renewable energy projects (Walker, University of Lancaster, UK, and colleagues) 2. The principles, procedures, and pitfalls of public engagement in decision-making about renewable energy (Haggett, University of Edinburgh, UK) 3. Beyond consensus? Ag…
Place attachment and public acceptance of renewable energy: A tidal energy case study
Discourses of Energy Infrastructure Development: A Q-Method Study of Electricity Transmission Line Siting in the UK
The construction of new electricity-transmission infrastructure is construed in UK energy policy documents as necessary for achieving government targets to increase low-carbon electricity provision to combat climate change and ensure long-term energy security. Siting high-voltage overhead lines and substations is publicly controversial, however, due to their potential environmental, social, and economic impacts. Also controversial are issues of g…
Making electricity networks “visible”: Industry actor representations of “publics” and public engagement in infrastructure planning
This interview study with UK electricity distribution and transmission network operators (DNO and TNO) and the regulator Ofgem, examines how key industry actors conceptualise “publics,” “stakeholders” and “customers” and how these conceptualisations subsequently inform their engagement practices with these heterogeneous groups. The results show that regulatory changes to the structure of distribution networks have encouraged greater levels of “st…
Explaining “Nimby” Objections to a Power Line: The Role of Personal, Place Attachment and Project-Related Factors
Public opposition toward new energy infrastructure is often labeled “NIMBYism” (Not In My Backyard), despite strong criticisms of the concept’s validity. Research on technology acceptance has followed two pathways: first, investigating the role of place attachments and sociodemographic characteristics; second, investigating project-related constructs such as perceived impacts, trust, and procedural justice. This study aimed to integrate these res…
Think global, act local? The relevance of place attachments and place identities in a climate changed world
Understanding People's Ideas on Natural Resource Management: Research on Social Representations of Nature
Ongoing fragmentation between social groups on the appropriate targets and relevant actors for nature conservation signals the need for further advancements in theorizing about the human-nature interaction. Through a focus on the complexity of social thought and confrontations between social groups, the theory of social representations may provide a useful addition to conventional approaches. However, environmental issues have so far not been amo…
Societal acceptance of wind farms: Analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies
Understanding Urban Green Space as a Health Resource: A Qualitative Comparison of Visit Motivation and Derived Effects among Park Users in Sheffield, UK
With increasing interest in the use of urban green space to promote human health, there is a need to understand the extent to which park users conceptualize these places as a resource for health and well-being. This study sought to examine park users' own reasons for and benefits from green space usage and compare these with concepts and constructs in existing person-environment-health theories and models of health. Conducted in 13 public green s…
Explaining public preferences for high voltage pylon designs: An empirical study of perceived fit in a rural landscape
Concern or compliance? Drivers of urban decentralised energy initiatives
The UK has set an ambitious plan to substantially cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to meet this 2050 target of 80% reduction, the UK is facing a significant challenge of restructuring its energy system. One way to do this is via the wider use of decentralised energy (DE) systems in urban areas. A significant lack of understanding exists however, regarding the main factors that drive these energy projects. Following semi-structured…
Public engagement with offshore renewable energy: A critical review
Offshore renewable energy, including offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, has sometimes been represented as opposition‐free alternatives to controversial technologies such as onshore wind turbines, and has received increasing attention from social scientists in recent years. A fragmented literature has emerged investigating public engagement with these technologies and the determinants of public acceptance, comprising 59 key studies—the majority…
Public beliefs about high-voltage powerlines in Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom: A comparative survey
Political science (53 works) · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy (48 works) · Sociology (47 works) · Psychology (36 works) · Engineering (30 works) · Geography (29 works) · Law (29 works) · Public relations (28 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (27 works) · Economics (25 works)