SCK•CEN Academy workshop on energy governance and the politics of hypothesis
SCK•CEN Brussels
Herrmann-Debrouxlaan 40
Brussel
Overzicht
Many scientific hypotheses are nowadays granted with a social and political function. They are prematurely released from the laboratory, without full support from empirical evidence but with a specific task: to warn the world about dangerous situations or evolutions, or to inform it about promising trends and capacities. And, whether in the area of technology, ecology or economics, in many cases, they are produced as ‘if-then’ hypotheses upon explicit political request …
The workshop will focus on the main hypotheses that drive and affect energy governance today. In the shadow of the doom of the hypothesis of human induced climate change figure hypotheses related to the potentials of future nuclear fission, fusion, renewables and carbon capture and storage. Despite of their potentially mediating character in the public social, cultural, economic or political sphere, these scientific hypotheses are hypotheses produced in the context of ‘serious’ scientific practice. Taking into account that the production and use of these hypotheses imply specific responsibilities of science, politics and civil society, the workshop will explore how they shape up and influence each other and how this all affects the scientific practices that aim to produce them.
Onderwerpen
This workshop is part of the workshop series Exploring the Science, Politics and Ethics of Nuclear Technology Assessment.
The workshop series aim to explore the science, politics and ethics of nuclear technology assessment. They do so by analysing the complexity of nuclear risk governance and by linking these insights to the question of how approaches to knowledge generation and decision making could ‘generate societal trust’. The idea is that this trust would need to be generated ‘by method instead of proof’, regardless of whether the outcome of decision making would be acceptance or rejection of the technology.
Obviously the complexity of assessment described above does not only affect nuclear technology assessment alone but also that of other applications of science and technology, such as the use of genetically modified organisms, fossil fuels for energy production or mobile phones. While the character of their assessment and of their impact on our habitat and social environment is different, the argument is that, for all of them, questions and answers related to their justification imply a critical deliberate use of knowledge and values in science, politics and public discourse. Therefore, the workshop series do not only provide better insight into the complexity of nuclear risk governance but also serve to discuss general political and ethical aspects of the role and functioning of science and technology in society.
With this general approach, each year, the workshop takes a specific focus. The first workshop, held in 2012, explored the relation between science and policy and reflected on the theory and practice of science and technology studies, technology assessment, risk governance, transdisciplinarity, mixed methods and future studies. The workshop of 2013 dealt with how nuclear technology assessment as a scientific practice affects democracy and vice-versa.
Doelpubliek
The target audience of the workshop are professionals who are active in the broad field of nuclear energy R&D, engineering, management and policy and who have an interest in discussing critical perspectives on energy policy and nuclear technology assessment. Participants will take part in the workshop together with nuclear engineering students who take the course as a part of their master curriculum.
Programma
Het volledige programma kan hier worden gedownload:
Programme Workshop on energy governance and the politics of hypothesis.pdf
Prijs
Registration for BNEN students and SCK•CEN collaborators is free.
All other participants pay 300 EUR (VAT included).
The registration fee of € 300 (incl VAT) covers workshop material, lunches, coffee breaks and the closing drink on the second day. The number of participants is limited to 14. Participants will take part in the workshop together with some young nuclear engineering students who take the workshop as a part of their master curriculum.
Your registration is only final when you have made your payment by creditcard or bank transfer. You can use our E-terminal application (https://registrations.app.sckcen.be/E-terminal/PlaceOrder?mode=1) for paying by creditcard, or you can transfer the money to our bank account IBAN BE 58 5502 7124 0079 of SCK•CEN, Herrmann Debrouxlaan 40, B-1160 Brussels. Name and address of the bank is Dexia Bank, Koning Albert II laan 30b2, B-1000 Brussels (SWIFT BIC-code GKCCBEBB). Please make sure that the payment should be made net of all bank charges and commission. Please indicate "Academy course on energy governance" and your name on the bank transfer.
Registratie
You can register by clicking on the registration button above until March 14, 2014. Cancellation with total refund is only possible up to 2 weeks before the beginning of the workshop.
The registration fee of € 300 (incl VAT) covers workshop material, lunches, coffee breaks and the closing drink on the second day. The number of participants is limited to 14. Participants will take part in the workshop together with some young nuclear engineering students who take the workshop as a part of their master curriculum.
Your registration is only final when you have made your payment by creditcard or bank transfer. You can use our E-terminal application (https://registrations.app.sckcen.be/E-terminal/PlaceOrder?mode=1) for paying by creditcard, or you can transfer the money to our bank account IBAN BE 58 5502 7124 0079 of SCK•CEN, Herrmann Debrouxlaan 40, B-1160 Brussels. Name and address of the bank is Dexia Bank, Koning Albert II laan 30b2, B-1000 Brussels (SWIFT BIC-code GKCCBEBB). Please make sure that the payment should be made net of all bank charges and commission. Please indicate "Academy workshop on energy governance" and your name on the bank transfer.