Utopia Revisited. Towards a Carbon-Neutral Neighbourhood at Brøset

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Communities of peer practitioners. Experiences from an Academic Writing Group

Learning academic writing is important for communicating research and participating in scholarly debates. This learning is traditionally conceptualized through a hierarchical teacher-student relation or individual accomplishment. However, in this paper we ask how we might understand the development of academic writing skills as a collective practice within a writing community. We draw on experiences from our own departmental writing group of PhD candidates and highlight our specific peer community as a tool and the draft texts we deliver as boundary objects through which we develop and broaden our academic skills

Expanding the scope and implications of energy research: A guide to key themes and concepts from the Social Sciences and Humanities

This paper provides an overview of key themes and concepts within energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH) research in Europe. It aims to use this overview as an introduction for those producing strategies and interventions to advance energy and sustainability transitions in practice as well as for newcomers to the field of energy-SSH research, such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) researchers. This paper builds on four extensive literature reviews from the EU Horizon 2020 SHAPE ENERGY project on four energy topics derived from the EU's Strategic Energy Technology Plan (EU SET-Plan) priorities: energy efficiency, low-carbon energy supply, energy system optimisation and transport decarbonisation. Based on a cross-cutting analysis of these four literature reviews, this paper discusses the evolution of and recent developments across energy-SSH research. It highlights two interrelated stories of scholarly expansion concerning the role of people in low-carbon energy transitions, illustrated with an example on demand-side management, and points towards future energy-SSH research and policy priorities

Visions as trading zones: National and local approaches to improving urban sustainability

Making cities more sustainable is high on the agenda in many countries, but a major challenge is the identification of which actors should contribute, and how. This paper departs from an assumption that visions may guide urban development work, and examines and compares national and local governments’ visions of future sustainable cities in Norway. The case study is the urban multilevel governance program ‘Cities of the Future’. Previous literature on urban sustainability and multilevel governance stresses the importance of shared visions and goals between stakeholders. However, the paper finds that, in the context under investigation, visions were partially dis-aligned between national and local stakeholders. Nevertheless, participants from both national and local governments considered the Cities of the Future program as successful. This was especially due to the learning networks facilitated by the program. The paper critically discusses the assumption of alignment and suggests a shift of attention from the content of vision to the processes of vision making. By this, we may understand visions as possible trading zones for the negotiation of future directions in urban sustainability

The Shaping of Urban Public Transport: Two Cases of Alternative Leading Objects

This paper investigates the shaping of urban public transport by comparing ‘alternative leading objects’ to the car in the Norwegian cities Trondheim and Bergen. These have chosen different transport technologies, bus and light rail respectively. I draw on the concept of technological frames and illustrate how interpretations and expectations of sustainable urban mobility guide transport planning. The paper contributes to discussions in STS by exploring technological frames as ongoing practices instead of as outcomes, and as performed by what I identify as two framing coalitions. Both coalitions emphasised that Trondheim and Bergen represented different city identities and topographies. The paper demonstrates the importance of making such identities and representations of public transport systems in particular urban contexts in order to replace a car-dominated transport system. The paper draws on an observational study in two transport offices, interviews with transport planners and politicians and document studies

Ren elektrisk kjøreglede! - Elbilen i komfortkulturen

The car has become an essential part of our transportation system - it gives us the flexibility and the possibility to go anywhere, anytime. Most people in Norway have a car, and almost feel as if they can´t make it through the day without it. However, the car is also a threat to our environment, and the electric car has been proposed as a solution to this problem. Why and how has the electric car become such a success story in Norway? In January 2013, I was an intern at Transnova for three weeks. Transnova provide grants to different projects to reduce CO2-emissions from the transportation sector. This thesis is about the electric car in our comfort society, focusing on user experiences, written on assignment from Transnova. My research data was gathered from 15 interviews - eight with electric car owners, and seven with people driving petrol cars. I have used the STS perspectives and theories co-production, framing, social construction of technology and domestication to find out how the car in general has been domesticated into households, and how the electric car is stabilized in our driving culture. The electric car drivers said their electric car felt more comfortable than petrol cars, describing the car as a safe, environmentally friendly, economic, aesthetically pleasing and exciting technology with great driving characteristics. Electric car drivers also thought charging at home was easier than using petrol stations. Their choice had a lot to do with "hands on" experience with the electric cars. Test-driving may therefore be a good way to recruit new users. The petrol car drivers felt guilty about the environment when they used their cars, and said that this guilt diminished their enjoyment from driving. It seemed like an increasing climate threat made petrol drivers problematize their driving practice. The research found that political incentives, designed to encourage electric car usage, were important to the electric car drivers in the beginning - when drivers first made the decision to go electric. However, as they became accustomed to using their electric car the relative importance of these incentives was reduced. Instead, users valued electric vehicles in terms of both the material and technical equipment, and also the rewarding feeling of being more environmentally friendly. The environmental awareness and comfort seemed to act in synergy, creating a more pleasurable driving experience. Politics can help stabilizing technologies, but it can´t do it alone. Instead, it is the co-production of politics, science and users that may organize this field. The research shows that there is a demand for a political push regarding technology choices

