Our interdisciplinary JustH2Transit consortium started their work October 2023 at the first consortium meeting. Launching a new collaborative project meant also new collaborations and research openings. Important in this work has been building collaborative practices, such as understanding each team member’s expertise, defining clear roles and having a shared vision for the work ahead. 

 

Navigating Uncertainty Through Scenarios
One of our first major milestones was developing a set of possible futures for the hydrogen transition to help us navigate in uncertain conditions. The launch of a multidisciplinary discussion on what a justified transition to a hydrogen economy would look like, we started our Scenario work in January 2024 by asking: Why does research need scenarios?

1. Shared assumptions and starting points: Scenarios allow comparisons of the assessments made in the different work packages (WPs) and serve as a tool to frame the research questions in the same way across different WPs. 

2. Stimulating dialogue: By creating multiple scenarios—including less desirable ones—we encourage critical discussion and reflection.

3. Enhancing Efficiency: Scenarios allow us to anticipate which solutions may face resistance and which are likely to gain acceptance, even before implementation begins.

 

Strengthening Societal and Scientific Relevance

To ensure the societal and scientific relevance, we have established a Stakeholder committee and Scientific Advisory board to act as external advisors. In late 2024, we launched our Hydrogen Impact Forums (H2IF)—venues for engaging stakeholders in dialogue, raising awareness and developing social acceptance in society. 

So far, H2IF events have been held in Pori and Oulu, with the next scheduled for Joensuu in October 2025. Internationally, H2IFs were organized in Norway (by Energi i Nord)  and Sweden (CH2ESS, Luleå University of Technology). Insights from these Nordic forums were shared and discussed collectively in Oulu.

Interdisciplinary collaboration and key outputs 

The project consists of four WPs, each playing a vital role. An important note is that in this type of interdisciplinary consortium project, work is done across WP’s and organizations. WP leaders have been successfully guiding activities, and synergies between WPs have been actively identified and nurtured.

So far, the consortium has key outputs:

• 19 scientific publications

• 16 non-scientific publications

• 12 blog posts

• 7 statements to Ministries and parliament

• 17 media appearances.

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We’ve been proactive in engaging stakeholders through multiple channels and will continue to do so as more results are obtained.

Looking ahead together

At our August 2025 consortium meeting, we reviewed our past and current activities and set future goals. Beautiful Ikaalinen as a location provided us with a setting to brainstorm new ideas on how to proceed in our work. Some upcoming joint activities include having some numeric in our narrative scenarios and putting together new policy recommendations on the justified hydrogen transition. 

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The journey continues—with collaboration to a just hydrogen transition.