TY - JOUR
T1 - Shifts in the smart research agenda? 100 priority questions to accelerate sustainable energy futures
AU - Robison, Rosie
AU - Skjølsvold, Tomas Moe
AU - Hargreaves, Tom
AU - Renström, Sara
AU - Wolsink, Maarten
AU - Judson, Emily
AU - Pechancová, Viera
AU - Demirbağ-Kaplan, Melike
AU - March, Hug
AU - Lehne, Johanna
AU - Foulds, Chris
AU - Bharucha, Zareen
AU - Bilous, Liliia
AU - Büscher, Christian
AU - Carrus, Giuseppe
AU - Darby, Sarah
AU - Douzou, Sylvie
AU - Drevenšek, Mojca
AU - Frantál, Bohumil
AU - Guimarães Pereira, Ângela
AU - Karvonen, Andrew
AU - Katzeff, Cecilia
AU - Kola-Bezka, Maria
AU - Laakso, Senja
AU - Lettmayer, Gudrun
AU - Parag, Yael
AU - Sáfián, Fanni
AU - Swora, Mariusz
AU - Tjørring, Lise
AU - van der Werff, Ellen
AU - van Vliet, Bas
AU - Wallenborn, Grégoire
AU - Wyckmans, Annemie
N1 - Funding Information:
In summary, use of smart technologies is one of the primary tools being used to enable coordination between cleaner production and consumption, in order to achieve the rapid transitions sought to combat climate change. However, there is huge variation in how their design and implementation could be carried out, and these choices are fundamentally intertwined with social structures and social consequences related to justice, legitimacy, and efficacy. Past funding for energy research has significantly under-utilised SSH research, and programmes have struggled to effectively encourage interdisciplinary projects which centre SSH expertise and research questions. There is demand from both STEM and SSH researchers for more resources which aid this work, who recognise a gap in current ways of shaping research agendas which this paper aims to explore and address.To verify which of these did indeed represent ‘shifts’ from the previous smart research landscape we then (iv) gathered existing smart research agendas – outlined in Subsection 2.1 – and (v) analysed 10 semi-structured interviews with SSH experts representing a variety of disciplines which had supported the formation of the WG (see Fig. 1, box Ib).First, much research on smart technologies was observed as being fundamentally about the continuation of economic growth through instrumental eco-efficiency and green growth agendas. As one interviewee stated, “smart consumption is doing less … and that is a topic which is not addressed at all. I'm pretty sure the European Union will never fund any kind of research going to this direction because this … will contradict any kind of economic growth” (Interviewee 2 - Sociology9). Firstly, this agenda can be a resource whereby research teams embed SSH concepts early enough to help shape project direction. Our analysis shows this is critical in order to achieve the objectives of a zero-carbon future. The agenda also highlights how SSH can play a leadership role in research projects on smart consumption, and not simply fill a supporting role. The many interlinkages between different themes point to the importance of recognising that several different types of SSH expertise10 may be needed within a single project: the spectrum of research disciplines from which colleagues may be drawn can and often should be widened.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 826025 (Energy-SHIFTS project). Viera Pechancová’s work was supported by funding from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic DKRVO (RP/CPS/2022/005). We are grateful to Emma Milroy for her support during the Horizon Scanning exercise. We also thank our many energy-SSH colleagues for kindly submitting their research questions for consideration.
Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 826025 (Energy-SHIFTS project). Viera Pechancová’s work was supported by funding from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic DKRVO ( RP/CPS/2022/005 ). We are grateful to Emma Milroy for her support during the Horizon Scanning exercise. We also thank our many energy-SSH colleagues for kindly submitting their research questions for consideration.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/9/20
Y1 - 2023/9/20
N2 - Energy transitions are at the top of global agendas in response to the growing challenges of climate change and international conflict, with the EU positioning itself as playing a pivotal role in addressing climate risks and sustainability imperatives. European energy transition policies identify ‘smart consumption’ as a key element of these efforts, which have previously been explored from a predominantly technical perspective thus often failing to identify or address fundamental interlinkages with social systems and consequences. This paper aims to contribute to interdisciplinary energy research by analysing a forward looking ‘Horizon Scan’ research agenda for smart consumption, driven by the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Reflecting on an extensive systematic Delphi Method exercise surveying over 70 SSH scholars from various institutional settings across Europe, we highlight what SSH scholars see as future directions for smart consumption research. Building from seven thematic areas (under which are grouped 100 SSH research questions), the study identifies three key ‘shifts’ this new smart research agenda represents, when compared to previous agendas: (1) From technological inevitability to political choice, highlighting the need for a wider political critique, with the potential to open up discussions of the instrumentalisation of smart research; (2) From narrow representation to diverse inclusion, moving beyond the shortcomings of current discourses for engaging marginalised communities; and (3) From individual consumers to interconnected citizens, reframing smart consumption to offer a broader model of social change and governance. Social Sciences and Humanities scholarship is essential to address these shifts in meaningful (rather than tokenistic) ways. This agenda and the shifts it embodies represent key tools to enable better interdisciplinary working between SSH and teams from the technical and natural sciences.
AB - Energy transitions are at the top of global agendas in response to the growing challenges of climate change and international conflict, with the EU positioning itself as playing a pivotal role in addressing climate risks and sustainability imperatives. European energy transition policies identify ‘smart consumption’ as a key element of these efforts, which have previously been explored from a predominantly technical perspective thus often failing to identify or address fundamental interlinkages with social systems and consequences. This paper aims to contribute to interdisciplinary energy research by analysing a forward looking ‘Horizon Scan’ research agenda for smart consumption, driven by the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Reflecting on an extensive systematic Delphi Method exercise surveying over 70 SSH scholars from various institutional settings across Europe, we highlight what SSH scholars see as future directions for smart consumption research. Building from seven thematic areas (under which are grouped 100 SSH research questions), the study identifies three key ‘shifts’ this new smart research agenda represents, when compared to previous agendas: (1) From technological inevitability to political choice, highlighting the need for a wider political critique, with the potential to open up discussions of the instrumentalisation of smart research; (2) From narrow representation to diverse inclusion, moving beyond the shortcomings of current discourses for engaging marginalised communities; and (3) From individual consumers to interconnected citizens, reframing smart consumption to offer a broader model of social change and governance. Social Sciences and Humanities scholarship is essential to address these shifts in meaningful (rather than tokenistic) ways. This agenda and the shifts it embodies represent key tools to enable better interdisciplinary working between SSH and teams from the technical and natural sciences.
KW - Energy justice
KW - Energy transitions
KW - Prosumer
KW - Research funding
KW - Smart consumption
KW - Socio-technical systems
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137946
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.137946
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85166133518
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 419
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
M1 - 137946
ER -
