Pia Otte
When: Thursday August 27, 2015, 4-5 pm
Where: Seminar Room, 563 Castle Street
OPEN AND FREE TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES
About the talk:
The presentation addresses the long-term adoption of energy technologies in different social, cultural and geographical contexts. Most innovative renewable energy projects usually incorporate an engineering perspective when it comes to the design process and often overlook the user perspective.
End-users hence are often viewed as passive recipients of new technologies. However, within Science Technology Studies (STS) end-users are considered as active players with their own agency that will shape new technologies. In the two case studies being presented, Pia will illustrate that although the two examples are contextually different, user involvement and non-technical factors emerge as important factors in the long-term adoption of these technologies.
About the Speaker:
Pia Piroschka Otte received her PhD in Political Science and MPhil in Development Studies from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Until August 2015 she worked as Postdoctoral Research fellow and coordinator of the Graduate School “Urban infrastructures in transition: The case of African Cities” at TU Darmstadt in Germany. In addition, she was working as at the Centre for Rural Studies in a part time position where she now joins as a full time researcher starting September 2015.
Please see www.otago.ac.nz/csafe for more information.
