The first year of the project saw a significant number of activities, which included:
• A deliberative academic workshop where high profile scholars discussed the foundations of a European strategic research agenda for energy-SSH. A key output was the SHAPE ENERGY lexicon which compared and contrasted definitions for 20 energy-related phrases, primarily drawn from the Social Sciences and Humanities.
• Four annotated bibliographies highlighting for non-experts the diversity of energy-SSH research of relevance to Europe across the four SHAPE ENERGY research topics: (1) Energy efficiency and using less; (2) Competitive, secure, low-carbon energy supply; (3) Energy system optimisation and smart technologies; and (4) Transport decarbonisation.
• An online energy-SSH researcher database, listing key details of over 550 European energy-SSH researchers, which is still growing.
• Four reports on energy-SSH themes: (1) Energy and gender; (2) Energy and multi-stakeholder interests; (3) Energy justice; and (4) Energy and the active consumer. The core of each report is centred around a review of research, which then provides the basis for each report’s recommendations to the European Commission, other EU projects/platforms, and SHAPE ENERGY itself.
• A solutions workshop at the eceee summer study 2017, launching the Platform to a wider audience.
• An open Call for Evidence which aimed at identifying current understandings of and future priorities for energy research from policy, industry, NGOs and academia.
The second, and final year, of the SHAPE ENERGY Platform saw again a large number of activities and outputs, feeding into the evaluation phase of the project. Activities in the second year included:
• The implementation of the H2020 ‘sandpits’, with over 70 attendees from 35+ H2020 project.
• A further 13 city workshops on local energy needs taking place February-May 2018, in: Ankara, Belgrade, Brasov, Chisinau, Granada, Grand Lyon, Heidelberg, Lisbon, Skopje, Sofia, Trondheim, Utrecht and Zlin.
• The full production of 13 ‘Research Design Challenge’ essays, together with an editorial. This challenge contained three sub-challenges framed as social science research problems on energy relating to control, change and capacity-building in energy systems. Authorship teams each comprised at least 2 researchers from at least 2 European countries.
• The full production of 10 ‘think pieces’. These interdisciplinary and cross-European contributions explored, critiqued and showcased the ways that different disciplinary approaches can (and should be) integrated for the betterment of future EU energy policy. Authorship teams each comprised at least 3 researchers from at least 2 European countries, covering at least 3 SSH disciplines.
• A final pan-European conference in Brussels in January 2019. This event was the occasion to unveil and debate on the final results of this project to several hundred senior stakeholders, including European and national policymakers, business representatives, civil society, STEM and SSH communities’ representatives, press and media. SHAPE ENERGY presented its own 2020-2030 Research and Innovation Agenda, and was the focal point of the debate, allowing for SHAPE ENERGY to highlight a concise vision for the future which builds on the findings of the project.
Throughout this work, the Platform developed an active and engaging communications stream.
