Role of trust among stakeholders in managing uncertanties on the way to sustainable energy

Completed

Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Sociology)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Consumer attitudes and behaviour)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Technology acceptance)

Professor P Bellaby
School of English, Sociology, Politics & Contemporary History
University of Salford

Standard

ESRC

31 October 2005

31 January 2007

15 months

£51,057

No relevance to Underpinning Sectors

North West

ESRC Energy

Professor P Bellaby, School of English, Sociology, Politics & Contemporary History, University of Salford

Objectives not supplied

The underlying theme is the need to diversify from fossil fuels. There are many uncertainties ahead. Some lie in the technology. Others are socio-economic. We take a 'whole system' view of the transition to sustainable energy and focus on the mutual 'trust' that is likely to be needed among policy makers, regulators, commercial firms, consumers and citizens. Our aim is to build capacity for research in the UK. We shall start with a literature review and make its results known on a dedicated website. Guided by this search, we shall invite 40 social scientists and stakeholders to a conference around four specific themes, held in the UKERC Meeting Centre, Oxford. The social scientists will come from the sustainable energy field and from among those who will encourage them tothink 'out of the box'. Conference participants and others will be called upon to form a virtual network for the long term. We shall write and disseminate a report on our scoping exercise.We shall edit the conference papers in a published collection. In these ways we shall lay the foundations for research on 'trust', which is as yet under-researched in the energy field and in need of tighter treatment.

24/11/09