A guide for interdisciplinary Social Science & Humanities researchers to engage with the EU Strategic Energy Technology Plan

Abstract Approaches, methods and evidence from the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) are necessary for a fair low carbon transition. Yet, the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan), a key EU energy Research and Innovation instrument to roll out and scale up low-carbon energy technologies, is intrinsically technocentric. This may be a barrier to SSH researchers engaging with the SET Plan, despite the need for their expertise. We argue that despite existing challenges, collaboration opportunities exist between SSH and SET Plan communities and will increase in coming years. After introducing the SET Plan and current SSH contributions to it, we move to a ‘guide’ format that unpacks how SET Plan processes work and, critically, how SSH researchers could engage with these processes. Throughout, we reflect on the need for frank dialogue between SSH researchers and SET Plan actors, a necessary aspect for achieving real interdisciplinarity within this EU policy framework.