The SHAPE ENERGY Lexicon - interpreting energy-related social sciences and humanities terminology

Words help shape energy debates and thereby actively contribute to the direction of energy research and energy policy. Yet, words are used very differently across, and also within, different energy research communities, as well as different sectors (business, policy, media, etc.). This SHAPE ENERGY Lexicon aims to explore and illustrate such differences, through comparing and contrasting definitions for 20 energyrelated keywords and phrases, primarily drawn from the Social Sciences and Humanities. The range of definitions found within this SHAPE ENERGY Lexicon were sourced from an interdisciplinary group of leading European energy scholars that we brought together in a workshop in Cambridge (UK) on 24 February 2017

The SHAPE ENERGY academic workshop - current landscapes and future directions for European energy research

This deliberative academic workshop brought together high profile scholars to discuss the foundations of a European strategic research agenda for SSH in the energy field. Together with other extensive scoping activities, findings from this workshop will directly shape the organisation of upcoming SHAPE ENERGY activities and project outputs. It was organised within the first month of the project (February 2017) and has already led to some of the earliest project outputs, including a report feeding into the framing of calls within the next Horizon 2020 energy work programme and the SHAPE ENERGY Lexicon

Transport sector decarbonisation - a social sciences and humanities annotated bibliography

The challenge: * By 2014, transport had overtaken power companies as the sector with the highest carbon emissions across the European Union (EU). * From 1990 to 2014, EU road transport emissions rose by 17% and aviation emissions by 82%. Road transport accounted for 70% of EU transport emissions in 2014. Aim: * European energy policy has so far mainly relied on research from Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) have been significantly underrepresented. This bibliography provides a broad overview of SSH perspectives on transport decarbonisation. It is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather aimed at presenting initial insights into the variety of questions posed, areas explored, and methods used by SSH scholars and demonstrating their relevance for EU energy policy. Coverage: * This bibliography presents publications from History, Human Geography, Sociology, Urban Planning, Political Science, Psychology, Anthropology, Theology, Economics, Philosophy and Ethics, Criminology, as well as intersectional disciplines such as Transport, Tourism, and Gender studies. * In order to better represent SSH debates, some transport publications which were of wider relevance to decarbonisation (but did not solely focus on it) were included. Key findings: * Much research concerns technological fixes and individual consumer choices. Consumer research tends to focus on attitudes towards technologies or policies, what determines transport mode preference, or what might prompt mode shift. There is less research on institutional and systemic issues, as well as the role of corporations. * Since the 1990s, the so-called ‘Mobilities turn’ has become dominant, associated with Miriam Sheller, John Urry, Tim Cresswell and Marc Augé. This paradigm emphasises the role of travel, globalisation and movement for our contemporary world. * A large volume of research was found on the car (including electric cars), cycling, commuting, and short distance urban travel. * Underrepresented topics include rural mobility, long distance travel, and shipping and freight. Walking has received far less decarbonisation focused enquiry than cycling. * Whilst not all EU research could be represented, intra-EU differences were noted: e.g. the greater importance of two wheelers in Latvia; how more children to walk to school in Eastern European countries; the renaissance of the tram in France; and the large proportion of urban Finns frequently driving to their rural second home. * Across the span of SSH, researchers frame the problem of transport decarbonisation differently (both from each other, and from more technical disciplines). These framings often point towards different solutions. For instance, they ask: what is the effect of technological, demographic and economic trends on transport emissions?; why do policymakers/scholars focus on certain transport solutions over others?; how do transport modes ‘compete’?; how does the meaning of transport change over time?; and why do we travel

Energy & the active consumer - a social sciences and humanities cross-cutting theme report

