PLATENSO – Building a platform for enhanced societal research related to nuclear energy in Central and Eastern Europe
Project duration: 2013 to 2016
The objective of PLATENSO is to provide a proposal towards establishing the legal base for a European Entity on Socio-Economic matters linked to nuclear technology and to develop recommendations for research strategies in PLATENSO countries. Thereby the capabilities of research institutes in Central and EasternEuropean countries to take part in EU research with respect to governance, social and societal aspects are enhanced. Initially, lessons learned from earlier projects, what is the state of knowledge in societal, social and governance issues, are reviewed and summarized. The research infrastructures within which project activities and future research are to take place are mapped and efforts are made to make sure research actors frame their approaches broad enough. Research strategies are formed for research in governance, social and societal issues in which participation in EU programmes is an integrated part. The strategies are tested with case studies to make sure they are feasible to implement. A number of networking activities are carried through as a major step toward actual foundation of the strategies in PLATENSO countries. In each country a PLATENSO partner will take responsibility for building a network of research institutions in its respective country.
Establishment of the legal base for a European Entity on Socio-Economic matters linked to nuclear technology has potential to overcome the barriers that still exist for taking them fully into account and to make the awareness of the social and political challenges to come to action. On the basis of exploratory studies focusing on Central and Eastern Europe and contacts with relevant stakeholders in all EU, the project will analyze main aspects with regard to the implementation of the entity (organization, legal form, communication structure, content, etc.). Major areas on social, societal and governance issues for the envisaged Entity will be proposed. A nuclear energy scenario based on the Generation 4 ALLEGRO reactor concept will be given special attention as a pilot case for the European Entity giving support to ALLEGRO in social, societal and governance issues, which will include testing the draft strategy for research. The exact forms for this will be developed in close
cooperation between PLATENSO and the ALLIANCE project.
Key words: nuclear energy, governance, social issues, stakeholder involvement, integrated approach, networking
Principal investigator: dr Katarzyna Iwińska: katarzyna.iwinska@civitas.edu.pl
PLATENSO Seminar and workshop
Nuclear and Energy from the perspective of Social Sciences and Humanities.
On the 7th of April 2016 Collegium Civitas held an international seminar and workshop entitled Nuclear and Energy from the perspective of Social Sciences and Humanities.
The seminar was organised in the framework of the project Building a platform for enhanced societal research related to nuclear energy in Central and Eastern Europe (PLATENSO, Fission-2013-6.0.1).
Through a series of seminar talks and a group discussion, the workshop aimed to present some examples of nuclear and energy research in social sciences and humanities. The idea was to organize a research network mostly within New Member States countries and share analysis and results, integrating international researchers and also different fields and disciplines addressing nuclear energy and society.
Seminar and workshop aimed:
(1) to increase research collaboration within international and multidisciplinary network
(2) to generate insights on social, political and governance aspects for future nuclear research
(3) to set up the initiative group for preparation of a COST proposal in order to create an European network of nuclear energy research in social sciences and humanities
The seminar started with two keynote speeches. Phil Johnstone from University of Sussex talked about comparison of nuclear trajectories of Germany and the UK: exploration of drivers behind socio-technical transitions and discontinuities. Jessica Jewell (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), the second keynote speaker, gave a presentation on An assessment of capacities, imperatives and uncertainties for nuclear newcomers.
Introductory speeches were followed with presentations by:
– Aleksandra Wagner (Jagiellonian University) –Past meets future. Nuclear energy in media discourse.
– Živa Broder (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) – General and environmental public opinion in Slovenia
– Jan Vavra (University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic) –Energy demand, carbon footprint and attitudes towards climate change: case study of Czech households with international comparison
– Cristina Tirhas (Romania) – Perceptions of cost-benefits balance regarding energy consumption in Romania – recent sociological research
– Jan-Henrik Meyer (NTNU Norway) –HoNESt project: History of Nuclear Energy and Society
– Nadja Železnik (REC Slovenia) – How people perceive ionizing radiation: comparison in four countries
– Barbara Kijewska (Gdańsk University, Poland)– Gender and nuclear issues
– Martin Ďurďovič (Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) –A guide to negotiations about the deep geological repository in Czech Republic
The seminar was followed by the practical workshop on the preparation of a COST proposal in order to create a European network of nuclear energy research in social sciences and humanities.
To download:
Aleksandra Wagner –Past meets future. Nuclear energy in media discourse
Barbara Kijewska – Gender and nuclear issues.pptx
Jan Vavra –Energy demand, carbon footprint and attitudes towards climate change.pptx
Jan-Henrik Meyer -HoNESt project History of Nuclear Energy and Society
Jessica Jewell An assessment of capacities, imperatives and uncertainties for nuclear newcomers.
Martin Ďurďovič –A guide to negotiations about the deep geological repository in Czech Republic
Nadja Železnik – How people perceive ionizing radiation comparison in four countries
Živa Broder– General and environmental public opinion in Slovenia