The energy transformation as a disruptive development at community level

Mankind is facing huge challenges due to climate change and subnational actors are increasingly considered to be relevant actors in the energy transition. In this paper, we argue that the municipal level will play a crucial role in a rapidly changing energy system and that the impact of this development can be labelled disruptive if we apply an adapted definition of the term disruptiveness that refers to system change. We illustrate this based on the example of implementing renewable district heating systems, which depend strongly on community support.