Browsing by Subject "roles"

The societal goals of decoupling from fossil energy have made the energy transition a subject of common public discussion. Especially the onset of the conflict in Ukraine accelerated media coverage on the topic, as it became apparent that importing fossil energy from Russia was financing the conflict. Simultaneously, Europe was rapidly attempting to adapt to phase out fossil energy imports from Russia. The onset of the conflict offers an interesting opportunity to study the energy transition. The data chosen for the study included 139 articles about the energy transition. Articles are published by a Finnish national online media for one year period after the onset of the conflict. The aim of this media analysis was to assess the relationship between citizens and the energy transition, and to identify actors and actions portrayed in the data. A system based on renewable energy is utilizing multiple different technologies and energy sources. This kind of diversity and variable nature of the system requires active citizen participation and increased awareness of their own energy consumption. Citizens are also potentially playing an important role as producers of renewable energy and in providing the flexibility required by the system. It is assumed that the data used in the study is influencing citizens' perceptions of the energy transition and their role within it. The study was conducted using mixed methodology approach and includes both quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the data. The quantitative overview was conducted by categorizing the actors and actions within the data, while quantitative quota was focusing on the content about citizen by using frame analysis. The content addressing citizens formed six thematic main frames: economic, political, social, environmental, technological and innovation. For each main frame, subframes describing actions were also developed. Based on the results, the energy transition belongs primarily to experts and political and economic actors, also the roles suitable for citizens are addressed insufficiently. The relationship between the energy transition and the citizen is based on economic factors. Agency based on consumption choices is restricting and outsourcing citizens from the active participatory roles. In conclusion, the content produced by the media does not support an effective and equitable societal transition.