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Dr Sarah Rosenberg-Jansen (ISRF Independent Scholar Research Fellow) has written a new open access article on humanitarian energy for the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

The energy needs of displaced people are a neglected area, both in humanitarian response and in the academic literature. For years it has been claimed that the literature on humanitarian energy needs is extremely limited. Rosenberg-Jansen’s paper puts that claim to the test, by conducting a content review of the topic, interviews with sector specialists, and analysing existing literature to understand the current state of play of published work on energy in displaced contexts.

It reveals a rapidly emerging humanitarian energy literature, with over 320 research publications identified, including academic journal articles and substantive practitioner research outputs. 115 Scopus records directly address humanitarian energy issues.

The analysis highlights large gaps where new evidence is urgently needed, and discusses how the future of humanitarian energy research could be informed by a range of disciplines. The paper argues that disciplinary diversity is essential to fully understand the complexity of energy issues in humanitarian settings, suggesting that there is considerable conceptual space for the development of new research within academia.

Read the paper ‘The emerging world of humanitarian energy: A conceptual research review