Open Access

The German energy system is under transformation. The so-called Energiewende (in English, Energy turn) relies, among other things, on renewable energies for building a more sustainable energy system. Regions (Landkreise) are one relevant level where different administrative bodies make decisions and plans both for the implementation and for the use of renewable energies. However, in order to realize the goals of the Energiewende, developments in the wider society are necessary. This is why, scientific research can and should foster such developments with more research on the social aspects of energy-related topics. The present work contributes to the understanding of transition processes towards a sustainable use of regional renewable energy by focusing on the role of contextual conditions, practical experiences, and temporal dynamics in the implementation and use of renewable energy in German regions. In this way, this work wants to contribute fostering the development of regional energy transition strategies for the realization of the Energiewende. The conceptual background for this piece of transformation research lies in three bodies of literature dealing respectively with transitions of socio-technical systems, transformations of socioecological systems, and time ecology. From a critical engagement with this literature, three main results have emerged. First, an evidence-based, spatially distinct analysis of contextual conditions for the use of renewable energy in all German regions has resulted in the identification of nine types of regions, so-called energy context types. Second, empirical research on practices in regional settings learned from the knowhow of actors from regional administration has shown that political and economic conditions are crucial as well as that process management, exchange, and learning are helpful for renewable energy implementation. Third, conceptual work about a deeper understanding of the temporal dimensions of transformation processes has made it possible to point out a three-step approach to include temporal dynamics into sustainability transformations management - the time-in-transformations-approach. The literature suggests that regions need to be treated individually; but developing an energy transition strategy for each region individually would be extremely resource intensive. Overall, my work outlines a compromise for a more efficient approach towards regional energy transition strategies which still considers the individuality of regions. As a result, I suggest to develop generic regional energy transition strategies that are adapted to each of the nine energy context types of German regions, that include the experiences of practitioners, and that consider temporal dynamics of transformation processes. Transdisciplinary research is a promising approach to meet many of the challenges for the realization of the Energiewende. A transdisciplinary steering board on the national level could create generic regional energy transition strategies that guide the energy transition and give clear goals and orientation for the realization of policies on the lower levels. On the regional level, these strategies would need to be adapted with regard to each region´s situation. Relying on the results of my research, I conclude that this could also be informed through transdisciplinary processes.

Research on motivational and cognitive processes in entrepreneurship has commonly relied on a static approach, investigating entrepreneurs´ motivation and cognition at only one point in time. However, entrepreneurs´ motivation and cognition are dynamic processes that considerably change over time. The goal of this dissertation is thus to adopt a dynamic perspective on motivational and cognitive processes in entrepreneurship. In three different chapters, I examine dynamic changes in the level and impact of three different processes, i.e., creativity, entrepreneurial passion, and opportunity identification. In Chapter 2, I develop a theoretical model on the alternating role of creativity in the course of the entrepreneurial process. The model emphasizes that the effects of two components underlying creativity, i.e., divergent and convergent thinking, considerably change both in magnitude and in direction throughout the entrepreneurial process. In Chapter 3, I establish and empirically test a theoretical model on entrepreneurial passion. The theoretical analysis and empirical results show that the relationships between feelings of entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial success are dynamic and reciprocal rather than static and unidirectional. In Chapter 4, I develop and test a theoretical model on the effect of entrepreneurship training on opportunity identification over time. The theoretical and empirical investigation indicates that entrepreneurship training effects systematically decay over time and that action planning and entrepreneurial action sustain the effects in the long term. Altogether, the research reported in this dissertation provides novel insights into entrepreneurs´ motivation and cognition which more static approaches would have obscured. Moreover, the theoretical and empirical results of each chapter resolve apparent contradictions in past research and integrate hitherto fragmented theoretical perspectives into more inclusive theoretical frameworks. Thereby, this dissertation represents an important step toward a more integrated understanding of motivational and cognitive mechanisms underlying successful entrepreneurship.