Kweku Koranteng represented the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition at two international conferences last month. The first was the International Conference on Energy Research and Social Science at Arizona State University. The conference is a premier global forum for exploring the nexus of energy and society. The 2019 conference highlighted the intersection of ongoing and future changes in the energy sector and global society. Energy systems are intimately woven into every society, hence changes in energy systems reverberate throughout economies, cultures, landscapes, and politics. These changes transform human futures, even as social, policy, and market innovation create new pathways for energy technologies and industries. The opportunity to steer energy systems into more environmentally sustainable forms is thus also an opportunity to improve societal wellbeing and justice.

Kweku spoke in the energy poverty session. Energy poverty is defined as a situation in which households are not able to adequately heat their homes or meet other required household energy services at an affordable cost.

Kweku’s presentation, titled: “Transdisciplinary research approach to energy transition in sub-Saharan Africa”carefully critiqued extractive, exploitative, linear development models, underscored by classical academic framing of research which dominates development practice and research. He demonstrated the need for researchers to think differently about development research in the era of sustainability. He demonstrated this with his ongoing research in renewable energy in Ghana and South Africa, showing that community knowledge can be useful in the shaping and co-designing of research and learning. Researchers, however, require humility to learn from non-academics, an understanding of the power dynamics between actors, and a strategy to diffuse ‘power struggles’, so as to properly manage stakeholder expectations. He indicated that for unlearning to be successful, there is a need for conscious acknowledgement of the limitations of the dominant ways of knowing and the only way to bridge this gap is through co-creation of knowledge. In this co-creation process, conflict should and must be anticipated, and such conflict should be managed in a way that indicate progress towards the discovery of new knowledge as an outcome of positive and healthy engagements.

He concluded his presentation with findings which suggest communities are now aware of the role and power they possess in using knowledge to influence science, policy and social movements, leading to the transformative impacts collectively desired by all actors. Awareness is borne out of continuous learning among actors, and shared knowledge among stakeholders, e.g. SDI community enumeration with District Assemblies. A recognition of the limitations of donor support, that it potentially disrupts the local market, limits local entrepreneurship capacities and stunts innovation, hence the need to negotiate best strategies in embedding any socio-technological experiments, i.e. renewable energy technologies. Lastly, energy poverty should be framed not as a limitation to modern energy access, instead as an opportunity to transition towards cleaner viable alternative.

Kweku also spoke at the International Sustainability Transitions Conferenceheld at Carleton University, Ottawa. The conference addressed the challenges and dynamic context of the transition field and encouraged researchers and practitioners to examine obstacles to transitions processes. Kweku’s presentation titled: “Exploring the boundaries of sustainable energy transitions in resource-poor urban households in sub-Saharan Africa”captured this theme. He highlighted the rigid framing of knowledge transitions frameworks, fixation on neat data sets (often lacking or outdated in the African context); results that only appeal to donors and policy makers, neglecting the communities that are directly affected by the study. He indicated that if transition research is to be relevant in the region, it requires collective recognition of the roles of various actors and collaboration with communities i.e. defining their own pace and terms of transition. He pointed to the importance of long-term visioning and critical reflections as essential to coordinate efforts and mobilize change. He suggested that “Our future lies in our past knowledge” and raised the challenge of mapping out concrete pathways that can link the present with desirable futures. It is critical to devise ways to navigate the inevitable complex conflicts and messiness that accompany any serious efforts at societal change.

Kweku demonstrated how his research embedded knowledge in his case study; with the introduction of renewable energy technologies – boundary objects, to trigger learning around sustainability. He further indicated that the boundaries of sustainable energy transition lie squarely in the limitation of research framings, and policy formulations. It is essential to ensure that research validation goes beyond academic peer reviews and policy recommendations to tangible social impacts – embedded knowledge. Unless that is corrected, we will still end up with development goals that benefit just a few and deprive the majority of society.