Electrification of Construction: Investigating actor roles and interactions in cross-sectoral sustainability experiments

Abstract

This thesis investigates actor roles and interactions in cross-sectoral sustainability experiments, through conducting a single-case study on the case of electrification of construction sites in Norway. The thesis belongs to the field of sustainability transitions, which has gained criticism for paying too little attention to the actor perspective in transitions. Further, an emerging view of transitions is how they increasingly involve multiple sectors, which entails interactions across actors from multiple systems. Thus, this thesis attempts to expand on existing research, through investigating the role of actors as they interact with others across sectors in experiments for sustainability. To contribute with insight to this research, a case study was conducted on the case of electrification of construction sites in Norway. The use of electrical machinery at construction sites are a relatively new phenomena in an early stage of transition, as it is dominated by pilot projects, and subsidy programs aimed at creating knowledge and developing solutions. In this research project, the aim was gaining insight on actor level dynamics of cross-sector sustainability experiments. Thus, the focus of the research design was gaining insight from actors participating in pilots or other types of experiments aimed at testing the use of electrical machinery at construction sites. Among the findings was how experimental projects constitutes sites of interaction between actors from different sectors, where new and strengthened linkages between actors are made. Further, due to the problem-solving approach and new tasks that emerge through the sustainability experiments, actors take upon new and untraditional roles to secure successful experimentation. However, as transitions are in an early phase, these roles are likely to change as the transition unfolds. Accordingly, the allocation of roles in transitions involving multiple sectors may evolve over time. Lastly, the thesis concludes with suggestions for further research on actors in early stages of transitions involving actors from multiple sectors.