Responsibly shaping technology innovation for the energy transition: an RRI indicator system as a tool.

Efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions have had limited success. For many, the hopes rest on new energy innovations to advance the energy transition process. In this paper, we develop a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) base indicator system to steer the design of innovations in the field of energy transition innovations and, thus, improve social acceptance of these innovations. We propose a guideline for its application to assist R&D performing organizations and funding organizations in the design, selection, and communication of research proposals. The indicator system is intended to promote early integration of environmental and social aspects, support the formation of teams aware of the different responsibility aspects of innovation, and monitor progress in regard to relevant RRI dimensions.

The Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach: elaborating ex ante knowledge in the field of urban mobility.

Background: In response to climate change challenges, a main policy emphasis is on transitioning the energy system from high- to low-carbon energy supply. The German energy transition is first and foremost based on political decisions and interventions. These decisions need to be assessed ex ante to ensure a good governance approach to energy policies, for which this paper introduces the Integrated Policy Package Assessment approach (IPPA). IPPA consists of four steps: design, assessment, evaluation and discourse. Results: The results section illustrates the IPPA framework by applying it to urban passenger transport as an example case. First, the design phase was used to elaborate two complementary policy packages each consisting of several policy measures in the transformation pathways of "multi- and inter-modality", and "alternative drive". Second, the individual measures of the packages were impact-analysed by a large number of individual impact studies from various disciplines. Synthesizing the individual study results, we developed an impact assessment matrix for impact evaluation. The matrix covers the impact categories: technology development, sector integration, environment, social resonance, and institutional factors. In a further step, the key findings of the impact assessment were reflected and reviewed from the perspectives of various stakeholders and practice experts through a practice-science dialogue on transforming the urban passenger transport system. Conclusions: The discussion and conclusion sections outline the main findings relating to content and process aspects, when applying the IPPA framework to a policy package in urban transport.

The Regional Advisory Councils: what is their potential to incorporate stakeholder knowledge into fisheries governance?

The protection of the Baltic Sea ecosystem is exacerbated by the social, environmental and economic complexities of governing European fisheries. Increased stakeholder participation and knowledge integration are suggested to improve the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), suffering from legitimacy, credibility and compliance problems. As a result, the CFP was revised in 2002 to involve fisheries representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders through so called Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) in the policy process. We address the RAC's task to incorporate stakeholder knowledge into the EU's fisheries governance system in empirical and theoretical perspectives. Drawing on a four-stage governance concept we subsequently suggest that a basic problem is a mismatch between participation purpose (knowledge inclusion) and the governance stage at which RACs are formally positioned (evaluation of management proposals). We conclude that, if the aim is to broaden the knowledge base of fisheries management, stakeholders need to be included earlier in the governance process.