Green Energy Jobs: Governance and Policy

GEOG70201 Green Energy Jobs: Governance and Policy 15 Semester 1 Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Stefan Bouzarovski Unit coordinator Geography 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 This course unit aims to equip learners with the conceptual competences, practical knowledge and strategic insight that underpin the policy aspects of sustainable energy systems and labour. The programme blends expert-led seminars, hands-on workshops, and case-based learning to provide the tools needed to interrogate, navigate and lead within the green economy. There is a strong emphasis on policy literacy, stakeholder engagement and inclusive innovation skills, allowing learners to apply their abilities in diverse organisational contexts. The programme provides learners with the skills to reflect upon, design and implement effective and inclusive energy transitions. This course unit aims to equip learners with the conceptual competences, practical knowledge and strategic insight that underpin the policy aspects of sustainable energy systems and labour. The programme blends expert-led seminars, hands-on workshops, and case-based learning to provide the tools needed to interrogate, navigate and lead within the green economy. There is a strong emphasis on policy literacy, stakeholder engagement and inclusive innovation skills, allowing learners to apply their abilities in diverse organisational contexts. The programme provides learners with the skills to reflect upon, design and implement effective and inclusive energy transitions. The unit aims to:<ul><li>Explore the governance and policy practices that underpin the management of energy-related human labour.</li><li>Interrogate some of the key theoretical debates that underpin contemporary practices of energy provision and demand as they relate to labour, work and employment.</li><li>Uncover the tensions between policies aimed at increasing labour force participation on the one hand, and those aiming to promote sustainable energy transitions, on the other.</li><li>Unpack racialised, gendered and ableist dimensions of the relationship between energy and labour.</li><li>Explore the subjectivities of labour among different professional profiles in energy sector governance.</li></ul> The course unit aims to equip students with knowledge and skills in sustainable energy governance and management as they relate to labour, work and employment. It is particularly suited to students aspiring to take up roles within energy policy, regulatory bodies, consultancy, and professional services. The course will equip students with critical and practical skills to address green energy employment issues faced in local and national government, non-governmental organisations, and private companies engaged in energy planning and corporate sustainability. It will enable them to connect theory with practice in sustainable futures, and develop crucial skills energy transition governance more broadly. <ul><li>Outline the main components of the relationships among low-carbon energy transitions, work and employment.</li></ul> <ul><li>Assess different forms of green energy work, assessing their implications for policy analysis and decision-making.</li><li>Critically evaluate the foundational theoretical underpinnings of the labour-energy nexus.  </li></ul> <ul><li>Apply social science methods and techniques to the design and evaluation of state policies to govern and promote green skill development in the energy transition.</li><li>Use a wide range of sources to interrogate the everyday experiences of labour in the green energy sector.  </li></ul> <ul><li>Employ relevant digital tools to evaluate green energy employment policy approaches.</li><li>Generate evidence-based proposals to address employment challenges in the green energy sector.  </li></ul> Topics covered in this course include:<ul><li>Principles and practices of sustainable energy governance and policy, focusing on the entire value chain from production to consumption of low-carbon resources.</li><li>Critical perspectives on just transitions and labour.</li><li>Global and national energy strategies for green energy labour development.</li><li>Regulatory frameworks around labour and work.</li><li>Policy instruments that shape green energy labour.</li><li>Green labour subjectivities.</li><li>Governance challenges around balancing trade-offs between sustainability, social and economic goals in energy labour.</li><li>Socio-technical complexities in sustainable energy system implementation around labour.</li><li>Labour intermediation roles within energy professional services and consultancy sectors.</li><li>Case studies of policy design.  </li></ul> The course unit will be delivered through a combination of lectures and directed group discussions.Students will attend one 2 hour session per week. The typical structure of a session will be:<ul><li>Lecture component: short presentations introducing core concepts, theories and policies.</li><li>Practical workshop activities: hands-on exercises in energy and labour governance and policy, with opportunities for group discussion of assigned readings and case studies.</li></ul>Digital learning will be supported through Canvas, which will host weekly lecture slides, readings, datasets, and lab instructions. Students will also be introduced to the responsible use of Generative AI tools (e.g. Copilot) for generating ideas and critically evaluating relevant information. 3 Report 100% Individual report submitted via Canvas; written feedback provided N Aggeli A, Christensen T H and Larsen S P A K 2022 The gendering of energy household labour Buildings & Cities 3.Apostel A and Barslund M 2024 Measuring and characterising green jobs: A literature review Energy Research & Social Science 111 103477.Bouzarovski S 2022 Energy and labour: Thinking across the continuum Progress in Human Geography 46 753–774.Goddard G and Farrelly M A 2018 Just transition management: Balancing just outcomes with just processes in Australian renewable energy transitions Applied Energy 225 110–123.Pearse R and Bryant G 2022 Labour in transition: A value-theoretical approach to renewable energy labour Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space SAGE Publications Ltd STM 5 1872–1894.Prinz L and Pegels A 2018 The role of labour power in sustainability transitions: Insights from comparative political economy on Germany’s electricity transition Energy Research & Social Science 41 210–219.Zografos C 2022 The contradictions of Green New Deals: green sacrifice and colonialism Soundings 80 37–50. Lectures 11 Seminars 11 128 The core readings and case studies for this unit have been selected to reflect diverse perspectives on energy systems and labour dynamics from both the Global North and Global South, as well as contributions from a wide range of authors. This is intended to meet the needs of the international student cohort expected to enrol on the MSc programme.The design of the assignments allows students to draw on a range of interests and strengths. This ensures that assessment is inclusive and accessible to students with different academic backgrounds.Students will be given opportunities to raise any accessibility concerns related to the course delivery and assessments, with alternative arrangements made where needed.Energy and labour issues are closely tied to broader themes of equity, inclusion and representation. These will be explicitly addressed in class discussions of just transition frameworks and in case studies examining differential access to energy jobs, and the intersectional dimensions of labour.