Luc van Summeren

My ambition is to contribute to just sustainability transitions by bridging the gap between theory and practice in both my research and teaching activities. 

Through various action-oriented research projects, we collaborate with practitioners to learn together about promising socio-technical innovations in different contexts. This provides insights into barriers, opportunities, and strategies for local embedding and upscaling. 

My research focuses on local energy transitions, with particular attention to the roles of end-users, energy communities, and municipalities. My attention furthermore goes to integrations of and interactions between socio-technical systems, such as the use of digital technology for local energy management by energy communities and the local integration of heat and electricity. 

In my teaching, I also strive to bridge theory and practice. I aim to educate transition makers with a systems perspective, an understanding of transition processes, and a sense of justice. My teaching activities are part of the Sustainable Innovation (Bachelor), Sustainability Transitions Track of Innovation Management (Master) en Sustainable Energy Technology (Master) programs. An example of bridging theory and practice within my teaching is the bachelor course "Managing Sustainable Technology Challenges in Society", in which students are presented with real-world challenges by alumni. Students then use transition theories and concepts to investigate the underlying problems and propose solutions.

My cartoons and drawings also play an important role in bridging theory and practice. As an employee at DuneWorks, I discovered the power of cartoons and storytelling to communicate research findings to practitioners. A report developed by my colleagues at DuneWorks, known as 'The Monster,' was a significant inspiration. Within this report, theoretical analysis was accompanied by cartoons and storytelling. This inspired me to translate my master's thesis research results into cartoons, which I used for my poster presentation at the World Sustainable Energy Days 2014. The cartoons on my poster attracted much attention, motivating me to continue drawing cartoons, first at DuneWorks and later at the TU/e. Over the years, my cartoons have been used in scientific reports, webinars, newsletters, communication with energy cooperative members, and other forms of science communication.

Ultimately, I decided to create a personal website to share my cartoons more widely, allowing others to use them in their mission to contribute to just and sustainable transitions.