Leaders, networks and the social context: A relational leadership approach to regional renewable energy self-sufficiency

Various actors are involved in the emergence and implementation of regional renewable energy self-sufficiency (RESS). Some actors are more influential than others and are considered decisive for these regional transition processes. What makes these people leaders? How is leadership created and enabled? This paper addresses these questions with a multiple-case-study design, exploring four German regions aiming for RESS, using a relational leadership approach (relational leadership theory, RLT), focusing on the personalities and behaviour of leaders in their relationships (entity perspective) and on the construction of leadership during events (relational perspective). Shadowing and event analysis, in combination with interviews and document analysis, provide rich empirical material. Propositions for theorizing leadership in RESS regions are presented. Main findings show that the investigated leaders demonstrate strong skills in communication and networking. While individual leaders are important for the RESS process, a whole circle of actors with different roles based on personal skills and institutional positions/functions inside the regions is needed for enabling the RESS process. The relevance of actor's roles can shift during the RESS process, which depends on the specific regional and wider social contexts. Connecting RESS with the goals of regional development and economic added value helps bring together actors from different social areas in the networks and for raising funds for RESS-related projects. Supporting regional and wider framework conditions, e.g. funding programmes or the German Renewable Energy Act, are necessary to create an arena that enables leadership towards regional RESS. These conditions need to be understood to prepare for unexpected changes. The two theoretical perspectives of RLT help derive propositions for theorizing leadership to better understand regional processes towards RESS.