Methodology

Jigsaw  Work was conducted in three waves:

  1. During a scoping phase, a comprehensive review of relevant energy roadmaps, pathways and scenario exercises was conducted. Extensive consultation with stakeholders across the energy landscape encouraged buy-in and clarified the relationship between the RCUK Prospectus and other roadmaps and needs assessments related more to deployment. Consultees urged the Fellowship team to organise workshops around clusters of related energy topics, taking account of underlying research skills.

  2. The evidence-gathering phase relied heavily on workshops bringing the research community and stakeholders together. Three ‘strategic’ workshops on Energy Strategies and Energy Research Needs, The Role of Social Science, Environmental Science and Economics, and The Research Councils and the Energy Innovation Landscape were held October-December 2012. A set of six residential workshops provided the space for experts to consider technical issues in depth. These covered Fossil Fuels and CCS, Energy in the Home and Workplace, Energy Infrastructure, Bioenergy, Transport Energy and Electrochemical Energy Technologies and Energy Storage. ‘Light-touch’ activities were conducted in respect of: Industrial Energy; Wind, Wave and Tide; and Nuclear Fission. 246 individuals participated in the workshops, the majority from academia as well as others from industry, the public sector and NGOs.

  3. At the synthesis stage, the workshops reports were ‘mined’ and combined with contextual information to produce the peer-reviewed Prospectus Reports. This report constitutes a top-level document that synthesises the topic-specific Prospectus Reports, which are available online. A cross-sectoral Energy Strategy Fellowship Advisory Group (PDF) provided guidance on the development of the Prospectus and reviewed the findings. They operated along the following Energy Strategy Fellowship Advisory Group Terms of Reference (PDF)

A consultation on the conduct of the evidence-gathering phase was run during August 2012, read the Response document (PDF). An evaluation of the workshop process has been conducted by the professional facilitators produced as part of an Evaluation report (PDF).