All change please!’ – challenges and opportunities of the energy transition

‘All change please!’ – Challenges and opportunities of the energy transition
The annual meeting of the ARL’s Junges Forum (forum for young professionals) on
6–8 October 2016 in Leipzig addressed various aspects of the energy transition – when,
where, how and why?
The Junges Forum, a platform for both academics and practitioners, met for three
days of discussion about the complex transformation process of the energy transition,
adopting various inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives. In presentations and
discussion groups, they considered not only technical, legal and planning aspects
related to infrastructure expansion and the management and structuring of the
energy transition, but also its significance for spatial development.
The focus of the annual meeting was selected in view of the current importance of
the issue. The transition is a process intended to ensure a safe, environmentally
friendly and economically successful future and as such involves a broad spectrum
of social, planning and scientific challenges and opportunities that require more indepth consideration and analysis. The following questions thus provided the starting
points for the presentations:
> What are the key action areas for the implementation of the energy transition?
> How will the cities and the countryside of the future look?
> How do the various actors behave and how do they react to different
technologies?
> Where and why do conflicts and competition emerge and how can resistance and
acceptance be dealt with?
These key questions were the focus of the annual meeting and informed the following
themes: How ‘smart’ is the city of the future? Pole position for new forms of mobility
and ‘We say no!’ – public protest in the energy transition. The event’s presentations
and findings are documented in this volume.