These questions were aggregated into four main directions: (i) deep transformations and connections to the broader economic system (i.e. radical ways of (re)arranging socio-technical, political and economic relations), (ii) cultural and geographical diversity (i.e. contextual cultural, historical, political and socio-economic factors influencing citizen support for energy transitions), (iii) complexifying energy governance (i.e. understanding energy systems from a systems dynamics perspective) and (iv) shifting from instrumental acceptance to value-based objectives (i.e. public support for energy transitions as a normative notion linked to trust-building and citizen engagement).
While this agenda is not intended to be—and cannot be—exhaustive or exclusive, the authors argue that it advances the understanding of SSH research on renewable energy sources and may have important value in the prioritization of SSH themes needed to enrich dialogues between policymakers, funding institutions and researchers. SSH scholarship should not be treated as instrumental to other research on renewable energy but as intrinsic and of the same hierarchical importance.
For the questions, see 100 Social Sciences and Humanities priority research questions for renewable energy in Horizon Europe (energy-shifts.eu) published in November 2020.
