Making more of middles: advancing the middle-out perspective in energy system transformation
Social and technological innovations are commonly seen as either being induced from the ‘top-down’ – e.g., by policymakers – or evolving from the ‘bottom-up’ – e.g., by consumers. Instead, a ‘middle-out’ perspective (MOP) focuses on agents of change that are located in the middle, between the top and the bottom. Janda and Parag (2013) and Parag & Janda (2014) describe how middle actors include