Civil servants as intermediaries contextualizing policy for sustainable energy transitions
Doctoral thesis, 2026
Climate change requires fundamental transformations in how energy is produced and used. While technological developments on the supply side are critical, meaningful progress also depends on everyday decisions citizens make in their homes – whether in consumption patterns or investments in low-carbon technologies. To support such decisions, policy plays a crucial role in accounting for differences in citizens’ motivations, knowledge, resources, and contextual barriers that make individual action difficult. Public energy advising is one key informational policy instrument, in which civil servants contextualize the broad policy mission of reducing environmental impact of energy use by guiding citizens through technological and behavioral measures. However, the effectiveness of this instrument depends not only on its formal design but on how civil servants interpret and contextualize these missions in practice – an aspect that remains insufficiently understood.
This thesis explains how civil servants facilitate sustainable energy transitions when contextualizing policy missions. Conceptualizing them as public intermediaries, it investigates how they enact their mission and contribute to broader ecologies of intermediation. Empirically, it examines Sweden’s public energy advising program through a mixed-methods design combining document analysis, interviews, and surveys.
The findings show that civil servants make sustainable energy transitions tangible for citizens through locally adapted activities, balancing top-down governance with bottom-up needs to build trust and relevance. Their agency enables them to shape systemic conditions, creating interactions, capacities, and knowledge infrastructures through outreach, network-building, and policy feedback – when granted flexibility to do so. Situated within ecologies of intermediation, they complement private actors by offering commercially independent, broad, and context-specific support. Yet current missions emphasize technological measures over behavioral change, limiting the reach of energy advising mainly to homeowners able to invest in new technologies. To ensure just and inclusive energy transitions, policymakers must integrate sufficiency and demand reduction into civil servants’ missions. Overall, the thesis demonstrates that civil servants play a strategic role in empowering citizens and translating policy ambition into everyday action.
This thesis explains how civil servants facilitate sustainable energy transitions when contextualizing policy missions. Conceptualizing them as public intermediaries, it investigates how they enact their mission and contribute to broader ecologies of intermediation. Empirically, it examines Sweden’s public energy advising program through a mixed-methods design combining document analysis, interviews, and surveys.
The findings show that civil servants make sustainable energy transitions tangible for citizens through locally adapted activities, balancing top-down governance with bottom-up needs to build trust and relevance. Their agency enables them to shape systemic conditions, creating interactions, capacities, and knowledge infrastructures through outreach, network-building, and policy feedback – when granted flexibility to do so. Situated within ecologies of intermediation, they complement private actors by offering commercially independent, broad, and context-specific support. Yet current missions emphasize technological measures over behavioral change, limiting the reach of energy advising mainly to homeowners able to invest in new technologies. To ensure just and inclusive energy transitions, policymakers must integrate sufficiency and demand reduction into civil servants’ missions. Overall, the thesis demonstrates that civil servants play a strategic role in empowering citizens and translating policy ambition into everyday action.
intermediaries
civil servants
energy transitions
mixed methods
contextualization
energy advising
agency
policy
Vasa B, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8
Opponent: Professor Sampsa Hyysalo, Aalto University, Finland
Author
Lisa Bastås
Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Innovation and R&D Management 00
The role of public energy advising in sustainability transitions– empirical evidence from Sweden
Energy Policy,;Vol. 177(2023)
Journal article
Agency of institutional intermediaries in transitions: A study of influences on intermediary practices
Technological Forecasting and Social Change,;Vol. 217(2025)
Journal article
Comparing public and private intermediaries co-existing in ecologies of intermediation
Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions,;Vol. 56(2025)
Journal article
Bastås, L., Cardol, H. & Lantz, B. (2026). Assessing the demand-side of intermediation support in solar PV adoption.
Hur tjänstepersoner översätter klimatpolitik till energiåtgärder i vardagen
För att nå klimatmålen krävs stora förändringar i hur energi används – och många viktiga beslut fattas i våra hem. Det handlar om hur vi värmer våra bostäder, använder el och om vi investerar i klimatsmart teknik. Men hushåll har olika kunskap, ekonomiska förutsättningar och vardagliga hinder som påverkar vad de kan göra. Därför behövs stöd som möter människor faktiska situationer. Här spelar offentligt anställda tjänstepersoner en viktig roll: de översätter nationella energi- och klimatmål till råd som fungerar i vardagen.
Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur detta går till, med fokus på Sveriges kommunala energi- och klimatrådgivning. Genom dokumentstudier, intervjuer och enkäter visar avhandlingen hur tjänstepersoner hjälper människor att hitta rätt i ett ofta snårigt landskap av klimatåtgärder – från solceller och värmepumpar till mindre beteendeförändringar. De gör detta genom att utgå från medborgarnas förutsättningar och ge opartisk vägledning. De påverkar också energisystemet i stort genom att knyta samman lokala aktörer, sprida kunskap och föra vidare lokala behov till beslutsfattare.
