Exploring the Role of Values in RRI for Energy Systems

Aim & Description

The European Commission has requested its member states to make their science and innovation processes more societally responsive, this means that technologies should be developed with a view on achieving public values such as privacy, security and environmental values, as well as that the processes that lead to such technologies are inclusive and fair.

This ambition, which is called ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’ (RRI) by the European Commission also applies to energy technologies and systems.  The goal of this workshop is to develop an understanding of RRI for energy systems, i.e. to propose an approach for the governance of technological development and innovation in energy systems that is responsive to public values, and capable of anticipating unintended consequences of innovation.

Key themes in this event are:

·         Values and value diversity, e.g.: Whose values are more recognised in energy systems and how have they achieved this recognition? Where can we draw the line between private and public values?

·         Emerging, ambiguous and contested values, e.g.: Through what processes do values become contested in the context of energy system change? How do value diversity and contestation contribute to understanding (and perhaps shifting) the meaning of the priorities enshrined in the energy trilemma?

·         Values and governance, e.g.: What approaches to governance of energy systems and energy system change are required given the need for decarbonisation? What methods, institutions and mechanisms exist (or should exist) for realising such approaches to governance?

·         Integration / systems perspective, e.g.: What implements and tools can help frame an approach for integrating insights from scholarship into guidance/principles for RRI in relation to energy system change? Where should RRI for energy systems be moving, in terms of practical efforts at shaping governance and changing relationships within energy systems?

This event aims at building a scholarly community around this topic, one which will enable mutual learning from applications of RRI in other fields, a special issue on RRI of energy systems and to some governance recommendations based on our new shared understanding.