Capacity for Assessment of Socio-economic Implications

The KUSK project has an overall purpose to contribute knowledge of direct and indirect socio-economic effects and sustainability aspects of large projects that are part of Swedish society’s extraordinary energy and climate transition. Major contemporary investments in industry and infrastructure represent a historic development that affects all of society. The knowledge and tools built in KUSK will strengthen capacity needed to forecast and understand changes in areas such as employment, demographics, housing, regional GDP, and regional energy system dynamics. This can in turn support broader societal understanding of the implications of the energy system transformation required to reach the goal of Swedish net-zero emissions in 2045.
An important objective within the project is to contribute to the development of interdisciplinary energy-system research processes. Reflecting this, doctoral students with different scientific backgrounds will collaborate and co-create with actors in industry and regional governance systems. As part of such work, they will contribute to the development of an energy system module that complements Sweden’s Regional Analysis and Forecasting System (Raps) so that the impact of large energy-system projects on regional energy flows and infrastructure can be better assessed.