Paola Velasco Herrejón

• Bauwens, Thomas; Friant, Martin Calisto; Beumer, Koen & Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2026). Pluriversal technologies: A decolonial typology of knowledge integration for disruptive sustainability. Research Policy. ISSN 0048-7333. 55(4). doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2026.105458. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Amid accelerating socio-ecological crises—climate breakdown, mass extinctions and widening inequalities—there is an urgent need for transformative approaches that address root causes rather than symptoms. Disruptive sustainability seeks such transformations; however, it remains theoretically underdeveloped regarding how radically different knowledge systems can work together across the life-cycle of technologies. Drawing on science and technology studies and decolonial scholarship, we build a decolonial typology of knowledge integration in ‘pluriversal technologies’—technologies co-designed, co-produced and co-owned across epistemic communities. We identify four modes: extractive appropriation, parallel operation, adaptive integration and transformative integration. We demonstrate how each appears along the design, production and ownership dimensions of a technology's life-cycle. This study makes three contributions. First, by demonstrating that a single technology can occupy different integration modes across its life-cycle, it exposes the dimensional unevenness that often derails ostensibly collaborative initiatives. Second, it moves beyond binary treatments of integration to a graded, four-mode framework. Third, it identifies catalytic mechanisms—such as trust building, co-learning, shared governance, recognition and reparation—that enable initiatives to shift between modes. This typology enriches research on disruptive sustainability by clarifying how diverse knowledge systems can collaborate or clash and by mapping routes toward more just, sustainable and effective innovation.

• Roithner, Maximilian; Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Greevenbroek, Koen van; Grochowicz, Aleksander; Vågerö, Oskar & Hvidsten, Tobias Verheugen [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2025). Balancing act: the cost of wind restrictions in Norway’s electricity transition. Environmental Research: Energy. 2(3). doi: 10.1088/2753-3751/adde62. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  To meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement and reduce its dependency on energy imports, the pace, and scale of renewable energy deployment across Europe must increase dramatically over the next decade. Such a steep change in the net-zero transition will inevitably necessitate trade-offs with other societal priorities. Here we investigate a case study focused on the opposition towards onshore wind and the compromises that may need to be made to deliver its plans for deep electrification. Using an electricity system model, we explore the implications of key social and environmental dimensions shaping the future deployment of onshore wind on the costs and design of electricity systems for Norway in 2030. We find that under restrictions that allow for almost no additional onshore wind, demand cannot be met and load has to be shed. Yet, when reducing the restrictions on onshore wind or allowing for in-country transmission expansion, feasible system designs at a small fraction of that cost can be found. To meet the net-zero targets, compromises will need to be made on either wind power deployment, transmission expansion, non-electrification of industry or demand reduction.

• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Toledo, Enoc Lopez; López, Juana Arely Romo; Escobar, Tania Karina Antonio; Morales, Elizabeth Carrasco & Ramírez, William Hernández [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2024). A capability approach to analyse well-being impacts of wind energy infrastructure. Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability. 4(1). doi: 10.1088/2634-4505/ad269c. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Bauwens, Thomas (2024). Are energy transitions reproducing inequalities? Power, social stigma and distributive (in)justice in Mexico. Global Environmental Change. ISSN 0959-3780. 87. doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102883. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Activists, scholars, and policymakers worldwide have increasingly recognised the intrinsic linkages between energy transitions and justice issues. However, little research exists on how groups affected by renewable energy siting interpret and mobilise justice narratives to legitimise their actions and question development plans. Building on the notion of 'framing' in social movement theory, this study addresses this gap by examininig the discourses adopted by people resisting wind energy developments in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The study relies on 64 interviews and participant observation. The findings indicate that anti-wind activists used health and environmental concerns instrumentally: as a framing device to avoid social rejection and legitimise other, subtler distributive concerns about the uneven allocation of economic benefits such as tenancy payments. Although this framing was counterproductive and left their concerns unaddressed, activists adopted this strategy because of community norms and practises that stigmatise the explicit discussion of economic inequalities and their fear of challenging existing power structures. This paper therefore highlights the social mechanisms through which energy transitions reproduce economic inequalities. As a policy recommendation, it is critical to consider how inequalities are framed and the underlying reasons for these interpretive schemes to advance socially just net-zero scenarios.

