Bridge meeting • Monday 17 June 2019 • Berlin, Germany
Caution: this posting is dynamic, you can view its history via the orange or gray pencil icon just above.
Update: the meeting took place as indicated with 16 participants — some of the presentations will be online in due course.
The bridge concept seeks to improve the transparency and quality of analysis used by energy and climate NGOs, the legitimacy of future energy system scenarios used by energy system modelers, and the contribution from civil society to preparing for a rapid and just transition to zero‑carbon energy systems.
Details of the first one‑day “bridge” meeting in Berlin are as follows:
- Date: Monday 17 June 2019
- Duration: 11:00 to 17:00 followed by an optional restaurant meal nearby
- Venue: Technical University of Berlin, Hauptgebäude (main building), Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg), Germany
- Room number : H 3143 (H for Hauptgebäude, 3 for third floor, turn left after exiting lift)
- Host department: CoalExit group, Workgroup for Infrastructure Policy
- Location: OpenStreetMap
- Transport hubs: Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Tegel airport (TXL)
- Travel tips: TU Berlin
- Cost: no cost but meals not included
- Language: english preferred
- Attendance : limited to 25 persons
- Selection: NGO representatives will have priority and diversity considerations will apply in the event that participation needs limiting
- WiFi: probably limited to eduroam subscribers
Energy and climate NGOs are encouraged to contact the organizers and register interest. In particular, NGO campaign staff and supporter engagement staff should volunteer themselves to give presentations. It is important that this bridge has foundations at both ends!
Registration
Registrations are now open and are recorded on the German Pirate Party CryptPad service at this URL using markdown table markup. A typical entry is shown below — with the email and affiliation fields optional. If you do elect to omit your email address on the CryptPad, can you please either message me @robbie.morrison or email me with that information.
| Erika Mustermann | erika@isp.com | My Institution |
Update
The next openmod workshop at Aarhus, Denmark has a 30‑minute plenary session scheduled on the bridge concept. The session will be videoed and later made available online.
A number of official agencies are interested in this type of open analysis and public engagement and some are considering sending representatives.
Sources of funding for a community liaison manager and sysop support are being explored.
Program
The first part of the program consists of open energy system modelers describing their research and work practices:
| Presenter | Affiliation | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Pao‑Yu Oei | TU Berlin | Welcome |
| Eva Schmid | Germanwatch | Introduction |
| Robbie Morrison | — | Open analysis using online communities |
| Tom Brown | KIT | What are open energy models and what can they contribute? |
| Jens Weibezahn | TU Berlin | OPSD open power system data project and community curation |
| Ludwig Hülk | RLI | Open energy data in the Energiewende |
The second part of the program will be energy and climate NGOs sharing their experiences and expectations regarding energy analysis and position formation. That part of the program is currently under development, in part awaiting interest from the NGOs themselves.
| Presenter | NGO | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Eva Schmid | Germanwatch | NGO perspective |
| Felix Reitz | Europe Beyond Coal | Analytical challenges |
The third part will be a discussion among participants on opportunities going forward.
| Presenter | Affiliation | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Christian Winzer | ZHAW | COST grant application (by video) |
The openmod COST grant application is work‑in‑progress to obtain seek funding to improve the reach and diversity of the openmod community. More information can be obtained by filtering openmod forum topics using the cost‑grant tag. The video link is scheduled for 16:00.
Optionally, participants can decamp to the Café Hardenberg around 18:00 to continue discussions, 8 minutes away by foot.
Abstracts
Open analysis using online communities : Robbie Morrison : Three decades of open source software development have pioneered a social model, a legal context, and a number of tools for effective online collaboration. This presentation reviews that journey and how it might apply to the open analysis of future energy systems. Two community architectures will be presented for consideration: satellite communities somewhat aligned to individual NGOs and a single community that undertakes common‑pool analysis on behalf of all.
What are open energy models and what can they contribute? : Tom Brown : I will give a quick overview of what “open energy modelling” is and why openness in energy modelling is important. I will review the current state of the modelling community, where it is headed, and what it can offer to help NGOs and the wider public understand the solutions to our energy challenges.
Open energy data in the Energiewende : Ludwig Hülk : What are the main challenges and current tools for open data in energy research? I will present the Open Energy Platform (OEP), community‑driven database, used to publish and reuse data sets. In addition, I will show the concept of Stakeholder Empowerment (StEmp) tools to foster Open Science and Citizen Science. These are interactive web interfaces that can be used to directly connect science and allied organizations, including NGOs.
Restaurant meal
We can go to the following restaurant to get together after the event proper has finished:
- Café Hardenberg
- Hardenbergstraße 10, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg), Germany
- OpenStreetMap
- booked for 18:00 start
- vegetarian and vegan options, main dishes start at €7
- open until midnight
Flier
The one‑page elevator pitch has been updated. Please download this version and circulate it as you see fit.
Release: 08
Date: 18 April 2019
ngo-bridge-mid2019-pitch.08.pdf (676.6 KB)
Dialog
This thread (officially a topic) is not just for information but also for discussion. Please continue to engage below. You will need to register for the site and your first post only will be subject to moderator approval. You can also set the notification status near the bottom of this page to “watching” if you want to receive email advice when others contribute.
On behalf of the organizers, Eva Schmid (Germanwatch), Pao‑Yu Oei (CoalExit group), Felix Reitz (Europe Beyond Coal), and myself, Robbie Morrison (no institutional affiliation).