In this blogpost, Iryna Lunevich  describes the ESR programme as a great opportunity to engage with both energy-SSH researchers and policy-makers perspectives on energy transitions. 

In October 2019, I was offered a place on the Energy-SHIFTS ESR programme. At that time, my research was focused on the representation of energy transitions in media. However, by reviewing policyworkers’ applications, participating in introduction calls with policy fellows, and preparing policy briefs, I had a chance to get acquainted with a myriad of challenges that matter most to those working at the energy policy frontier. These issues include, but not limited to, citizen engagement in and social acceptance of energy transitions, as well as just transitions. While working on the report ‘Live energy policy challenges: questions for the Social Sciences & Humanities’, I also had a chance to learn about questions that refer to the transformations of skills, capacities, and organisational processes that are associated with energy transitions.

Whilst I was engaged in a variety of activities, the most interesting and challenging task was to match a policy fellow with SSH-researchers and facilitate their communication. The policy fellow that I worked with, was responsible for sales and development of solar energy services in IKEA Poland. Unlike the rest of the policy fellows policy fellows who mainly worked in a public sector, the IKEA employee represented a business sector, which made her case even more thought-provoking. While working on this case together with the fellow and associates, I learnt about IKEA’s strategy to promote solar panels among consumers and to diminish the barriers to social acceptance of solar technologies. Furthermore, I found out how enterprises such as IKEA could collaborate with various stakeholders such as regional and national governments to influence policies and regulations necessary for the development of renewable energy in the country.

In addition, the case of IKEA Poland opened up a much broader question around energy transitions and household barriers to the adoption of renewable energy technologies in the Eastern European context. Since I studied and worked in Lithuania for quite a long time, I was able to compare Polish and Lithuanian contexts. As I started comparing the current developments of the renewable energy market in two countries, I realized that although some barriers to sustainable energy transitions are country-specific (e.g. national legislation), others are more universal (e.g. lack of knowledge about renewable energy technologies amongst households). Furthermore, it was interesting to read the responses of energy-SSH researchers to the fellow’s key policy questions. It was quite surprising to see how people, who had no previous knowledge on the Polish renewables market, developed recommendations for IKEA Poland based on their experience of working in various regions of the world (including Sub-Saharan Africa!). This made me realize that despite differences across countries and regions, one can draw on a particular case to develop policy recommendations that might be applicable universally.

My own research is specifically focused on urban wind energy projects, therefore the participation in the ESR-programme provided me with a unique opportunity to learn about challenges that those working with other types of renewable energy are facing. It provided me with a more nuanced picture of energy transitions in Europe and with useful insights about policy questions that emerge at various levels of policy, from very local to international.

Iryna Lunevich is a PhD Candidate at the Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University