SSH Energy 2024
Narrative, normative, persuasive – How SSH energy shapes imaginable transitions
The 4th SSH Energy Workshop was hosted on 17 and 18 June 2024. Read more about the event in this blog post, or download the program below for details on the presenters and abstracts. To read more about the over arching theme of the 4th Energy Workshop, continue reading the information on this page below.
The 4TH Swiss Social Sciences and Humanities Energy Research Workshop (SSH Energy), welcomed the new SWEET consortium, “Co-Evolution and Coordinated Simulation of the Swiss Energy System and Swiss Society" (external page CoSi), on board. This year’s workshop focused on “Narrative, normative, persuasive – How SSH energy shapes imaginable transitions”. The workshop was an opportunity for researchers, practitioners and policymakers to share perspectives and insights on the societal implications, discourses, and transformation processes required to transition to a more sustainable energy system. It also provided a timely opportunity to discuss current societal and political developments, such as the implications of the decision on the Federal Act for secure energy supply with renewable energy (“Mantelerlass”), that took place on 9 June 2024.
Energy has rightly become one of the most pressing global issues demanding collective action. Since 2022, three successful SSH Energy workshops have taken place, opening a forum to discuss the relevance of SSH research on the energy transition. In the 2024 SSH Energy workshop, CoSi seeked to consolidate a platform for exchange to link various disciplines, develop a common understanding, and achieve a co-creation process with stakeholders. As a bridge-maker, CoSi gathers and intermingles different stakeholders and energy research communities to co-design sustainable and innovative energy approaches. We seeked to analyse, reflect on and reinforce the role that arts, humanities and social sciences have following recent discussions on materialities and ontological politics in STS and humanities . This is accompanied by a recent volume collecting contributions to the energy research debate from the Swiss Social Sciences and Humanities Energy Research Group.
We welcomed all scholars within and beyond social sciences, humanities, arts and inter- and transdisciplinary research, practitioners and policymakers keen to engage in these discussions. Early career researchers were especially welcome to participate!
We aimed at bringing together rich case studies from various Swiss projects and programmes, to generate new conceptualizations of energy narratives fruitfully integrating the arts, humanities and social sciences. Discourses such as narratives were a particular object of inquiry, and we explored innovative transdisciplinary approaches to studying and improving energy transitions.
We invited participants to explore topics ranging from and expanding the following:
- Methods and concepts for imagining energy transitions
- Transdisciplinary research and tools in energy research: What is the role of inter- and transdisciplinary research in energy modelling? What are future potentials for co-production of knowledge?
- The role of storytelling for energy modelling
- Innovative methods for energy policy-making
- The role of SSH energy research in policy-making: disciplines, methodologies
- Societal factors integrated in energy modelling: what do models already integrate and how? What is missing? How social scientists engage with and contribute to models?
- Culture-focused approaches to energy transitions: what are the potentials of integrating a cultural approach to modelling? Why to do so
- Making and unmaking of energy modelling integrating heterogenous modes of expertise, materials, and practices
- Stakeholder engagement strategies in SSH energy research
- Towards case specific integration of SSH into energy modeling, methods, and theories
- Socio-technical or historical imaginaries of energy transitions and the roles of SSH
Organising Committee
The 4TH Swiss Social Sciences and Humanities Energy Research Workshop (SSH Energy) was organised by CoSi Consortium and the Cultural Studies of Science and Technology Group (CSTS) in the Transdisciplinarity Lab (TdLab), ETH Zurich.
- PD Dr. Bianca Vienni-Baptista (CSTS Group lead, TdLab, ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Stephanie Briers (CSTS, TdLab, ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Annika Sohre (University of Basel)
- MSc. Konstanty Ramotowski (CSTS, TdLab, ETH Zurich)
- Victoria Herbig (CSTS Group, TdLab, ETH Zurich)
Scientific Committee
- Prof. Dr. Michael Stauffacher (TdLab, ETH Zurich)
- Prof. Dr. Isabelle Stadelmann (University of Bern)
- Prof. Dr. Christian Pohl (TdLab, ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Hugo Caviola (University of Bern)
- Dr. Yann Blumer (ZHAW School of Management and Law)
- Dr. Devon Wemyss (ZHAW School of Management and Law)
- Dr. Annika Sohre (University of Basel)
- Dr. Gracia Brückmann (University of Bern)
- Dr. Valentino Piana (HES-SO Valais-Wallis)
- PD Dr. Bianca Vienni-Baptista (CSTS Group, ETH Zurich)
- Dr. Stephanie Briers (CSTS Group, ETH Zurich)
Contact: for queries please contact Stephanie Briers (stephanie.briers@usys.ethz.ch)