Complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity: Implications for European Union energy governance

Kovacic, Zora; Felice, Louisa Jane Di

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.03.005

Cited by 44 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…When applied to innovations, QST follows Science and Technology Studies' concerns for how certain technologies come to be promoted as desirable policy solutions, often as means to avoid solving inconsistencies with other governance domains (Jasanoff et al 2001). The nexus concept thus helps to signal connections between policy incoherencies and innovations, and between those and the specific contexts where innovations are deployed while adding resource nexus interdependencies (Cabello et al 2019).…”

Section: Quantitative Story-telling For Place-based Nexus Knowledge Co-creationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

et al. 2021

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The literature on the water–energy–food nexus has repeatedly signaled the need for transdisciplinary approaches capable of weaving the plurality of knowledge bodies involved in the governance of different resources. To fill this gap, Quantitative Story-Telling (QST) has been proposed as a science for adaptive governance approach that aims at fostering pluralistic and reflexive research processes to overcome narrow framings of water, energy, and food policies as independent domains. Yet, there are few practical applications of QST and most run on a pan-European scale. In this paper, we apply the theory of QST through a practical case study regarding non-conventional water sources as an innovation for water and agricultural governance in the Canary Islands. We present the methods mixed to mobilize different types of knowledge and analyze interconnections between water, energy, and food supply. First, we map and interview relevant knowledge holders to elicit narratives about the current and future roles of alternative water resources in the arid Canarian context. Second, we run a quantitative diagnosis of nexus interconnections related to the use of these resources for irrigation. This analysis provides feedback to the narratives in terms of constraints and uncertainties that might hamper the expectations posed on this innovation. Thirdly, the mixed analysis is used as fuel for discussion in participatory narrative assessment workshops. Our experimental QST process succeeded in co-creating new knowledge regarding the water–energy–food nexus while addressing some relational and epistemological uncertainties in the development of alternative water resources. Yet, the extent to which mainstream socio-technical imaginaries surrounding this innovation were transformed was rather limited. We conclude that the potential of QST within sustainability place-based research resides on its capacity to: (a) bridge different sources of knowledge, including local knowledge; (b) combine both qualitative and quantitative information regarding the sustainable use of local resources, and (c) co-create narratives on desirable and viable socio-technical pathways. Open questions remain as to how to effectively mobilize radically diverse knowledge systems in complex analytical exercises where everyone feels safe to participate.

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Section: Quantitative Story-telling For Place-based Nexus Knowledge Co-creationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

et al. 2021

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“…A notable example of the use of the term is energy security, a concept used to relate the availability of energy sources (both in physical and geopolitical terms) to the affordability of energy for a country and its citizens (Chester, 2010). The concept of security is thus closely related to a multiplicity of risks and uncertainties (Kovacic & Di Felice, 2019). The rising demand for raw materials at the global level increases the competition for scarce resources and has consequences for the European Union's security of supply.…”

Section: -Implementing the Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different options refer to different representations. Kovacic & Di Felice (2019) define ambiguity as the uncertainty created by the existence of multiple non-equivalent representations of the same issue. Ambiguity is not just a matter of different opinions, as may be the case of contrasting perceptions about the rise in the price of oil (perceived as beneficial by oil producers and problematic by oil importers).…”

Section: Ambiguitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Circular Economy in Europe

Kovacic¹,

Strand²,

Völker³

2019

Self Cite

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List of illustrations ix List of contributors x PART I Circular economy as a policy concept 1 1 Introduction: the sixteenth century map 3 2 Limits to growth: historical antecedents of the circular economy 3 Enter Ellen: the circular economy hits the European scene 4 The circular economy: a concept in the making PART II Critical perspectives 59 5 Postulating circularity: biophysical flows and the problem of entropy 6 Imagining circularity: the circular economy as a sociotechnical imaginary 7 Measuring circularity: indicator development in the circular economy 104 8 Governing circularity: how to govern in the nexus 127 PART III The future of change 9 Narratives of stop and go 10 What kind of science is needed in a changing world? 11 From the sixteenth to the twenty-first century Index viii Contents Department of Science and Technology Studies of the University of Vienna. At this department he held a position as PhD candidate in a project called "Transdisciplinarity as Culture and Practice". In close collaboration with Ulrike Felt he wrote a thesis on practices of "futuring" in transdisciplinary sustainability research. The thesis explores collectively held imaginations of science-society relations in sustainability research in Austria. It was xiv List of contributors during the time of writing this dissertation when Thomas' research started to focus more on questions of collective imagination and the governance of science and technology as well as on issues related to sustainability policy. This interest was deepened at the RWTH Aachen, where Thomas worked with the group of Daniel Barben that focused more on the technology and innovation side of STS. After his time in Aachen, Thomas worked with Martina Merz at the Department of Science Communication and Higher Education Research in Vienna, focusing on issues of quality again. This time around it was about how "quality" as a category is constructed and applied in academia. This work focused on the interplay between practices and cultures of the humanities, natural and social sciences from a perspective interested in the formation and stabilisation of epistemic cultures. Finally, at the Joint Research Centre Thomas gained experience in working in policy-oriented research at an institution that understands itself as situated at the "science-policy interface". In his time at the JRC Thomas worked with Ângela Guimarães Pereira in interdisciplinary project teams and focused on policy analysis, on modes of engagement and participation and on questions about the role quantification in policy-making. Importantly, Thomas has been involved in work that aims at fostering more engagement-oriented and participatory processes within EU institutions. This has been done through a number of collaborations with both colleagues from other JRC departments and with policy makers from European Commission policy DGs. Additionally, Thomas has contributed to a number of workshops and designed and organized citizen engagement trainings for the European Commission. It was especially in these ...

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“…Евидентно је историјско преплитање трговинских и политичких споразума и неспоразума када су у питању енергенти, пошто је трговина енергентима не само чисто економска категорија, него и значајан елемент спољне политике Руске Федерације. 21 Дефинисано је да ће се ефикасност енергетске политике Европске уније мерити на основу тога да ли су и у којој мери достигнути дефинисани стратегијски циљеви: интеграција тржишта, управљање у области увозне зависности и одрживи развој. а) Интеграција тржишта је битан предуслов за стабилно тржишно пословање.…”

Section: енергетска политика европске унијеunclassified

Strategijska kultura kao faktor definisanja energetske politike Evropske unije i Ruske federacije

Radovanović¹

2019

Vojno delo

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Complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity: Implications for European Union energy governance

Cited by 44 publications

References 46 publications

Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

Co-creating narratives for WEF nexus governance: a Quantitative Story-Telling case study in the Canary Islands

The Circular Economy in Europe

Strategijska kultura kao faktor definisanja energetske politike Evropske unije i Ruske federacije

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