Images of cooperation: A methodological exploration in energy networks

Images of cooperation: A methodological exploration in energy networks

Ligtvoet, A.

Herder, P.M. (promotor)
Weijnen, M.P.C. (promotor)

Technology, Policy and Management

Energy and Industry

2013-02-07

To ensure dependable, affordable, and sustainable use of energy, stakeholders in energy production, distribution, and consumption are increasingly seeking for cooperation. They aim to jointly tackle large energy projects in an environmental context that is changing at an increasing rate, towards increasing complexity. Cooperation is seen as a remedy against the uncertainties of a hyper-competitive society, but the mechanisms of cooperation and the trade-offs are still poorly understood. This thesis provides clarification on how we can use different methods to understand cooperation activities and how to support cooperative efforts. We come to the conclusion that cooperation is a multidimensional issue that can only be understood properly when looking through different research lenses. Each perspective leads to a different image of cooperation and a clarification of why actors take specific steps in a process, what they aim to accomplish, and how they behave. The investigated methods (graph theoretical planning, agent-based modelling, serious gaming, and case studies) are valuable for understanding the decision making process, but no method can predict the results of cooperation attempts. We deem this impossible given the complexity of the systems we are interested in. However, graph theoretical planning can quickly provide information on network spatial configurations given certain constraints. Agent-based modelling allows for investigating the diversity of actors and the system consequences of their responses to each other. Serious gaming focuses more on players’ behaviour to each other and to the system. Case studies provide a rich description of the systems that we are interested in and allows for extraction of (procedural) lessons. To show the focus and/or breadth of each method we mapped them in two dimensions. The first dimension that we distinguish is that of world-view. A ‘rational’ perspective seeks for clear cause and effect relationships, clearly identified goals, and knowable rules and laws. A ‘behavioural’ perspective acknowledges the idiosyncrasies of individual decision makers and the fact that behaviour is to a great extent determined by social settings and networks of power and influence. A procedural view emphasises the process steps that are necessary for achieving cooperation – the emergent ‘rules of the game’. The second dimension pertains to the level of abstraction. Following general systems theory, we find that a distinction in micro-meso-macro level phenomena helps in classifying the different strands of research and their contribution to systemic understanding of cooperation phenomena. While we are interested in cooperation among organisations (meso level), we acknowledge that organisations consist of individuals (micro level) and form a part of a larger institutional, cultural, or national setting (macro level). Cooperation in organisations is both influenced from ‘above’ and from ‘below’ in interdependent ways.

cooperation
energy networks
socio-technical system
infrastructure
agent-based modelling
serious gaming
case studies
graph theory
methodological choice

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:8f285238-4e87-4517-83a9-5167efb52eb1

Next Generation Infrastructures

2013-01-21

9789079787449

Institutional Repository

doctoral thesis

(c) 2013 Ligtvoet, A.