Determinants of responsible innovation for sustainability transition in a developing country: Contested narratives for transition in the Sri Lankan power sector

ABSTRACT

Global efforts towards sustainable energy transition remain uneven. Developing countries are embedded in a vulnerable setting requiring rapid but responsible action to meet increasing energy demands due to their specific projected economic and population growth. Consequently, such countries have addressed the challenges of achieving sustainable energy transition differently compared with developed countries with regard to renewable energy development and its governance. Theories of sustainability transition and responsible innovation (RI) have their origin in developed countries, and the application of this Western-centric version has been found incompatible with the contexts of developing countries. The aim of the paper is to explore how contextual understandings of RI are discursively constructed and how such understandings enable or constrain sustainable energy pathways in developing countries. The author draws on empirical evidence relating to the power sector in Sri Lanka and analyses three narratives in play revealed by a qualitative case study. The findings indicate that developing countries must place greater emphasis on aligning technological innovation systems with RI in efforts to achieve sustainability transitions by being vigilant with regard to contextual narratives on RI. The author concludes that prevalent narratives should be regarded as a bridge for linking sustainability transitions to RI.

KEYWORDS:

• narratives in play
• renewable energy
• responsible innovation
• Sri Lanka
• sustainability transition

Acknowledgements

The work was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, grant number LKA-3182/LKA-16/0001. Professor Arnt Fløysand is thanked for discussions and development of earlier drafts of the paper. Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai is thanked for his contributions to the early development of the paper. Special thanks are due to guest editor Marte Solheim and two anonymous reviewers for providing valuable input.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 In 1972, Ceylon became the Republic of Sri Lanka.

2 Poonakary village and Mannar town are both in the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.