Understanding transition-periphery dynamics: renewable energy in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

Over the coming decades the Highlands and Islands of Scotland will be transformed as new technologies and infrastructures are installed to exploit wind, wave and tide power. However, interactions between the region and these technologies are poorly understood and need to be appreciated in more detail before the changes gather momentum. In this paper we link and extend research around socio-technical transitions and resource peripheries and use this framework to analyse wind energy projects on the island of Lewis. Our analysis draws attention to the importance of transition-periphery dynamics and the ways in which renewable energy projects and particular locations are co-shaping each other through these. Building on this we draw out implications for the Highlands and Islands more broadly, argue that the existing analytical-normative agenda of socio-technical transitions should be recast, and highlight new resource peripheries as sites where further research should be done.