Strengthening the integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in the SET Plan: Policy recommendations for SET Plan Implementation Plans

Abstract

Goal: Inform and influence future EU research and innovation (R&I) priorities to accommodate a wide spectrum of socio-economic challenges faced in transitions, with a particular focus on climate, energy, and mobility. Specifically, give recommendations on the review carried out over 12 SET Plan Implementation Plans. Context: The Implementation Plans represent the sectoral reference document for each SET Plan IWG. These IWGs report to the European Commission on the SET Plan targets and R&I activities carried out at national and European levels. Each Implementation Plan identifies priorities for R&I of the technology and/or sector, to ensure that its research targets remain aligned with the key industrial developments. The Plans are directly drafted by each IWG and are updated on a 3–5-year basis1. Methodology: SSH CENTRE partners carried out a thematic review of the current version of 12 Implementation Plans. The focus was on the extent to which Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) considerations had been accounted for thus far, and therefore what opportunities still existed to advance the integration of SSH further. The analysis concluded in August 2024, hence Implementation Plan revisions since then could not be included in this report. Results: Overall, only four out of the 12 current Implementation Plans demonstrated a ‘good or sufficient’ inclusion of SSH components: Sustainable and Efficient Energy Use in Industry, Wind Energy, Positive Energy Districts (PEDs), and Photovoltaics (PV). In contrast, the other Implementation Plans have limited (CCUS, geothermal, energy systems, ocean energy) or practically absent (concentrated solar, bioenergy, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, nuclear safety) integration of SSH components within their guiding R&I priorities, making urgent the need to improve this gap for the great majority of them (71%). Throughout the review, a pattern detected was that SSH topics were often mentioned in a wide and generic way (e.g. user integration, environmental sustainability of the value chain, user acceptance) in the overall framing of the document, but were poorly integrated or were absent from the R&I targets, which make up for the core section of the Implementation Plan. Additionally, several documents briefly mention societal aspects (e.g. acceptance, key non-technical barrier/enabler) in the first pages, but without discussing the challenges and opportunities that each specific technology will encounter when being implementing into societies. Furthermore, when SSH topics are addressed in the Plans, they are often discussed in a simplified way (e.g. proposing social campaigns to increase acceptance, or technical devices to enhance end-user integration), without recognising the variety and complexity of SSH-related issues that could have been addressed (e.g. such as citizen engagement, justice, energy poverty, vulnerability, fair business models, accessibility). The core of this report thus presents five headline recommendations aimed at strengthening SSH considerations in the current SET Plan Implementation Plans: 1. Embed societal aspects in technological development and implementation (Section 2) 2. Integrate SSH targets and indicators within the Implementation Plans, and monitor their performance and implementation (Section 3) 3. Consider people as citizens, not only as users or consumers (Section 4) 4. Establish clear links with the existing policy framework, and describe how R&I implementation pathways target these policies (Section 5) 5. Adopt a multi-scalar approach for implementing the SET Plan, with greater consideration given to sub-national levels (Section 6)