The active participation of energy consumers is regarded as essential for the effective roll-out and development of a wide range of smart energy technologies, micro-generation and energy demand policies. As such, the ‘active consumer’ has become a focus of European Union energy policy in recent years. Accordingly, and as an output of the SHAPE ENERGY project, this report has two aims: • to present and offer guidance for interested parties on different Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) options for examining active consumers, including suggesting how particular SSH approaches might shape the direction of energy research and findings; and • to examine options for the integration of different SSH disciplinary approaches to the active consumer, as well as considering the implications of such integrations for future energy research. While recognising multiple understandings of active consumers and their energy consumption, we adopt a broad definition. Specifically, active (energy) consumption encompasses a level of participation by consumers in the purchase or use of products and services, which thereby reflects some agency on the consumers’ part and/or is itself influential in how products and services are used and designed. This can include consumer feedback, and the use and appropriation of goods and services which go beyond that intended by providers/manufactures and can affect future design considerations. Drawing on an extensive review of the literature, we establish some of the key characteristics of how active consumers and their energy demand are conceptualised in SSH, both implicitly and explicitly. Specifically, we divide SSH approaches by their most common features into: • Individualised approaches, which focus on answering what shapes individual decisions/actions towards energy consumption; and • Relational Societal approaches, which focus on energy consumption as part of an evolving and interdependent relationship with society. The application of either approach will carry different implications for research on the active consumer in relation to potential energy research problems (such as smart technology participation). In particular, there are questions over whether research can be restricted or improved by either greater interdependency and inclusion of societal elements, as per the Relational Societal approaches; or by direct (often linear) modelling of active consumers, as per the Individualised approaches. We argue that Relational Societal, while more complex, offer a deeper understanding of dynamic and widespread change. In contrast, Individualised offer greater conceptual simplicity, but appear vulnerable on explanations of how consumption is shaped and changed. Recognising these fundamental differences is essential for researchers and project funders when considering which SSH approaches might best serve the development of energy interventions - this is especially important as the dominant STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) agenda would typically favour Individualised approaches. With interdisciplinarity being a key aspiration of SHAPE ENERGY and indeed of Horizon 2020 energy work programmes, we also consider options for integrating the two approaches. We recognise that integration attempts need to be cautious of paradigmatic differences that can make certain forms of integration unworkable. On the basis of all this, we present recommendations, including to the Commission concerning future EU research funding, to those interested in or working on interdisciplinary energy research projects and platforms, and to fellow SHAPE ENERGY partners on the organisation of our Platform’s activities. Across all of these recommendations, we have prioritised: the importance of including SSH approaches in research on energy consumption; the need to acknowledge the relevance to energy consumption research of previously neglected Relational Societal approaches; and the need to be critical when considering interdisciplinary approaches to studying the active consumer

Editorial - four social sciences and humanities cross-cutting theme reports

The four SHAPE ENERGY Cross-cutting theme reports aim to provide accessible overviews of seminal and recent research on four salient energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) themes: (1) Energy and gender; (2) Energy and multi-stakeholder interests; (3) Energy justice; and (4) Energy and the active consumer. Energy-SSH disciplines have been under-utilised by policymakers, in the European context and beyond, in spite of their considerable potential. To assist in bringing the usefulness of such energy-SSH perspectives to the fore, the core of each report is centred around a review of seminal and recent research relating to each theme, which then provides the basis for each report’s recommendations to the European Commission, other EU projects and platforms, and indeed our SHAPE ENERGY project partners. Each report thus includes a 1-page Executive Summary, and 1-page Recommendations page, which can be treated as stand-alone resources

Headline reflections - SHAPE ENERGY Call for Evidence

SHAPE ENERGY launched an open Call for Evidence over April-July 2017 aimed at identifying current understandings of and future priorities for energy research from a wide range of researchers and other stakeholders including those from policy, industry, NGOs and beyond. Questions included a focus on the use of energy-related Social Science and Humanities in energy policy. This was an important mechanism to seek broader input into our work at the start of the Platform, and new perspectives on the problems and solutions SHAPE ENERGY will consider. This is now being published as a complete set of evidence submitted, together with headline reflections on the results, which will feed into construction of the SHAPE ENERGY Research & Innovation Agenda 2020-2030 as well as the implementation of other upcoming Platform activities

Social responsibility in research and innovation practice and policy across global regions, institutional types, and fields:Interview data and qualitative content analysis outputs revealing the perspectives and experiences of professionals

The European Commission-funded RRING (Responsible Research and Innovation Networked Globally) Horizon 2020 project aimed to deliver activities that promoted a global understanding of Socially Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). A necessary first step in this process was to understand how researchers (working across Global North and Global South contexts) implicitly understand and operationalise ideas relating to social responsibility within their day-to-day work. Here, we describe an empirical dataset that was gathered as part of the RRING project to investigate this topic. This Data Note explains the design and implementation of 113 structured qualitative interviews with a geographically diverse set of researchers (across 17 countries) focusing on their perspectives and experiences. Sample selection was aimed at maximising diversity. As well as spanning all five UNESCO world regions, these interview participants were drawn from a range of research fields (including energy; waste management; ICT/digital; bioeconomy) and institutional contexts (including research performing organisations; research funding organisations; industry and business; civil society organisations; policy bodies). This Data Note also indicates how and why a qualitative content analysis was implemented with this interview dataset, resulting in category counts available with the anonymised interview transcripts for public access.</p