News
Masterarbeit im Bereich der transdisziplinären Forschung (Formate und Methoden)
Freie Masterarbeitstelle im Bereich der transdisziplinären Forschung. Forschungsfrage: "Orientieren sich die Methodenkombinationen eher an td-Phasen, Formaten, Handlungsfeld oder Akteurskonstellation oder an gewünschten Wirkung? Sind spezifische Methodenkombinationen prägend für ein Format?"
Weitere Informationen sind unter dem folgenden Link zu finden.
Teilnahme an der IST 2024 Konferenz “Sustainability Transitions and Nature”
Caterina Pacini is going to partecipate as presenter at the IST 24 Conference “Sustainability Transitions and Nature" taking place from the 17th to the 19th of June in Oslo.
Find further details of her contribution here.
The theme of the 15th IST conference is ‘Sustainability transitions and nature’. Sustainability transition research investigates social and technical change processes in solving environmental problems including possible social injustices, tensions, and dilemmas associated with these. The focus on the ‘social’ and the ‘technical’ often externalize the natural world treating it instead as part of the ‘landscape’ of transitions. Nature—broadly understood as the biophysical environment—thus remains an often overlooked but important dimension in the STRN research agenda.
The point of departure for sustainability transitions research is that existing production-consumption systems are environmentally unsustainable and need to transform. As such sustainability transitions therefore aim to preserve the natural environment in its current Holocene state. This simplistic understanding of the relationships between sustainability transitions and nature is increasingly becoming inadequate for understanding transition dynamics.
Beitrag zur JP ESI zweite "Research meets Policy" Konferenz
Professor Bauknecht will hold a prensentation at the Conference JP ESI 2nd "Research meets Policy", taking place on the 9th of April in Brussels and hosted by the European Energy Research Alliance.
The rapid changes in energy technology, markets and policy pose large challenges for industry and governments. Many uncertainties affect the increasingly integrated energy system. The knowledge institutions that constitute the EERA Joint Programme on Energy Systems Integration aim to support decision makers in industry and government.
While the energy transition continues to pick up speed in some areas, other parts are being delayed. At this second ‘Research Meets Policy Conference’, the morning is dedicated to the fast development of wind energy in the North Sea. How should investment security and market efficiency be balanced? How can this vast amount of energy be integrated in the onshore grids? In the afternoon, the speakers will delve into the complex interplay between technological advancements and societal implications within the energy transition. The goal of the session is to examine and find solutions to the 'Justice paradoxes' that arise when efforts to speed up the energy transition conflict with the rights and preferences of citizens.
The conference programme is designed to facilitate dialogue between policy makers, administrators and analysts supporting policy making, energy network operators, market parties and researchers.
The full programm is to find here. Dierk Bauknecht (Oeko-Institut) will contribute in the panel discussion on "Navigating Justice Paradoxes in the Energy Transition II".
Beitrag in der Zeitschrift GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society
Dierk Baukenct contributed to the journal GAIA in special issues 'Impacts of real-world labs in sustainability transformation'. Find the article here: "Regulatory experiments and real-world labs: A fruitful combination for sustainability" (Issues -> Volume 33 -> Supplement, 2024).
Abstract:
What are regulatory experiments and how can they contribute to sustainability transformations? We seek to answer these questions by considering regulatory experiments in the energy sector and exploring their potential impact pathways. Different kinds of regulatory experiments can be combined with real-world labs to expand their scope and their impacts to the regulatory realm.
Regulatory experiments (RegExs) can be considered an element of mission-oriented innovation policies. As such, we discuss how they relate to real-world labs (RwLs) and how they can contribute to sustainability transformations. We distinguish between two types of experiments: 1. regulatory sandboxes that help innovators to bring new products, services, and other innovations to market, and 2. regulatory-innovation experiments that are specifically designed to explore new solutions for evolving regulatory frameworks. The two types can be linked to RwLs such that an RwL can be embedded in a regulatory sandbox, enabling the RwL to try out solutions that would not be feasible without the sandbox, given the regulatory framework in place. Alternatively, the various experiments in the RwL are complemented by one or several regulatory-innovation experiments. RegExs, as a form of experimental policy engagement, are an important addition to RwL concepts in a sustainability transformation context. They contribute to both innovative sustainability solutions as well as regulatory learning and testing of regulatory innovations. By applying the programme theory approach and developing a Theory of Change for RegEx, we discuss their potential impact on sustainability transformations in terms of the directionality and the acceleration of change, based on examples from the energy sector.
Zwei neue Publikationen
Check out the latest two publications by Dierk Bauknecht in collaboration with the Öko-Institut here:
- "Institutional rules for the up-take of regulatory experiments: A comparative case study", published in February.
Abstract:
Experiments are an important governance instrument for fostering learning between actors, improving governance, and managing transition pathways for sustainable development. However, determinants of the up-take of the result of experiments are underexplored in the transition experimentation literature. Consequently, we explore the role of experimental design and institutions in this up-take. This paper examines the following research question: How is the up-take of regulatory experiments for sustainability transitions influenced by their design elements and what role do institutions play? The paper uses comparative qualitative content analysis to examine 27 international regulatory experiments. In analyzing the up-take of experiments, we focus on three dimensions: transferability, scalability, and unintended consequences. The analysis demonstrates that the transferability of regulatory experiments depends on its regulatory and geographical context as well as its timeframe and the selection of participants. The scalability appears to be mainly influenced by the timeframe and timing of the regulatory experiment as well as the communication of the experimenters with stakeholders and the support of political actors. Furthermore, the influence of unintended consequences from regulatory experiments depend on the diversity of the participants, the communication of the involved actors, and the use of several design options. Our results can inform policymakers and stakeholders about the design and role of institutions in regulatory experiments.
- "The role of decentralised flexibility options for managing transmission grid congestions in Germany" published in February.
Abstract:
Decentralised flexibility options connected to the distribution grid can be used for congestion management in the transmission grid. Their potential contribution for the transmission grid in Germany is investigated in a scenario analysis for the years 2030, 2040 and 2050.
The model-based evaluation shows that until 2050, cumulative grid congestion increases significantly, which indicates that there is a significant need for grid expansion. Decentralised flexibility options can reduce the cumulative grid congestion of the transmission grid by around 15% in 2030 to around 10% in 2050 if decentralised flexibility options are operated not just in line with the power market, but also with a view to transmission grid requirements. In absolute terms, the benefit of the decentralised flexibility options increases over time.
However, decentralised flexibility options are only suitable in a few cases to fully resolve grid congestions on a certain power line which indicates that grid extension might still be necessary, especially in the long term. Yet decentralised flexibility can still have effects on operational grid management (short-term perspective) and grid expansion needs (medium- and long-term perspective). Therefore, creating a suitable policy framework for the use of decentralised flexibilities is a contribution to achieving climate protection goals.