Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Energy-SHIFTS (Energy Social sciences & Humanities Innovation Forum Targeting the SET-Plan)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-04-01 al 2021-07-31
The Energy-SHIFTS Forum has enhanced dialogue and cooperation between energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) stakeholders, to improve policy relating to the EU Energy Union. Our inclusive and engaging Forum – working with academia, policy, citizens, industry, NGOs, and media – facilitated collaborative knowledge generation and SSH-led debate on how energy challenges can be addressed through policies that place societal needs more centrally.
Energy-SHIFTS – “Energy Social sciences & Humanities Innovation Forum Targeting the SET-Plan” – responded to the latest phase of the EC’s support for energy-SSH research at the EU policy level. As is now widely recognised, rapid technological uptake is not the only factor in moving towards low-carbon energy systems. Critical social issues must be centrally considered from the earliest stages, including: democratic inclusion, burden-sharing, participation beyond niche groups, transformative governance, social acceptability, cultures, pervasive values, ethical responsibilities, etc. We also centrally involved EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) stakeholders (including industry) and a wide range of energy policy-facing roles.
Specifically, Energy-SHIFTS worked to:
o Inclusively broaden interactions (objective 1): by developing accessible guides to energy-SSH in EU policy and open databases of key individuals (WP1), through scoping workshops and masterclasses for key audiences (WP1/WP4), and via digital communications channels (WP5);
o Deepen interactions, based on SSH- and policy-led priorities (objectives 2 & 3): through expert SSH Working Groups with 100+ leading academics across 4 SET-Plan Topics (WP2), and via 1-1 policyworker-researcher dialogue on policy-led questions, across 90+ meetings (WP3);
o Evaluate novel collaboration mechanisms (objective 4): utilising SSH methods to implement and test novel interaction streams, e.g. Horizon Scanning (WP2), Fellowships (WP3);
o Collectively set future energy agendas (objective 5): using our SSH Priority Themes and research agendas from 4 Working Groups, we will work to directly inform future H2020/FP9 priorities, as well as the future of the SET-Plan itself.
This work has provided both reactive policy insights for the short-term and pro-active policy insights for the longer-term, thereby enabling evidence-based energy-SSH insights to successfully reach the ‘policy front line’. We involved 19,926+ stakeholders in our innovative activities (exceeding our target of 10,788+).
Energy-SHIFTS – “Energy Social sciences & Humanities Innovation Forum Targeting the SET-Plan” – responded to the latest phase of the EC’s support for energy-SSH research at the EU policy level. As is now widely recognised, rapid technological uptake is not the only factor in moving towards low-carbon energy systems. Critical social issues must be centrally considered from the earliest stages, including: democratic inclusion, burden-sharing, participation beyond niche groups, transformative governance, social acceptability, cultures, pervasive values, ethical responsibilities, etc. We also centrally involved EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) stakeholders (including industry) and a wide range of energy policy-facing roles.
Specifically, Energy-SHIFTS worked to:
o Inclusively broaden interactions (objective 1): by developing accessible guides to energy-SSH in EU policy and open databases of key individuals (WP1), through scoping workshops and masterclasses for key audiences (WP1/WP4), and via digital communications channels (WP5);
o Deepen interactions, based on SSH- and policy-led priorities (objectives 2 & 3): through expert SSH Working Groups with 100+ leading academics across 4 SET-Plan Topics (WP2), and via 1-1 policyworker-researcher dialogue on policy-led questions, across 90+ meetings (WP3);
o Evaluate novel collaboration mechanisms (objective 4): utilising SSH methods to implement and test novel interaction streams, e.g. Horizon Scanning (WP2), Fellowships (WP3);
o Collectively set future energy agendas (objective 5): using our SSH Priority Themes and research agendas from 4 Working Groups, we will work to directly inform future H2020/FP9 priorities, as well as the future of the SET-Plan itself.
This work has provided both reactive policy insights for the short-term and pro-active policy insights for the longer-term, thereby enabling evidence-based energy-SSH insights to successfully reach the ‘policy front line’. We involved 19,926+ stakeholders in our innovative activities (exceeding our target of 10,788+).
Over the first reporting report, the Energy-SHIFTS consortium completed WP1 on Scoping, which: created a new energy-SSH policyworker database; organised and ran four scoping workshops with a range of relevant stakeholders on SSH priority themes (social innovation, evidence in energy policy, inclusive engagement, carbon-intensive regions); published a collection of reports on the four aforementioned themes, covering both state-of-the-art SSH thinking following a literature review, and reflections on workshop discussions; as well as accessible guides to SSH in the SET-Plan and in the energy-focused European Technology & Innovation Platforms.
In the second reporting period, our core WPs 2 and 3 were completed:
- WP2 Working Groups: four steering groups coordinated four large-scale expert deliberation ('Horizon Scanning') exercises across Renewables/ Smart Consumption/ Energy Efficiency/ Transport & Mobility; thus each Group ran (i) 10 interviews with Working Group members, (ii) a widely disseminated Horizon Scan survey, (iii) two workshops bringing together 120+ Working Group members (i.e. 8 in total); each Group produced both a full report identifying '100 priority questions' for that topic, as well as an accompanying annotated bibliography.
- WP3 Policy Fellowships: 21 'Policy Fellows' (policyworkers) were matched to 86 'Policy Associates' (researchers) for 1-1 online meetings, centred on tangible policy challenges; Fellowships were grouped across 5 different thematic categories (Citizen Engagement, Behaviour Change, Social Acceptance, Just Transitions, Human Capital) with all Fellows/Associates from each group invited to an online workshop; each Fellow was supported in producing a full report on their discussions and the impacts of their Fellowship for their work.
