Technical solution or wicked problem? Diverse perspectives on indigenous community renewable electricity in Northern Ontario
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy
ISSN: 1750-6204
Article publication date: 27 July 2018
Issue publication date: 8 August 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the issues related to the deployment of renewable electricity technologies (RETs) in remote indigenous communities by examining the views of key informants in a remote northern Ontario community through the lens of a wicked problem approach, with the goal to identify policy direction and strategies for the further development of renewable electricity projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses semi-structured interviews with community key informants, informed discussions with community members and energy conference participants and literature reviews of academic, policy and utility documents as complementary data sources for triangulation of results.
Findings
According to informants, the complexity surrounding the deployment of RETs in remote Canadian indigenous communities is the result of different stakeholder perspectives on the issues that RETs are expected to address. Furthermore, institutional complexity of the electricity generation system and uncertainty over both the choice of off-grid renewable technology and the future of electricity generation systems structure and governance add to this complexity.
Research limitations/implications
Given the governments’ legal obligation to consult with indigenous people for projects within their territories, community perspectives provide insights for policy design to support both the deployment of RETs and address indigenous communities sustainability goals.
Originality/value
This paper offers views and opinions of community members from an off-grid Canadian indigenous community. Community members describe how they envision their electricity systems and the desired contribution of community owned renewable electricity generation to increase local control and economic development.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy, Energy Council of Canada, and Natural Resources Canada supported this work. Valuable work on related topics by graduate students and other members of the Sustainable Energy Policy group at the University of Waterloo also helped to inform thinking in this area. The authors are grateful for this support; they, however, remain solely responsible for the contents of this article.
Citation
Karanasios, K. and Parker, P. (2018), "Technical solution or wicked problem? Diverse perspectives on indigenous community renewable electricity in Northern Ontario", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 322-345. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-11-2017-0085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited