Researcher Daniel Petrovics will defend his thesis, titled ‘Rising Together: Polycentric Governance, Niche Expansion & the Scaling of Energy Communities‘.

This study explores how energy communities are revolutionizing Europe’s energy landscape by managing local renewable energy assets and expanding their services. These initiatives are pioneering collective action against the climate crisis at the local scale and promoting energy democracy at the same time. Daniel Petrovics dives into their success, revealing conditions for scaling, underlying mechanisms, and diverse pathways they follow as they grow and expand their services. His research highlights the balance between deploying renewable energy and democratizing energy governance, emphasizing the potential of cooperative resource management and community-driven solutions.