ABSTRACT
The social organization of water and energy provision and use has been undergoing radical change in Europe since the mid-1980s. Core components of this ongoing transformation process are the restructuring of utility markets, the reconfiguration of regulation, changes to consumption patterns and the advent of viable alternative technologies (Graham and Marvin, 2001; Guy et al, 2001; Coutard et al, 2005). All these dimensions of change to infrastructure systems have far-reaching implications for their governance. As the markets for utility services become more competitive, new actors emerge, services become more varied and consumers play an increasingly active role, the issue of how to govern these socio-technical networks so as to secure and maximize the multiple benefits they provide is proving highly challenging. This challenge is all the more pertinent given the key role which infrastructure systems, such as for water and energy, play in pursuing European Union (EU) and national policy goals to secure the supply of essential services at affordable prices, to minimize their impact on the environment, to protect the climate, and to act as a vehicle for technological innovation.
