The Sussex Energy Group at SPRU (Science & Technology Policy Research), University of Sussex is organising and hosting an international conference to discuss and debate emerging research agendas in energy social science.
The conference will be held at the University of Sussex on the 25th and 26th February 2010. and is open to academics, policy makers, industry and non-governmental organisations working in the field of energy transitions.
Abstracts that outline theoretically robust and empirically informed contributions to one or more of the following are welcome:
Low carbon energy innovation- Lock-in, lock-out and path dependence: how do we understand the destabilization of existing energy systems and the build up of momentum around 'green' innovations?
- Distributed innovation, open source, user-led and grassroots innovation: how can new concepts from innovation studies be applied to energy systems?
- The role of firms, finance and energy business strategy in energy systems
- 'Long waves' in technical change, and the effects of global recession on energy investment.
- The roles of policy and the influence of different policy cultures in steering innovation and shaping innovation agendas.
- Technological innovation in developing countries and the shifting geography of low carbon energy innovation
Secure and resilient energy systems- Different conceptualisations and challenges in energy system security
- What makes an energy system resilient, and how can resilience be assessed?
- Public policies for energy security- their effectiveness, shortcomings, synergies and trade-offs with other energy policy objectives.
The politics of sustainable energy transitions- Redefining the role of government, policy and politics in energy transitions: the neo-liberal energy inheritance; governing hard and soft energy paths; different national energy policy styles and international coordination
- Analysing and reconciling policy objectives (e.g. low carbon, local pollution and habitats, wider sustainability, security, energy access/fuel poverty)
- Exploring notions and bases of legitimacy and accountability in sustainable energy governance, and addressing the political conflicts arising from redistributing resources away from carbon intensive activities and into low carbon futures
- Civil society, energy citizenship and transitions.
The timing of this conference is designed to coincide with the end of our current core funding from the Economic and Social Research Council which expires in March 2010.
Application and registration:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/1-2-27-4.htmlFurther details including the full conference call and application guidelines are available from the
conference website:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sussexenergygroup/conference.
