Affordances for Sustainability: Applying Ecological Psychology to the Human Dimensions of Energy Transition

Global energy transitions demand not only technological innovation but also behavioral and cultural change. Existing research in social and environmental psychology has highlighted the roles of values, identity, symbolic meaning, and fairness in motivating sustainable action, yet these perspectives often emphasize cognitive deliberation. This manuscript introduces ecological psychology as a complementary framework, centering on the concept of affordances---directly perceived opportunities for action embedded in environments. By reframing energy behaviors as affordances, sustainability is understood as a perceptual and embodied interaction with everyday contexts rather than an abstract calculation. The paper synthesizes ecological foundations of perception, reciprocity, and dynamical systems theory with applied domains of energy efficiency, decarbonization, and policy acceptability. Case studies illustrate how smart meters, electric vehicles, and passive housing afford intuitive, meaningful, and socially resonant sustainable practices. Integrating ecological psychology with practice theory and socio-technical transition studies, the manuscript argues that successful energy transitions hinge on embedding sustainability into the perceptual fabric of daily life---making sustainable actions natural, desirable, and experientially compelling. This perspective advances both theory and practice by positioning affordances as a bridge between human experience and systemic change.