Energy-SHIFTS “Energy Social sciences & Humanities Innovation Forum Targeting the SET-Plan” will contribute to a EU European Energy Union that places societal needs centrally, by further developing Europe’s leadership in using and applying energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH).
Energy-SHIFTS activities will target over 10,000 stakeholders and begin with scoping activities including: accessible guides to SSH in EU policy; workshops on SSH priority themes; online policyworker and researcher databases.
They will build on this scoping work to implement: 4 Working Groups across SET-Plan themes; a Policy Fellowship scheme; an Early-Stage Researcher programme; masterclasses for policy, NGO, STEM, and media audiences; 4 online citizen debates; and a pan-European conference.
Their core activities will both provide immediate insights for the short-term directions of EU energy policy as well as foundations for longer-term mechanisms that will enable evidence-based energy-SSH insights to reach the ‘policy front line’.
As a central body bringing SSH communities together, they are working to directly inform Horizon Europe and SET-Plan priorities. Running over 2019-2021, Energy-SHIFTS will significantly enhance the policy impact of energy-SSH, and accelerate shifts to low-carbon energy systems.
Their consortium brings together 4 leading interdisciplinary research institutes with 3 highly respected policy, industry and communications organisations from across the energy-SSH field, to create an innovative and inclusive Forum. Our partners’ have significant energy-SSH H2020 project experience, direct working links with the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) communities, extensive networks in the energy domain, and represent excellent coverage across SSH disciplines and across Europe.
The Energy-SHIFTS consortium includes:
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), UK
The lead department from ARU involved in this project is the Global Sustainability Institute (GSI).
The GSI was established by ARU in 2011 and has built a reputation for high impact publications across a broad range of sustainability issues. It is focused on the development of practical solutions to sustainability-related challenges, through the delivery of rigorous academic research. The GSI is part of the £6m ESRC Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity, has won grants from five of the UK research councils, is currently co-ordinating three EU projects, and received recognition for world-leading research and impact in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF).
