Economy & Society
The ITE focuses on policy and governance at various levels and on social acceptance of the transformation of the energy system. The issues range from the acceptance of energy generation, conversion and storage technologies to the activation of the population for energy-related renovation measures in their own homes and questions relating to the need for skilled workers. In particular, the social dimensions of hydrogen as a pillar of the energy transition are also being researched. In addition, the working group implements various educational formats on the topics of renewable energies, energy storage and sector coupling.
Economy & Society
Teaching and research focus
One focus of the ITE is on sector coupling, i.e. the integration of renewable energies into the various areas of production and consumption. Due to the decentralized nature of these processes, acceptance and local governance play a key role here. While the technological transformation of the energy system can be understood as a temporally directed and spatially localized innovation process, from a social science perspective it can be seen that complex social influences also affect the technological transformation. This ranges from the acceptance of energy generation and conversion technologies to the activation of the population for energy-related renovation measures in their own homes, neighborhoods or villages, for example, to sufficient consumption patterns and lifestyles.
From the range of topics, the Economy and Society research group focuses on the following social aspects of sector coupling:
Active and passive acceptance
- of energy transition technologies, in particular energy generation, efficiency and conversion
- of stakeholder constellations and networks
- Public representation and perceptions of the energy transition
local governance
- Co-production of energy efficiency and production (heat transition)
- Integrated municipal energy measures
- Skilled labor requirements
- Learning and education in the transformation of energy systems
This includes surveys (e.g. following the Technology Acceptance Model or the Theory of Planned Behavior) and network analyses, such as of online communication or supply chains, as well as qualitative studies (such as content, framing and argumentation analyses). By combining these methods, the group covers numerous fields of application for local authorities and private individuals in the context of the transformation of our energy system.
Economy & Sustainability
Teaching and research focus
The research focus deals with the interaction between business management aspects on the one hand and the transition to sustainable business practices in companies and public institutions on the other. This concerns both the management level (decision-making and implementation) and the reporting level. In addition to questions relating to the economic efficiency of processes and activities in connection with the transformation, the focus is primarily on questions relating to sustainability and, in particular, sustainability reporting. The latter will gradually become mandatory over the next few years for a large group of SMEs in the private and public sectors (several tens of thousands of companies in Germany); however, their reporting obligations will also have a wider impact on smaller companies.
