The System of Local Actors: Strategies Between Resources and Constraints

A territory seeking to achieve energy autonomy (self-sufficiency or relative autarky) may be seen as a system of interrelated actors acting at multiple governance levels. Some actors are inherently connected to the territory where they either reside or work. This is the case of the local authority, which is the system's main facilitator, but also of inhabitants, farmers, and landowners, as well as the local energy operator, when there is one. Other actors are not as linked to the local system. They can have investment strategies of their own in the territory or outside it: industrial and service companies, real estate developers, and the national or regional energy operator. A third category of actors intervenes rather as an intellectual partner than as a direct investor but may also play the role of facilitator as they get closer and closer to the territory’s needs and desiderata: universities and research bodies, consultancy agencies, associations, NGOs, etc.