Tobias Gandrup

Development dynamics, power relations, organizational forms, the green transition, local anchoring of renewable energy systems, citizen-run grocery stores

I have a broad interest in development dynamics, both internationally and in Denmark. This interest comes from a fundamental curiosity about how people experience and relate to political, economic and social transformations. These are themes I find particularly interesting to study in areas where the state or market actors have rolled back.

Using an ethnographic approach - that is, examining human action and dynamics with qualitative methods in the contexts in which they take place - my research focuses on how people organize themselves and the ideas and ideals they organize according to. I try to unfold the structural constraints and opportunities for local behavior.

In my current research project, I use this approach to understand existing positive examples of locally organized renewable energy installations that are anchored in local communities. I do so with the hope that we can learn from these in order to spread new perspectives on how renewable energy systems can create locally meaningful value. So that the value created through these installations is not extracted from local communities, but rather contributes to them.

In addition to presenting my research to other peers at international conferences, it is important for me to communicate with the people who live on the front line of the green transition in Danish rural areas. In other words, it is crucial to me that my research has practical relevance for the actors involved.