User perceptions of EVs and the role of EVs in the transition to low-carbon mobility

Transport play a central role to reach global greenhouse gas emission targets. Reducing emissions from privately owned cars is of high priority, and the sustainable transition of road transport by electrification is one strategy launched to meet this end. Norway has been a forerunner when it comes to this and is today the country with the highest proportion of privately owned electric vehicles in Europe. Summarizing and publishing Norwegian experiences with electric mobility will therefore be useful for those working with transport electrification in other countries. In this paper, we study user perceptions of different models of EVs. The paper focuses on how different models of EVs have been domesticated into Norwegian households. The importance of the incentives and policies related to the adoption of EVs are particularly highlighted and discussed in relation to other perceived properties related to EV driving, such as comfort and environmental concerns. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with different segments of EV drivers from 2013-2015, as well as a quantitative analysis of 3654 EV drivers in Norway from 2016. The paper aims to strengthen the understanding of individuals’ perceptions of EV policies and the possible consequences for policy makers. Also, it seeks to investigate how changing patterns of acting at the individual level may create normality and reconfigure the architecture of choice for others. The study shows that economic and technical aspects of EVs were important for Norway’s successful introduction of the technology, in addition to symbolic aspects related to EVs, such as feeling more environmentally friendly. Hence, we argue that the combination of strong economic incentives, environmental awareness and a comfortable driving experience fostered the successful introduction of the electric car

The role of practical, cognitive and symbolic factors in the successful implementation of battery electric vehicles in Norway

Reducing emissions from privately-owned cars plays a central role in reaching targets for global greenhouse gas emissions. Electrification has been one strategy to meet this goal. Norway has been a forerunner and is today the country with the highest proportion of privately-owned battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe. Thus, studying Norwegian experiences with electric mobility should be useful for those working with the electrification of person transport in other countries. In this paper, we analyze user experiences with different models of BEVs, symbolic dimensions of BEV ownership and use, and the significance of incentives promoting BEVs. We argue that the total package of incentives not only provides instrumental motives to buy BEVs but represents a highly visible, national policy in support of BEVs that has been important for adoption, giving BEVs a symbolic certification as an environmentally sound mobility choice. The paper also points to the way incentives for BEVs have different meaning to different drivers according to BEV model and driving experience. Hence, we stress the importance of not treating BEVs as a homogenous technology when developing policy. We argue that the combination of the economic and symbolic value of incentives, technical and practical dimensions of BEVs and not least growing environmental concerns have fostered the successful introduction of BEVs in Norway. The paper is based on in-depth interviews with different segments of BEV drivers in 2013 and 2015, as well as data from two surveys conducted by the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association in 2016 and 2017

Læring i arbeidslivet: Et innblikk i hvordan Spekter-medlemmer jobber med kompetanseplanlegging og kompetanseutvikling

Denne rapporten er resultatet av et oppdrag for Arbeidsgiverforeningen Spekter. Målet har vært å få en bedre forståelse for hvordan læring i arbeidslivet foregår, og en oppdatert oversikt over hvordan noen av Spekters medlemsvirksomheter arbeider med kompetanseutvikling hos de ansatte. Gjennom intervjuer med Spekter-medlemmer har vi fått innsikt i hvordan de arbeider med kompetanseplanlegging, beskrivelser av flere former for opplæring og erfaringer med utvikling av læringstilbud, samt beskrivelser av uformell læring og ulike måter å utvikle kompetanse på. I tillegg har vi gjennomført en litteraturstudie for å få oversikt over nyere forskning og studier av læring i arbeidslivet, og for å foreslå hvordan et fremtidig arbeid med kompetanseutvikling kan forbedres