Abstract

HERNANDO ARRESE, Maite  and  BLANCO WELLS, Gustavo. Territory and Non-Conventional Renewable Energy: Lessons for the Construction of Public Policy from the Case of Rukatayo Alto, Region of Los Ríos, Chile. Gest. polít. pública [online]. 2016, vol.25, n.1, pp.165-202. ISSN 1405-1079.

This paper examines the conflictive nature of the process of localizing Non-Conventional Renewable Energy Projects (NCRE) in Chile, through an analysis of the territorial transformations generated by a group of neoliberal policies that have been implemented in the last three decades. It identifies the key role of Climate Change as an international policy object, since mitigation strategies have given way to the development of NCRE projects. The case of Rukatayo Alto, constructed ethnographically and from a local history perspective, illustrates the impacts that these policies bring about on a territory of Southern Chile that is inhabited by rural and indigenous population. The paper suggests that, considering the fact of the social resistance originated by energy projects, it is urgent to broaden the incidence of territorial agents on decision making processes that affect them; and that the concept of "territorialization" of policies should be preferred than that of "localization"

Keywords : energy policy; renewable energy resources; water management; territorialization.