Social (in)justice within the energy transition planning: the case study of Vilnius City Municipality
While the idea of a “just transition” has become partly a colloquial term, social justice concerns are still seldom recognized and critically evaluated at the design stage of energy policy. This lays a burden of proof on researchers to demonstrate how social justice can be more effectively integrated into energy transition planning.

In this talk, I present a systems research in-action project I developed with the municipal government of Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, to assess its planned energy transition from a social justice lens.

During the fieldwork conducted in June and July 2024, I engaged experts and civil society representatives in participatory workshops and qualitative interviews, where we developed Vilnius’ energy transition systems map and distilled core typologies of injustices as they might unfold as Vilnius transitions to low-emissions energy system.

In the talk, I reflect on my emerging research insights and the role of participatory systems research in making just energy transition more actionable.
Date: 17 July 2024, 12:00 (Wednesday, 13th week, Trinity 2024)
Venue: Dyson Perrins Building, off South Parks Road OX1 3QY
Venue Details: Desert Room, School of Geography and the Environment
Speaker: Gustė Gurčinaitė (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Organising department: Environmental Change Institute
Organiser: Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: avidesh.seenath@eci.ox.ac.uk
Host: Dr Avidesh Seenath (Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford)
Part of: ECM Brown Bag Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Avidesh Seenath