Samtidigt är tjänstepersonernas uppdrag ofta inriktade på tekniska lösningar och hushåll som har råd att göra stora investeringar. För att fler ska kunna delta i energiomställningen behöver tjänstepersoner ett tydligare mandat att främja beteendeförändringar och en mer resurssnål livsstil. Sammantaget visar avhandlingen att tjänstepersoner spelar en viktig roll i att göra energiomställningen begriplig, tillgänglig och möjlig för människor i deras vardag.
För att nå klimatmålen krävs stora förändringar i hur energi används – och många viktiga beslut fattas i våra hem. Det handlar om hur vi värmer våra bostäder, använder el och om vi investerar i klimatsmart teknik. Men hushåll har olika kunskap, ekonomiska förutsättningar och vardagliga hinder som påverkar vad de kan göra. Därför behövs stöd som möter människor faktiska situationer. Här spelar offentligt anställda tjänstepersoner en viktig roll: de översätter nationella energi- och klimatmål till råd som fungerar i vardagen.
Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur detta går till, med fokus på Sveriges kommunala energi- och klimatrådgivning. Genom dokumentstudier, intervjuer och enkäter visar avhandlingen hur tjänstepersoner hjälper människor att hitta rätt i ett ofta snårigt landskap av klimatåtgärder – från solceller och värmepumpar till mindre beteendeförändringar. De gör detta genom att utgå från medborgarnas förutsättningar och ge opartisk vägledning. De påverkar också energisystemet i stort genom att knyta samman lokala aktörer, sprida kunskap och föra vidare lokala behov till beslutsfattare.
Samtidigt är tjänstepersonernas uppdrag ofta inriktade på tekniska lösningar och hushåll som har råd att göra stora investeringar. För att fler ska kunna delta i energiomställningen behöver tjänstepersoner ett tydligare mandat att främja beteendeförändringar och en mer resurssnål livsstil. Sammantaget visar avhandlingen att tjänstepersoner spelar en viktig roll i att göra energiomställningen begriplig, tillgänglig och möjlig för människor i deras vardag.
How civil servants contextualize national energy goals to local settings
Meeting climate targets demands major changes in how energy is used and produced – and many important decisions are made at home: how we heat our houses, use electricity, and whether we should invest in low-carbon technologies. But households differ. People have different motivations, finances, housing types, and everyday constraints. To support citizens “on the ground”, governments are employing civil servants to turn national climate and energy goals into practical advice that fits real-life situations.
This thesis investigates how civil servants contextualize policy, examining Sweden’s public energy advising program. Using documents, interviews, and surveys, it shows how civil servants help people navigate complex decisions – from solar panels and heat pumps to smaller day-to-day behavioral changes – by departing from citizens’ situations and providing impartial guidance. They also influence the broader system by connecting actors, sharing knowledge, and feeding citizens’ needs back to policymakers.
At the same time, civil servants’ assignments often focus on technological solutions and on homeowners who can afford major investments. To support more just and inclusive transitions, civil servants need a clearer mandate to promote behavioral change and energy sufficiency. Overall, the thesis shows that civil servants play a key role in making sustainable energy transitions understandable, accessible, and relevant to the everyday lives of citizens.
Meeting climate targets demands major changes in how energy is used and produced – and many important decisions are made at home: how we heat our houses, use electricity, and whether we should invest in low-carbon technologies. But households differ. People have different motivations, finances, housing types, and everyday constraints. To support citizens “on the ground”, governments are employing civil servants to turn national climate and energy goals into practical advice that fits real-life situations.
This thesis investigates how civil servants contextualize policy, examining Sweden’s public energy advising program. Using documents, interviews, and surveys, it shows how civil servants help people navigate complex decisions – from solar panels and heat pumps to smaller day-to-day behavioral changes – by departing from citizens’ situations and providing impartial guidance. They also influence the broader system by connecting actors, sharing knowledge, and feeding citizens’ needs back to policymakers.
At the same time, civil servants’ assignments often focus on technological solutions and on homeowners who can afford major investments. To support more just and inclusive transitions, civil servants need a clearer mandate to promote behavioral change and energy sufficiency. Overall, the thesis shows that civil servants play a key role in making sustainable energy transitions understandable, accessible, and relevant to the everyday lives of citizens.
Public energy advising as a policy instrument for large-scale diffusion of solar photovoltaics – a study of the Swedish municipal energy and climate advising
Swedish Energy Agency (49379-1), 2020-11-01 -- 2025-08-01.
Chalmers, 2025-01-01 -- 2026-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Public Administration Studies
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Driving Forces
Sustainable development
Areas of Advance
Energy
DOI
10.63959/chalmers.dt/5833
ISBN
978-91-8103-376-2
Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 5833
Publisher
Chalmers