
On Thursday 23 September 2021 the End Conference of the ENSYSTRA Project will take place. This conference, organised by the ENSYSTRA consortium, will focus on the feasibility of the EU strategy and targets for the North Sea. What are the opportunities and obstacles to reach the goals set for the North Sea in the EU’s future energy system? What are crucial elements for optimally using the potential of the North Sea region and how does a supra-national or European view contribute to overcoming barriers and giving a boost to the drivers?
Multidisciplinary approach
Over the past three years, a unique intersectoral collaboration between 6 high ranked universities and 23 business partners and research institutes joined forces to shed light on these issues. The complexity of the new emerging North Sea energy system requires both a multidisciplinary- and intersectoral approach of the energy transition. Therefore, researchers from different disciplines have worked together to find crucial connections between different methods and modelling approaches in energy system modelling, new technology developments, social aspects and behaviours and policy and market design.
International research collaboration
During this conference we present and discuss the results of this international research collaboration. Targeted at the interface of policy and science, fellow scientists, policy makers, business partners and other key stakeholders like TNO, Norgwegian Energy Partners and Lyse will be present. The programme contains a number of high-level key notes from policy and business, young scientists will present the latest state of the art scientific insights and a high-level panel with perspectives from policy, business and academia from Chalmers University, Port of Amsterdam and the University of Groningen.
About ENSYSTRA
The North Sea energy transition requires that technical sciences, social sciences, and the humanities work together. In the past 4 years, ENSYSTRA trained 15 early stage researchers (ESRs) in all aspects of energy systems transition to become experts in the front line of the energy transition.
The ENSYSTRA researchers intensively interact with each other through joint research and collaboration between the partnering universities and research institutions. Each ESR is appointed as a PhD candidate at their hosting university and is being trained in state-of-the-art science in each of the relevant fields of energy system analysis, and is being guided in how to combine methodologies, data, and insights from those disciplines. Key of the programme is the crucial connections between different methods and modelling approaches in energy system analysis, technology development, actor behaviour and in the interplay with markets and regulatory frameworks.

Practical information
Location
The physical location of the conference is Leonardo Hotel in IJmuiden. Due to the COVID-19 measures, you can choose if you want to participate in the conference physically or via an online platform. There is a limited number of people allowed for physical participation, so please make sure to apply before 9 September 2021.