• Lennon, Breffni; Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Dunphy, Niall (2023). Operationalizing participation: Key obstacles and drivers to citizen energy community formation in Europe's energy transition. Science Talks. 5. doi: 10.1016/j.sctalk.2022.100104. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Lennon, Breffni & Dunphy, Niall (2023). The Global Face of Energy Poverty. In Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Lennon, Breffni & Dunphy, Niall (Ed.), Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South. Routledge. ISSN 9781003408536. doi: 10.4324/9781003408536-2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  For the first time in decades, the price pressures and economic upheaval primarily caused by the global energy crisis – sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and post-COVID pandemic supply chain stress – have led to a rise in the number of people without access to energy. The human consequences of energy poverty include a significant deterioration in physical health and mental well-being, along with premature death due to severe winter and summer conditions, unhealthy and/or restricted lifestyles, and social exclusion. There have been efforts to reduce energy poverty in both developing and developed countries over the past few decades. The need for electricity grid expansion has long been articulated in developing and developed contexts since the first half of the 20th century. More recently, global energy markets and their effects on energy availability and prices, as well as pressing environmental concerns, have induced a surge in research on energy deprivation, a condition that previously had little public recognition.

• Dunphy, Niall; Lennon, Breffni & Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2023). Identifying Energy-Poor Households, Experiences from the Global North. In Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Lennon, Breffni & Dunphy, Niall (Ed.), Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South. Routledge. ISSN 9781003408536. doi: 10.4324/9781003408536-4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter discusses findings from an ongoing Horizon 2020 project, EnergyMeasures, relating to identifying and recruiting energy-poor households in seven participating countries (BE, BG, IE, MK, NL, PL, and UK). Understanding the wicked problem of energy poverty is not an easy undertaking and is replete with multiple layers of complexity across numerous intersecting societal and environmental scales. Practitioners tasked with engaging energy-poor households acknowledge the difficulties involved, especially when trying to connect with those hard-to-reach households who may or may not identify as energy poor. While this chapter draws from experiences in Europe, the range and depth of practical knowledges held by the consortium partners allowed us to uncover a range of nuanced and considered approaches one can take on the topic that reflect the historical, cultural, and environmental factors specific to each country. Consequently, we critique these approaches to identifying and measuring energy vulnerability, especially indicators of energy poverty and so-called supporting indicators. As is noted throughout this book, the focus on energy poverty analysis has tended to stay at the macro-, or meso-, levels while understanding contexts at the local level often remain underdeveloped or ignored. In keeping with the overall theme of the book, approaches on how to appropriately identify energy-poor households are drawn from both the literature and experiences of practitioners active ‘in the field’.

• Dunphy, Niall; Lennon, Breffni & Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2023). Towards a Better Understanding of Energy Poverty. In Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Lennon, Breffni & Dunphy, Niall (Ed.), Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South. Routledge. ISSN 9781003408536. doi: 10.4324/9781003408536-27. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Energy poverty can manifest itself in households unable, for reasons of access and/or affordability, to source clean energy for necessities such as heat, light, cooling, cooking, and appliance use, or having to use an excessive portion of their disposable income to provide these essentials. Developing more effective responses to this social challenge necessitates a deeper appreciation of energy poverty and the different ways in which it manifests. While there has been some arguing for the importance of appreciating the lived experience of the energy poor, much of the literature on energy poverty has tended to be quantitative in nature. Work within the EnergyMeasures project identified a gap between the macro- and meso-level analysis of energy poverty and the identification of individual energy poor households. Energy poverty is fundamentally a human condition. The various definitions of energy poverty speak of people being unable to access or afford sufficient energy to meet their basic service needs.

• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Bauwens, Thomas & Friant, Martin Callisto (2022). Challenging Dominant Sustainability Worldviews on the Energy Transition: Lessons from Indigenous Communities in Mexico and a plea for Pluriversal Technologies. World Development. ISSN 0305-750X. 150. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105725. Full text in Research Archive
• Herrejón, Paola Velasco & Savaresi, Annalisa (2022). Energy Justice, Indigenous People, and Benefit-Sharing. In Wood, Geoffrey; Gorski, Jedrzej & Mete, Gokce (Ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Social License to Operate and Energy Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783030747251. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-74725-1_8-1. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Bauwens, Thomas (2020). Energy justice from the bottom up: A capability approach to community acceptance of wind energy in Mexico. Energy Research & Social Science. ISSN 2214-6296. 70. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101711. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Savaresi, Annalisa (2020). Wind Energy, Benefit-Sharing and Indigenous Peoples: Lessons from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Southern Mexico. Oil, Gas and Energy Law (OGEL). 18. Full text in Research Archive

