Prof. Dr. Jens Lowitzsch

Mittwoch 13:00 bis 14:00 Uhr mit Voranmeldung,
sonst nach Vereinbarung

Rechts- und Sozialpolitik, insb. Arbeitnehmerbeteiligung und Verteilungsgerechtigkeit; Rechtspolitische Dimension der Erneuerung des deutschen und Europäischen Sozialstaats
Privatisierung und Transformation, insb. Privatisierungsinstitutionen, Unternehmens-Restrukturierung und Re-Privatisierung
Einführung in das Wirtschaftsrecht Ostmitteleuropas, insb. Gesellschafts-, Arbeits-, Insolvenzrecht, Privatisierungs- und Investitionsrecht
Rechtsgestaltung, insb. Gesellschaftsverträge, Rechtsetzungsverfahren und Privatisierungsverträge

CV (EN)

Sommersemester 2026

Energy Transitions

ECTS-Credits 5/6/9 ECTS

MES modules: ZB Wirtschaft, WPM 6 // IBA modules: S-Module; Faculty of Law: Master of German and Polish Law (Module 3); SPB 5 (European Law) (without ECTS)

16.04.2026    12:00 - 18:00 s.t. 
17.04.2026    12:00 - 18:00 s.t. 
06.05.2026    12:00 - 18:00 s.t. 
07.05.2026    12:00 - 18:00 s.t. 
22.05.2026    12:00 - 18:00 s.t. 

This Seminar is embedded in an ongoing pilot project at the Kelso Institute Europe (https://kelso-institute-europe.de/), i.e., the Renewable Energy (RE) Consumer Stock Ownership Plan (CSOP) in the village of Kalitala in the Indian Sundarbans to render the problems of female empowerment tangible to the students.

Background

At the core of the project is the Sundarbans NGO “Breathing Roots” that in January 2023 acquired a land plot of 5,000 square feet (500 m2) hosting their headquarters (approx. 40 m2 roof space) where the RE installations are to be deployed. They had been active before incorporation since 2009 in the aftermath of Cyclone Aila responding to the massive devastation of the region providing relief to the local population. Grid connectivity arrived in the Sundarbans in 2014 running on low voltage which is still the case as of 2025. Although supplied 24/7 with electricity, grid instability and outages are frequent in particular in the four months before, during, and after monsoon due to failures of the distribution network's outdated grid infrastructure. However, the transition to clean energy sources is threatened by distorted competition as local renewable energy (RE) installations struggle with massively subsidised electricity prices for retail customers having led to stranded assets and abandoned RE projects.

The Sundarbans “Breathing Roots Sustainability Consumer Stock Ownership Plan" (Sustainability CSOP) brings small-scale photovoltaic (PV) installations to a tiny rural community comprising of ca. 150 families living below the poverty line (BPL) on a stretch of land endangered by progressive erosion. The project brings fourfold benefits to plan participants:

(i) provision of clean electricity to be self-consumed and sold to the local economy;

(ii) a wide array of connected economic opportunities corresponding to their capabilities;

(iii) education and training in micro-entrepreneurship empowering in particular women;

(iv)creating complementary sources of income to the villagers and their community.

Focus Female Empowerment

Women's understanding of energy usage, attitudes towards different energy sources, and awareness for energy efficiency (EE) - despite usually not being the formal head of the household - is crucial for the energy consumption behaviour of the entire family. Replacing fossil fuels by renewables at the household level avoids health hazards from poisonous emissions while electric household appliances like the washing machine reduce toil and can potentially shift women’s time use (Gershuny & Harms 2016). Simultaneously, shifting from fossils to renewables at the household level avoids deforestation maintaining valuable ecosystems that absorb CO2.

However, access to electricity is still a problem for the poorest especially in rural off-grid areas, let alone the problem that electricity from utilities may not be affordable for them or is provided unreliable. At the same time, social factors need to be considered when assessing how women could reap the fruits of electrification in terms of time use, access to information and intra-household relations as above-described gains are highly context specific (Zhang et al. 2022). It is argued that access to clean energy without considering women's empowerment may attenuate its benefits on gender equality, even reinforcing intrahousehold inequality (Rosenberg et al. 2020).

Such gender equality (SDG 5) and access to clean energy (SDG 7) have a seemingly two-way relation as empowered women are more inclined to adopt RE-services while clean energy access can empower women (Das et al. 2023). Evidence is mounting that, the two can reciprocally influence each other in a positive way (Chandrasekaran et al. 2023). This raises the question which (external) factors accompanying the implementation of RE, in particular electricity projects can mutually reinforce both desired outcomes. Two candidates are (co-)ownership and involvement in decision-making.
 
Lernziele

-Against the background of the Sundarbans RE-CSOP the seminar:

-investigates the relation between gender equality and access to clean energy attempting to identify external implementation factors that can mutually reinforce both desired outcomes;

-analyses empirical data collected in the pilot project (survey of 350 local households and local market survey);

-digests the results of the currently ongoing stakeholder engagement activities in Kalitala;

-following the Tenets of Transitional Justice, develops a project deployment strategy for the pilot project.

Leistungsnachweis

-5 and 6 ECTS: regular attendance; oral presentation; term paper around 15 pages

-9 ECTS: regular attendance; oral presentation; term paper around 20 pages 

Students are required to write a paper (80% of the grade) and present their research to the class (20% of the grade).

Upload final presentation of term paper topic by 18.05.2026 at 23:59;

Finalized term paper by the end of the semester 30.09.2026.

Registration

By 10.04.2026 via e-mail at kelso-professorship@europa-uni.de including name, matriculation number, the study program, and the exact title of the course. Please note that course registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and enrollment is limited to 20 students.

Location

The lectures will take place in our premises at the Kelso Institute Europe (KIE) in Berlin (Kreuzbergstraße 76, 10965, Berlin), and the European University Viadrina (EUV) in Frankfurt Oder (classroom TBA).

Please make sure to regularly check Moodle for course updates.