As part of RE4GREEN’s commitment to fostering inclusive, reflective and socially responsible research and innovation, the Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) team recently delivered two internal training sessions for the consortium, held on 30 April 2025 and 19 May 2026, respectively.
Developed following a mid-term survey and a subsequent assessment of partners’ interests and requirements, the sessions combined expert presentations with interactive and reflective exercises, encouraging participants to critically engage with key concepts shaping contemporary sustainability research and innovation.
Ecofeminism and Intersectionality (30 April 2025)
The first training session, “Ecofeminism and Intersectionality”, provided an opportunity for consortium members to revisit and deepen discussions initiated at the beginning of the project. The session explored the foundations of ecofeminist thought, while also examining important critiques of ecofeminism, including concerns regarding essentialist understandings of gender and the need to better address material, social and economic dimensions of environmental challenges.
Participants were introduced to perspectives from feminist political ecology, feminist science and technology studies, Black feminism and intersectionality, highlighting how social identities, power relations and lived experiences shape access to resources, participation and representation.
Through an interactive intersectionality exercise, partners reflected on their own identities and positionalities, considering how inclusion and representation are addressed within research, innovation and decision-making spaces. The session also encouraged critical discussion on diversity, participation and whose voices are recognised and valued in sustainability transitions.
Coloniality and Rethinking Research (19 May 2026)
Building on the themes explored in the previous session, the second training, “Coloniality and Rethinking Research”, examined the often-overlooked colonial dimensions of the European green transition and contemporary research practices.
The session explored how the growing demand for critical raw materials required for renewable energy technologies can reproduce extractive dynamics, both globally and locally. Through a series of case studies and examples, participants examined the social, environmental and geopolitical implications associated with the sourcing of transition minerals and the role of international institutions, private finance and research systems in shaping these processes.
A key focus of the training was the distinction between extractive and care-based approaches to research. Participants reflected on how conventional research methodologies may unintentionally reproduce unequal power relations and discussed alternative ethical frameworks that prioritise transparency, reciprocity, long-term responsibility and meaningful engagement with communities.
Through guided reflection exercises, consortium members critically assessed previous research experiences and considered practical ways to minimise colonial dynamics in future projects. Discussions highlighted the importance of research practices that move beyond knowledge extraction towards collaboration, mutual learning and shared responsibility.
Strengthening Responsible Research and Innovation
These training sessions provided valuable opportunities for RE4GREEN partners to critically reflect on the broader social, political and ethical dimensions of sustainability transitions and research practice. By encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue and reflexive learning, the trainings contributed to strengthening the consortium’s capacity to advance research and innovation that is inclusive, equitable and socially responsible.
RE4GREEN remains committed to embedding principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) throughout its activities, ensuring that technological and environmental solutions are developed with careful consideration of their wider societal impacts.