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• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Lennon, Breffni & Dunphy, Niall (2023). Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South. Routledge. ISBN 9781003408536. 312 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Inderberg, Tor Håkon Jackson (2026). Sosiale konsekvenser av vindkraft i Norge. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2025). Bridging Sustainability, Peace and Culture: Analyzing Community Dynamics and Well-being in Norway's Wind Energy Transition. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Paris Agreement identified renewable energy technologies (RETs) as essential to avoiding catastrophic climate change. Since 2010, the global electricity mix has rapidly evolved, with renewables as the fastest-growing source. However, ambitious renewable energy targets have significant social implications, particularly at the local level. To gain a holistic understanding of how these impacts occur, it’s important to understand the well-being implications of these impacts and how they may link to the politics of local approval of RETs. Norway has some of the best wind resources in Europe. Nonetheless, wind energy development has been contested and licensing has been revoked due to opposition from nature conservation groups, recreational activities, Sámi and local communities. This paper operationalises the Capability Approach to explore the challenges and trade-offs in evaluating well-being outcomes from wind energy. Specifically, the paper addresses the difficulties in understanding the voice of people living near wind energy infrastructure in Norway and how their conceptions of well-being can be used to estimate the impacts of wind energy development in two municipalities: one in Finnmark, on Sámi reindeer herders' land, and one in Østfold, near Oslo. This paper will expand on the description grounded approach used for the identification of capabilities from Alkire (2002, 2013), Clark (2003), Ibrahim (2008) and Uyan-Semerci (2007) among others to visualise the relationship between well-being and energy infrastructure projects. The research methodology involved a co-creation process with Sámi, Norwegian and other scholars leading to semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 59 participants in July and August 2024. Data shows that new wind power plans have heightened local polarization, affecting access to and perceptions of public deliberation processes. Findings emphasize the importance of inclusive community engagement that addresses information asymmetries, acknowledges historical land uses, and offers avenues for restorative justice, local employment, and nature protection. This paper contributes to a more compelling body of theory on the social impacts of wind energy by focusing on the recognition of valuable human capabilities, emphasizing locally defined priorities and perspectives. Additionally, it aligns with the conference's aim to explore avenues for creating spaces for deliberative public reasoning, addressing conflicts related to resource scarcity, particularly land. The participation of Indigenous authors is crucial for decolonizing knowledge and enhancing the cultural diversity and relevance of the research. We hope that this methodology will provide valuable insights for the configuration and implementation of future renewable energy projects that prioritize sustainability and social justice.

• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola; Viole, Isabelle; Venegas, Guillermo Andrés Valenzuela; Sartori, Sabrina & Zeyringer, Marianne (2025). Astronomy and energy justice in the Atacama Desert. In Mejía-Montero, Adolfo (Eds.), Energy Justice in Latin America. Routledge. ISSN 9781003492573. p. 181–197. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2024). Are energy transitions reproducing economic inequalities? Power, social stigma, and distributive (in)justice in Mexico. Full text in Research Archive
• Friant, Martin Callisto; Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Bauwens, Thomas (2023). Pluriversal Technologies: Innovation Inspired by Indigenous Worldviews. e-International relations. Full text in Research Archive
• Lennon, Breffni; Dunphy, Niall; Velasco-Herrejón, Paola & Quinlivan, Lauren Clare (2022). Shifting the Power Balance: community-led resistance and the shaping of local understandings of place. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2022). Who owns the wind?: Climate crisis and the hope of renewable energy. Journal of Agrarian Change. ISSN 1471-0358. Full text in Research Archive
• Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2022). Sustainability, Capabilities and Human Security: edited by Andrew Crabtree, Cham, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, pp. xiii+ 184. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. ISSN 1945-2829. Full text in Research Archive
• Kurland, Henny Fossnes; Zeyringer, Marianne & Velasco-Herrejón, Paola (2024). Local participation in practice : case studies of municipal decision-making on wind power in Båtsfjord and Aremark. Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet (NMBU). Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Wind power production in Norway has increased the last years. Simultaneously, the opposition to wind power has increased in several municipalities along with the development. This study aims to address how the local communities perceive their opportunities to participate in decision-making processes about wind energy in Norway, which concerns are connected to wind power in their municipality, and map who the participants are. This is done as case studies in the municipalities Aremark and Båtsfjord, using a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews to identify the perspectives. As opposed to other research found within this field, the focus in this research are the people in the municipalities without a particular position. The findings indicate concerns related to noise, destruction of nature and the municipalities’ benefits from hosting wind power. The perspectives on the opportunities to participate in the licensing process are split in the two municipalities, where the opportunities are perceived as better by the respondents from Båtsfjord than the respondents from Aremark. The actors are identified as the municipality board, NVE, the landowners and wind power developers. Whether or not the local community can be considered an actor is unclear. This thesis highlights the need for further discussion regarding the wind power licensing process in Norway to ensure better collaboration between the actors involved.

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