Social sciences have been very prolific in the last decades in publishing research that attempts to better understand the social acceptance of renewable energy technologies and associated infrastructures (RET) – such as high voltage power lines – and processes – such as communities’ participation in related decision-making processes. This Perspective proposes that this might be a good point in time, roughly 30 years after social sciences begun looking at the social side of RET, to offer a (over)view on that research, if and how it has changed over time and where it leaves us currently or, in other words, which directions we should follow in the future. I first provide an overview of research on the social acceptance of RET, suggesting that it can be roughly organized around three waves - normative, criticism and critical -; for then identifying and discussing some avenues for future research.

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Critical approach,Criticism approach,NIMBY,Normative approach,Overview,Social acceptance research

• Earth and related Environmental Sciences - Natural Sciences
• Other Natural Sciences - Natural Sciences
• Civil Engineering - Engineering and Technology
• Environmental Engineering - Engineering and Technology
• Social and Economic Geography - Social Sciences
• Other Social Sciences - Social Sciences

This publication is an output of the following project(s):

• Multi-sectoral approaches to Innovative Skills Training for Renewable energy And sociaL acceptance