Understanding and evaluating operator engagement ethos and practices: Examples from the UK Deep Geothermal Sector

Understanding and evaluating operator engagement ethos and practices: Examples from the UK Deep Geothermal Sector | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Understanding and evaluating operator engagement ethos and practices: Examples from the UK Deep Geothermal Sector Stacia Ryder, Melanie Rohse, Corinna Abesser This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5319246/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Energy, Sustainability and Society → Version 2 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Background To be fair and inclusive, a net zero transition must combine technological roll out with enabling communities to be part of energy decision-making. Whilst participation in the energy system can take many forms, the siting and implementation of renewable energy infrastructure is one area with great potential for improving fairness and inclusivity. In the UK, one nascent renewable energy technology is geothermal energy. The purpose of our study is to understand how the geothermal industry is approaching engagement, in a nation where little geothermal development or research on the industry’s engagement practices has occurred. Results Using qualitative interviews at three geothermal energy sites, we uncover how UK geothermal energy operators seemingly hold an ethos characterized by honesty, trust, and relationship-building. We find that this ethos underpins good practices of community engagement, such as approachability, accessibility, flexibility, and two-way communication with communities. We also observe how operators are proactive in their engagement activities and responsive to queries from local communities. This denotes a commitment to engagement, which local communities value. Conclusions Our results provide early analysis of engagement practices in the UK geothermal industry and offer a model for good practice in community engagement around geothermal energy. Guided by an ethics of care towards communities, operators can routinely go beyond the minimal requirements of planning regarding engagement. This allows them to listen to communities’ concerns and act on them, and maintain a dialogue between different stakeholders. There is a need for policy instruments to support this and formalize higher requirements for engagement in energy projects. Community engagement operator rationale and motivations ethics of care trust community perceptions social acceptance public participation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementarymaterialinterviewguides.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 19 Feb, 2026 Read the published version in Energy, Sustainability and Society → Version 2 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 06 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 28 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 16 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5319246","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":560725269,"identity":"bc7e8c75-d9d7-11f0-907b-06cc9d20a69f","order_by":0,"name":"Stacia Ryder","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Utah State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stacia","middleName":"","lastName":"Ryder","suffix":""},{"id":560725331,"identity":"c420d5be-d9d7-11f0-907b-06cc9d20a69f","order_by":1,"name":"Melanie Rohse","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA90lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5gYGBgMQgweIK+DCCXi0MCJrOUO0FgaoFsY2IrTotjc2fi4osGEwb+89/OHjPLt8gwPMDz8wtqXh1GJ25mCz9AyDNAaZM+fSJGduS7bccIDNWIKxLQe3lhuJDdI8BocZJCRyzJh5tzEbGBxgMAO6sAK3lvsPm3/zGPwHaTH+/HdOPVAL+zf8Wm4wtgFtOQDSYiDN2HAYqIUHZAseh51JbLPmMUjmkeA5YybZc+y4geRhnmKJhHN4vH/88OHbPH/s5CTYe4w//KipNuA73r7xw4eyZJxaYIAHwWRmwB+Ro2AUjIJRMAoIAwBUNE0UW8/C8QAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Melanie","middleName":"","lastName":"Rohse","suffix":""},{"id":560725382,"identity":"cc1e65dc-d9d7-11f0-907b-06cc9d20a69f","order_by":2,"name":"Corinna Abesser","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"British Geological Survey","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Corinna","middleName":"","lastName":"Abesser","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-23 13:23:08","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5319246/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5319246/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-026-00566-y","type":"published","date":"2026-02-19T15:59:27+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103252149,"identity":"5290fadd-ee2b-4736-9798-e50cec87a0f6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-23 16:13:07","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":548059,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Finalversion.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5319246/v2_covered_b3e3e1a2-79c6-44ab-8576-8238604f781b.pdf"},{"id":98251124,"identity":"172e73a5-5a64-4db8-a474-61521766c5fd","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-15 17:04:50","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":27848,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplementarymaterialinterviewguides.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5319246/v2/80a3be91a0a6a82ae29a38a3.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Understanding and evaluating operator engagement ethos and practices: Examples from the UK Deep Geothermal Sector","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"energy-sustainability-and-society","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"esso","sideBox":"Learn more about [Energy, Sustainability and Society](https://energsustainsoc.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13705","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13705/3","title":"Energy, Sustainability and Society","twitterHandle":"@OpenEnviron","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Community engagement, operator rationale and motivations, ethics of care, trust, community perceptions, social acceptance, public participation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5319246/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5319246/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo be fair and inclusive, a net zero transition must combine technological roll out with enabling communities to be part of energy decision-making. 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