In January 2024, the Department of Human Dimensions at CzechGlobe participated in the Project Review meeting and Consortium meeting of the Horizon-funded project, SSH Centre (Social Science and Humanities for Climate, Energy and Transport Research Excellence), held in Brussels.
The Department of Human Dimensions at CzechGlobe is a partner institution in the SSH Centre project, which is committed to supporting the visibility and uptake of social science and humanities research in climate, energy and transport policy in Europe. The Brussels meeting provided a platform to not only discuss our accomplishments over the past year but also to outline the agenda that lies ahead in the upcoming months. Below is a glimpse into some of the developments within the project.
In 2023, 29 interdisciplinary collaborative teams were recruited from across the European Union and Associated Countries in order to develop a single policy or governance recommendation aligned with the commitments of the EU Green Deal, specifically addressing climate, energy or mobility. Each team is now working on a book chapter; the chapters will be compiled and published this year in an open-access book and submitted to European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation.
In the summer of 2023, the Knowledge Brokerage Initiative saw the recruitment of 30 early-career researchers. The participants have since completed an intensive week-long training program in knowledge brokerage and are now working in teams to engage with cities, supporting them in their low-carbon transitions. This spring, the project plans to conduct city-hub workshops in six European cities. These will serve as platforms for teams to present initiatives aimed at city decarbonization.
Finally, two series of virtual focus groups with citizens centred around EU Missions have been conducted, covering the topics of Climate Change Adaptation and Transforming Cities. Two additional series of focus groups are planned for this spring, focusing on the topics of Soil Deal for Europe and Restoring our Oceans and Waters. The primary objective of these engagements is to explore how citizens perceive and engage with the priorities identified by the EU Missions.
CzechGlobe’s role in the SSH Centre project involves an ongoing evaluation of these interventions, assessing their capacity to create change, support collaborations, and improve the representation of social sciences and humanities in policy and action. Our objective is to identify effective strategies, learn from challenges and feed our findings back into the project. Conducting interviews with participants from across project activities and leading reflexive workshops at consortium meetings are integral components of our work. We have already completed a series of interviews with the participants from the interdisciplinary collaboration and the knowledge brokerage training, with additional rounds of interviews scheduled for this year. Simultaneously, reflexive workshops have been conducted with project partners during consortium meetings, including the recent meeting in Brussels, where we focused and reflected upon the skills, design or topics relevant for supporting meaningful SSH contributions in climate, energy and transport research and action.
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