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Table 11 Roles of societal subsystems

From: A new approach to semantic sustainability assessment: text mining via network analysis revealing transition patterns in German municipal climate action plans

No.

Results

Implications

Reference in figures

F12

Local administrations were linked to upgrades of public properties, contracts for eco-electricity, or the use of efficient appliances more than other actors.

Local administrations sought to be a role model for local actors in terms of activities to reduce energy consumption.

Figure 1: 42

Figure 2: x11y15//27/29/30/31/32

F13

Like no other subsystems, local administrations were linked with almost all other local actors.

Local administrations were important mediatory nodes in stakeholder networks. They engaged particularly in campaigns to motivate private households for transition activities and employed consulting companies to support this process. In a secondary role, they were concerned with energy supply.

Figure 2: x3/4/7/8/10/16/17,y33

F14

Local administrations were clearly linked with communication measures and the consulting sector.

Figure 2: x1/8/15y33

F15

Local administrations showed connections with the conventional heating sector, including rehabilitation of buildings, and district heating.

Figure 2: x11y5/6/13/18/27

F16

Local administrations engaged in land-use planning processes and thereby considered building energy standards. In these processes, they considered standards of the national level.

Local administrations partly made use of their regulatory power; however, they tended to follow federal provisions or to coordinate local activities in this regard.

Figure 2: x11y30, x13/14/19y33

F17

Residential areas and citizens were particularly linked with insulation of buildings and aspects of motivation.

Energetic building refurbishment was the favored transition path for households. Households were the main target of campaigns to motivate transition activities.

Figure 2: x1/29y39/40, x15y39

F18

The economic sector was not fully linked with other sectors. Links with the local administrations could be observed at a general level; however, connectedness of the producing economic sectors was weak.

Typical for the economic sector, its main activities revolved around optimization. However, the distance to the local role model, the local administrations, indicates that these activities might have followed their own standards in contrast to the high and maybe more idealistic standards applied by local administrations.

Figure 2: x6y33, producing not on x axis; x6/11y25

F19

The economic sector focused on efficient operation of fossil power plants and rational use of energy, optimization of logistics, contracts for external heat supply, and the use of heat pumps.

Figure 2: x6y6/25/14/28

Figure 3: x1y45-47, x8y42

F20

The economic sector was the only one to clearly consider energy distribution, or power grids in particular.

The economic sector was aware of electricity distribution, since stable power supply is crucial for economic activities and suitable grid infrastructure is a prerequisite for feasible business models, e.g., for electric mobility.

Figure 2: x6y9

  1. Figure N x#y# numbered result referring to the co-occurrence of two categories at determined positions on the x and y axis of a Figure N