Governing destabilisation pathWAYS and Phase-OUT: Pluralising knowledge in support of deliberate low-carbon transitions governance ans strategies

The WAYS-OUT project is oriented by two broad questions:

• Concerning the phenomenon : How can destabilisation be understood & governed? (i.e. how does destabilisation exist as a problem? and how can it be treated?)
• Concerning the posture and its implications: What does this focal shift (away from novelty) afford on various fields of knowledge and practice?

The WAYS-OUT project is also oriented by operational questions:

1. What are the mechanisms and conditions of destabilisation processes?
2. How can the comparative analysis of destabilisation patterns be pursued?
3. How to make sense of a variety of destabilisation trajectories?
4. What governance strategies, interventions, politics are available in relation to destabilisation?
5. What kinds of knowledge & expertise become (ir)relevant in destabilisation contexts?

WAYS-OUT faced a number of difficulties. Some of these are relatively normal and expected difficulties in the lifetime of any project, while others could less easily be anticipated and hence mitigated:

Difficulties related to a pandemic. Covid-19 has deeply affected the project, notably in terms of research interactions, access to empirical fieldwork, as well as morale, hence impacting the ‘normal functioning’ of WAYS-OUT (Covid-19 had a destabilising impact). Reduced interaction 1) slowed down the training of early career researchers, notably in relation to the professional socialization process (e.g. taking part in research meetings, conferences, day-to-day lab life), 2) limited the possibilities for external collaborations (e.g. a number of organised events were cancelled, and others not organised due to heightened risk of cancellation), and 3) required a delay or re-think of empirical fieldwork.

Difficulties related to research capacity. Inevitably, individuals may move on to other pastures during their professional life. The WAYS-OUT project had to deal with a number of research capacity challenges.

Difficulties related to access to empirical data. For some of the case studies, we are discovering some unexpected issues related to access to relevant information.

Opportunities arising. We also wanted to flag out some emergent opportunities for WAYS-OUT, such as the recruitment of the project PI, which is an important recognition of the relevance of the research carried out, its significance for French research organisation, and a testimonial of the project impact.