Social acceptance of green hydrogen in Germany: building trust through responsible innovation

Background Social acceptance presents a major challenge for Germany’s transition to green energy. As a power-to-x technology, green hydrogen is set to become a key component of a future sustainable energy system. With a view to averting conflicts like those surrounding wind energy, we have investigated social acceptance of green hydrogen at an early stage in its implementation, before wider rollout. Our study uses a mixed-method approach, wherein semi-structured interviews (n = 24) and two participatory workshops (n = 51) in a selected region in central Germany serve alongside a representative survey (n = 2054) as the basis for both understanding social attitudes and reaching generalisable conclusions. Results Overall, it is possible to observe both a marked lack of knowledge and a large degree of openness towards green hydrogen and its local use, along with high expectations regarding environmental and climate protection. We reach three key conclusions. First, acceptance of green hydrogen relies on trust in science, government, the media, and institutions that uphold distributive justice, with consideration for regional values playing a vital role in establishing said trust. Second, methodologically sound participatory processes can promote acceptance, and active support in particular. Third, recurrent positive participatory experiences can effectively foster trust. Conclusions Accordingly, we argue that trust should be strengthened on a structural level, and that green hydrogen acceptance should be understood as a matter of responsible innovation. As the first empirical investigation into social acceptance of green hydrogen, and by conceptually interlinking acceptance research and responsible innovation, this study constitutes an important contribution to existing research

Defining functional roles for research institutions in helix innovation networks

This paper presents an empirically grounded case-based analysis of quadruple helix innovation networks. On the basis of qualitative interviews with representatives of 16 heterogeneous networks, we investigate the functional network roles of 172 actors from the fields of academic research, business, government and society. In this article we focus on universities and research and technology organisations, which face the challenge of having to redefine their functional roles and unique value in the face of increased diversification of knowledge sources within current quadruple helix innovation systems. We delineate both existing and potential future roles for academic actors using a typology of functional roles, and present the challenges research establishments must meet in order to fulfil these roles successfully. Finally, we outline the implications of this analysis for the strategic positioning of research institutions, so as to ensure the future inclusion of their innovative capacity in collaborative innovation networks

Promoting Diversity and Combatting Discrimination in Research Organizations: A Practitioner’s Guide

The essay is addressed to practitioners in research management and from academic leadership. It describes which measures can contribute to creating an inclusive climate for research teams and preventing and effectively dealing with discrimination. The practical recommendations consider the policy and organizational levels, as well as the individual perspective of research managers. Following a series of basic recommendations, six lessons learned are formulated, derived from the contributions to the edited collection on "Diversity and Discrimination in Research Organizations.

Shaping future. A method to help orient science and technology development toward public preferences

Our research project Shaping Future presents a methodology for setting need-oriented research agendas in the field of human-machine interaction

Harnessing and Realizing Social Innovation for RTOs: A Social Foresight Lab Approach

Social and technological innovations are intertwined. This affects innovation processes. Following an understanding of social innovation as innovation’s social dimension, this paper proposes a social foresight lab as a means for research and technology organizations (RTOs) to harness and realize the potential of social innovation

Entrepreneurship and academic employment - More alike than you'd think

Recognising the increasing value of knowledge and technology transfer, the scientific and political communities in Germany have recently devoted much attention to academic entrepreneurship. Seeking to explore similarities and differences between academic employment and entrepreneurship, we interviewed 112 postdoctoral students from the four major German research organisations and 16 senior transfer managers whose responsibilities included spin-off facilitation. Our findings indicate that those involved in such occupations often believe that academic employment and entrepreneurship differ substantially on many levels. Both interviewed senior managers and postdoctoral students considered engaging in commercialisation activities to be a risky and serious undertaking and a significant career change. Simultaneously, the opinions and observations of postdoctoral students helped us identify a wide range of similarities between academic employment and entrepreneurship. Our find ings can help make entrepreneurship more accessible to researchers, re-define the boundaries between scientific and commercial activities, and, ultimately, foster knowledge and technology transfer

Co-shaping the future in Quadruple Helix innovation systems: Uncovering public preferences toward participatory research and innovation

The Quadruple Helix Model of innovation recognizes four major actors in the innovation system: science, policy, industry, and society. In keeping with this model, more and more governments are prioritizing greater public involvement in innovation processes. The goal of this study was to identify desirable and productive forms of interaction between the scientific community and the public. Our analysis focuses on the point of view of societal actors, which has so far been largely neglected in scientific literature and political discourse. To this end, we interviewed 50 laypersons with participatory research and innovation experience in Germany to document their opinions of the value of such interaction, the goals it should pursue, and the forms it should take. Rather than preferring the democratization of science in general, interviewees expressed the desire for more extensive opportunities to introduce scientific and technological considerations as part of bidirectional exchanges between academia and society. This paper proposes a layperson typology intended to help design participatory processes that facilitate such exchanges and includes the differences in opinions between men and women