Format/Structure

This workshop explores social risks and opportunities linked to green hydrogen deployment, focusing on EU-North Africa energy relations. Through group sessions, participants will be able to bring together their perspectives to map the factors and pathways shaping social outcomes.

Long Abstract

The emergence of green hydrogen as a pillar of decarbonisation strategies raises critical questions about its potential social implications. This becomes particularly evident in the context of energy supply chains linking Europe and North Africa. While policymakers often emphasise the positive economic and technological impacts alongside decarbonization benefits, the real distributional consequences of hydrogen deployment remain unevenly explored.

This workshop aims to offer a collective, anticipatory reflection on the social risks and opportunities associated with different hydrogen development pathways. Drawing on expertise from political ecology, critical geography, foresight studies and social impact assessment research, the workshop will engage participants in mapping plausible social impacts and identifying the institutional, economic and territorial factors that may shape the different scenarios. Through group sessions and plenary restitutions, participants will be guided in co‑producing qualitative impact pathways and a list of the factors influencing social outcomes, such as resource access, work conditions and benefit distribution mechanisms. The workshop seeks not only to critically interrogate dominant narratives of green energy transitions, but also aim to construct actionable knowledge for researchers working on anticipatory social impact assessment.