Energy Foresight Network - European Foresight Network Energy

The aim of the European Futures Network Energy - EFONET was to further develop futures research in the energy sector at European level in order to support the strategic objectives of European energy policy.

This was primarily a networking activity within the 14 participating partners and other associated institutions from 19 countries with a broad circle of other experts from research, politics, administration, industry and civil society. To this end, 18 thematic workshops and a final conference were organised. The results were documented in the form of "policy briefs", which were specially tailored to users of futures research. In addition, a series of country reports were produced, which presented the current status of futures research methods and their application in the EU.

Five subject areas were addressed:

1. Methodological approaches to European futurology in the energy sector
2. Energy efficiency strategies
3. Future research in the transport and mobility sector
4. Scenarios and the integration of energy technologies
5. Acceptance and framework conditions for new and more efficient energy technologies

The IZT worked on the topic of methodological approaches to European futurology in the energy sector. The question here was: "How can methods of futurology be further developed in order to achieve a truly European energy futurology?" The starting point was an analysis of the needs as formulated by politicians and decision-makers from industry. Experiences from national futures research projects were also analysed. Particularly with regard to new methodological approaches, which are increasingly participatory, it was analysed whether and how these could be transferred to a European level and how language problems could be bridged and different cultural backgrounds addressed. Finally, a focus was placed on the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods. The scenario specialists from Shell AG and experts from the "Office of Technology Assessment at the European Parliament" (STOA - Scientific Technology Options Assessment) were successfully recruited for this area.