In 2019, the EU committed to becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with the European Commission presenting its European Green Deal as a roadmap for getting there. The transition is set to have profound impacts on the lives of Europeans and their families, from the ways people heat their homes and move around, to the jobs of those who work in manufacturing and services sectors, as well as raising wider societal issues such as democratisation in energy systems.

This conference will underline how crucial social knowledge is to delivering the transition to climate-neutrality, importantly including when it comes to public participation and ensuring socially just outcomes. It will also present concrete recommendations on how to advance and better design future European energy policies in the context of the upcoming research and innovation framework: Horizon Europe. Humanities and social sciences can add indispensable (but often overlooked) perspectives to policymaking in a complex, turbulent and inherently uncertain world.

Join Energy-SHIFTS for this conference taking place on Tuesday 19 January 2021, 10.00 – 13.00 CET.

This event is the final conference for the Energy-SHIFTS H2020 EU-funded project. Energy-SHIFTS aims to contribute to EU policymaking, ensuring that the European Green Deal places societal needs centrally, by further developing Europe’s leadership in using and applying energy-related Social Sciences and Humanities (energy-SSH). It brings together high-level policymakers and senior stakeholders and researchers linked to H2020 projects from across Europe to debate the key issues, identify challenges and think through the changes needed to further integrate social sciences in the future of European energy policymaking.