ENCASE – A European Network of Research Infrastructures for CO2 Transport and Injection

The project aims to advance CCS (carbon capture and storage) research and technology in Europe. It brings together various European stakeholders, including research institutions, operators, manufacturers, academia, and SMEs, to conduct research in CCS and better engage with local communities. https://www.encase-eu.com/

The project includes a consortium of European research organisations researching in the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) field. ENCASE aims to contribute to a safer, more cost-effective, and environmentally friendly CO₂ transport and injection. ENCASE aims to continuously improve 7 world-leading CCS-related research infrastructures (RIs) in the consortium with state-of-the-art scientific instruments, tools and methods to be the backbone for research and development of CCS technologies.

The Open University leads the implementation of WP6 “Social Integration of RIs”. The following team from the Business School (FBL) is involved: Dr Francesca Calo (PI of the work package), Dr Alina Kadyrova, Prof Edoardo Ongaro, Prof Ali Ataullah, Dr Aqueel Wahga and Dr Alessandro Sancino.

The aim of WP6 is to support five European research infrastructures (IFE in Norway, TNO in the Netherlands, NEL TUV in the UK, INERIS in France and POLIMI-LEAP-GREENTECH in Italy) in conducting co-creation activities with the local stakeholders. Each RI, after two days of training on how to develop co-creation processes, chose a social problem they would like to address, and which stakeholders to involve. In the project funding, each organisation had a set amount of resources (financial and work hours) to work on the selected problem and develop co-creation solutions. The Open University team is supporting the RIs in planning, developing and implementing activities alongside exploring whether, how and under what circumstances those co-creation activities work.

Current progress of the activities is presented on the project website: https://www.encase-eu.com/co-creation-activities/ , which will be updated regularly.