In addition our evaluation WP4 involved: production of a legacy report; running four online Masterclasses for EU policyworkers, energy technologists, energy NGOs, and energy journalists and media; a full evaluation of our core activities (WP2/WP3); online citizen debates; and the production of EC-focused Horizon Europe recommendations.
We also undertook a range of communications activities, including for example: 35 blogs/news articles; 107 videos; ~1400 Twitter following; SET-Plan conference participation; final conference; 12 journal articles being drafted.
In the second reporting period, our core WPs 2 and 3 were completed:
- WP2 Working Groups: four steering groups coordinated four large-scale expert deliberation ('Horizon Scanning') exercises across Renewables/ Smart Consumption/ Energy Efficiency/ Transport & Mobility; thus each Group ran (i) 10 interviews with Working Group members, (ii) a widely disseminated Horizon Scan survey, (iii) two workshops bringing together 120+ Working Group members (i.e. 8 in total); each Group produced both a full report identifying '100 priority questions' for that topic, as well as an accompanying annotated bibliography.
- WP3 Policy Fellowships: 21 'Policy Fellows' (policyworkers) were matched to 86 'Policy Associates' (researchers) for 1-1 online meetings, centred on tangible policy challenges; Fellowships were grouped across 5 different thematic categories (Citizen Engagement, Behaviour Change, Social Acceptance, Just Transitions, Human Capital) with all Fellows/Associates from each group invited to an online workshop; each Fellow was supported in producing a full report on their discussions and the impacts of their Fellowship for their work.
In addition our evaluation WP4 involved: production of a legacy report; running four online Masterclasses for EU policyworkers, energy technologists, energy NGOs, and energy journalists and media; a full evaluation of our core activities (WP2/WP3); online citizen debates; and the production of EC-focused Horizon Europe recommendations.
We also undertook a range of communications activities, including for example: 35 blogs/news articles; 107 videos; ~1400 Twitter following; SET-Plan conference participation; final conference; 12 journal articles being drafted.
Energy-SHIFTS clearly moves beyond the mainstream way of supporting energy policies and policymaking, through how it fundamentally put SSH front and centre. It is clear that for many years energy policy(making) has been dominated by the more technical and natural science led energy research arenas, and thereby significantly neglect the social and human elements of the energy transition.
Moreover, when SSH has been considered, it is often viewed as a homogeneous mass of identical viewpoints, and as such is treated in the singular, rather than the plural. This matters when connecting energy-SSH research to energy policy(making), and Energy-SHIFTS is doing this through how it makes the divergences and differences amongst energy-SSH communities transparent in – and indeed implicit to – the recommendations it provides.
The core Work Packages 2 and 3 have had the following specific impacts:
- Work Package 2: involved four Horizon Scanning exercises (Renewables; Smart Consumption; Energy Efficiency; and Transport & Mobility) whereby around 400 energy-SSH scholars proposed priorities for the Horizon Europe framework programme, in order to support Green Deal ambitions. These exercises produced clear evidence - in the form of 4 Working Group reports detailing 100 priority questions each - to support future investment in e.g. in transformative governance, energy democracy, inequity and inequality, socio-ecological effects, power relations, engagement and trust, and unintended consequences in everyday life. During the project's life, the EU committed for SSH to be a formal ‘mainstreaming’ priority for Horizon Europe, with Energy-SHIFTS showcased within EU policy institutions as an “example of success in justifying the need to prioritise SSH”.
- Work Package 3: saw 19 Policy Fellowships undertaken within policy-facing institutions across Europe. The programme had the numerous tangible impacts, including some of the following examples: Social input into technological energy forecasting (French energy agency); Increasing public participation mechanisms (Israeli Ministry of Energy); Redefining a core policy goal: ‘Eradicate Energy Poverty’ (City of Niš, Serbia); Integrating social narratives into models (Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources); Facilitating a national Citizen Assembly process (Dutch Citizen Assembly for Climate); Changing language to reject the NIMBY concept (wind energy in Norway); Zooming in on local contextual knowledge (Spanish Energy and Climate strategies).
Moreover, when SSH has been considered, it is often viewed as a homogeneous mass of identical viewpoints, and as such is treated in the singular, rather than the plural. This matters when connecting energy-SSH research to energy policy(making), and Energy-SHIFTS is doing this through how it makes the divergences and differences amongst energy-SSH communities transparent in – and indeed implicit to – the recommendations it provides.
The core Work Packages 2 and 3 have had the following specific impacts:
- Work Package 2: involved four Horizon Scanning exercises (Renewables; Smart Consumption; Energy Efficiency; and Transport & Mobility) whereby around 400 energy-SSH scholars proposed priorities for the Horizon Europe framework programme, in order to support Green Deal ambitions. These exercises produced clear evidence - in the form of 4 Working Group reports detailing 100 priority questions each - to support future investment in e.g. in transformative governance, energy democracy, inequity and inequality, socio-ecological effects, power relations, engagement and trust, and unintended consequences in everyday life. During the project's life, the EU committed for SSH to be a formal ‘mainstreaming’ priority for Horizon Europe, with Energy-SHIFTS showcased within EU policy institutions as an “example of success in justifying the need to prioritise SSH”.
- Work Package 3: saw 19 Policy Fellowships undertaken within policy-facing institutions across Europe. The programme had the numerous tangible impacts, including some of the following examples: Social input into technological energy forecasting (French energy agency); Increasing public participation mechanisms (Israeli Ministry of Energy); Redefining a core policy goal: ‘Eradicate Energy Poverty’ (City of Niš, Serbia); Integrating social narratives into models (Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources); Facilitating a national Citizen Assembly process (Dutch Citizen Assembly for Climate); Changing language to reject the NIMBY concept (wind energy in Norway); Zooming in on local contextual knowledge (Spanish Energy and Climate strategies).