YHYS Colloquium – Call for papers: renewable energy, experiments and interventions

Are you researching energy-related issues e.g. regulation, support policies, energy democracy, citizen energy, or energy politics more widely? Or are you working with experiments and interventions in environmental social science? If yes, the 23th annual colloquium of the Finnish Society for Environmental Social Sciences has something special for you!

We have the pleasure to invite you to a workshop over struggles in renewable energy as well as to a collective reflection on experiments and interventions. The workshops take place at the colloquium under the theme Naturecultures:

NATURECULTURES  – Finnish Society for Environmental Social Sciences YHYS Colloquium November 22–23, 2018
VENUE: University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Lapland, Sápmi, Finland
PROGRAMME: Keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops and a pre-conference early career researcher meeting
WHAT TO DO NEXT: Send short proposals by September 3, 2018 – read more below

Workshop: Struggle over Renewable Energy

Energy is the lifeblood of economic activity and social welfare, while simultaneously being at the core of many of the most significant environmental problems. Stronger policy actions have been demanded in order to move the world onto a more sustainable energy path. Without doubt, this will not happen without rigorous resistance of those in the most powerful positions of current energy-related structures. Concerning renewable energy, solar and wind power have gained the biggest investments globally, Denmark and Germany, for instance, being massive investors. In Finland, while in recent years the operational environment has altered and the energy sector have gone through some significant changes, such as implementation of feed-in tariff in 2011 and wind power production being at the verge of becoming market competitive without subsidies, the power wielding in the sector seems to have changed little. For instance, the supported industrial scale production has kept citizen and community energy in the margins.

This workshop examines whether the ongoing changes have meant a redistribution of power in the energy sector or do the old power structures still persist. The session is structured as a workshop with no conventional presentations, but 5 minute pitch talk/presenter and a facilitated joint discussion. We invite researchers from multiple fields (academics from projects and incentives from Finland and around the world) to submit discussion papers as a preliminary material for attendees. We welcome papers dealing with various energy-related issues e.g. regulation, support policies, energy democracy and citizen energy, as well as papers operating with a more extensive perspective on the complex totality of energy politics.

Please send short (max 200 words) proposals by September 3, 2018 to Session Conveners:

Tapio Litmanen, tapio.litmanen (@jyu.fi), University of Jyväskylä
Miikka Salo, miikka.o.salo (@jyu.fi), University of Jyväskylä
Riikka Aro riikka.aro (@jyu.fi), University of Jyväskylä

Workshop: Collective reflection on experiments, experimentation and interventions in environmental social science

Experiments and interventions are being increasingly called upon to test and invent solutions to sustainability problems. They are encouraged as dynamic means to develop new technologies, practices, institutional designs or governance arrangements, but also to invite new actors to their invention. Experimental designs have a long tradition in laboratory sciences. In social sciences action research has applied interventions as a means to address wicked social problems. Lately, in transition studies experiments have been highlighted as an engine for sustainability transitions. Science and Technology Studies remind that experimentation should keep as attentive for new imaginaries. All these various methodological approaches evoke rather different imaginaries for experiments, interventions and their outcomes.

In this working group we want to encourage discussion on the varying uses, motives and outcomes of experiments and interventions in environmental social science. We invite reflections on 1) varying experimental settings, tools, methods and concepts; 2) their different societal outcomes; 3) experiments and interventions as means to mobilize and create new imaginaries and collectives; 4) the changing role of research/ers in experimental settings and in interventions; 5) ethics of experimentation and intervention research.

The working group is organized around reflective talks followed by a collective discussion. Each participant is welcomed to give a reflection on their uses and outcomes of experiments, experimental research or interventions. The reflections can be based upon practical experience or theoretical elaborations. Creative ways to give the talk are welcome. We devote most of the time in the working group to joint discussions.

Please send short synopsis of your argument (max 250 words) to the conveners by September 3, 2018. We aim to compile a commentary on the joint discussion to the versuslehti.fi.

Session Conveners:
Maija Faehnle (@ymparisto.fi), University of Tampere, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
Juha Hiedanpää (@luke.fi), Natural Resource Institute, Luke
Minna Kaljonen (@ymparisto.fi), Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
Helena Leino (@uta.fi), University of Tampere
Taru Peltola (@ymparisto.fi), Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Check out the other workshops and read more on the YHYS Colloqvium website.