The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective

Scholars from a wide range of disciplines have grappled with defining and assessing the limitations and opportunities for ‘just’ low carbon energy transitions. Here, we offer an alternative approach to developing a framework for just transition that is grounded in long-term participatory action rese...

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Main Authors: Lindsay Shade, Karen Rignall, Lyndsay Tarus, Charice Starr
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Environmental Research: Energy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/add93d
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author Lindsay Shade
Karen Rignall
Lyndsay Tarus
Charice Starr
author_facet Lindsay Shade
Karen Rignall
Lyndsay Tarus
Charice Starr
author_sort Lindsay Shade
collection DOAJ
description Scholars from a wide range of disciplines have grappled with defining and assessing the limitations and opportunities for ‘just’ low carbon energy transitions. Here, we offer an alternative approach to developing a framework for just transition that is grounded in long-term participatory action research with environmental justice communities in Appalachia. We ground our discussion in literature from both scholars and social movements, as well as experiences of the authors through collective autoethnography. Specifically, our work seeks to bring land ownership to the forefront of conversations about economic development in Appalachia and about energy transition more broadly, and to expand the perspectives of directly impacted communities in the scholarly literature. For the past 7 years, the contributors to this article have worked to build a broad-based ‘land study collective’ to support public knowledge, action, and policy focused on the role of land ownership in both incumbent energy systems and transition dynamics. We discuss our shared goals, our process of building the collective and defining and studying research questions across geographically dispersed stakeholders, and vignettes from empirical research of collective members. We conclude with challenges and considerations for others who may want to integrate participatory research on land ownership into their just transition frameworks. We pay special attention to the ethics and empirical benefits of collective autoethnography for developing just transition frameworks that incorporate the lived experiences of those most impacted by energy extraction regimes.
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spelling doaj-art-097e76b4f458498fbf5f90bf83f3fc7e2025-08-20T03:34:33ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research: Energy2753-37512025-01-012202501010.1088/2753-3751/add93dThe role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collectiveLindsay Shade0https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0244-2867Karen Rignall1Lyndsay Tarus2Charice Starr3University of Tennessee , Knoxville, TN, United States of AmericaUniversity of Kentucky , Lexington, KY, United States of AmericaAlliance for Appalachia , London, KY, United States of AmericaThird Wave Fund , New York, NY, United States of AmericaScholars from a wide range of disciplines have grappled with defining and assessing the limitations and opportunities for ‘just’ low carbon energy transitions. Here, we offer an alternative approach to developing a framework for just transition that is grounded in long-term participatory action research with environmental justice communities in Appalachia. We ground our discussion in literature from both scholars and social movements, as well as experiences of the authors through collective autoethnography. Specifically, our work seeks to bring land ownership to the forefront of conversations about economic development in Appalachia and about energy transition more broadly, and to expand the perspectives of directly impacted communities in the scholarly literature. For the past 7 years, the contributors to this article have worked to build a broad-based ‘land study collective’ to support public knowledge, action, and policy focused on the role of land ownership in both incumbent energy systems and transition dynamics. We discuss our shared goals, our process of building the collective and defining and studying research questions across geographically dispersed stakeholders, and vignettes from empirical research of collective members. We conclude with challenges and considerations for others who may want to integrate participatory research on land ownership into their just transition frameworks. We pay special attention to the ethics and empirical benefits of collective autoethnography for developing just transition frameworks that incorporate the lived experiences of those most impacted by energy extraction regimes.https://doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/add93dAppalachiajust transitionland ownershipparticipatory action researchextractive industries
spellingShingle Lindsay Shade
Karen Rignall
Lyndsay Tarus
Charice Starr
The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
Environmental Research: Energy
Appalachia
just transition
land ownership
participatory action research
extractive industries
title The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
title_full The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
title_fullStr The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
title_full_unstemmed The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
title_short The role of land in a just transition: the Appalachian Land Study collective
title_sort role of land in a just transition the appalachian land study collective
topic Appalachia
just transition
land ownership
participatory action research
extractive industries
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/add93d
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