Making assumptions and boundary choices visible in energy transition planning: Critical systems heuristics for reflexive interdisciplinary decision structuring

Energy transition requires frameworks that not only optimise technical and economic performance but also critically interrogate assumptions, boundaries, and legitimacy at the outset of project planning. The application of Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) to energy transition planning is presented, demonstrating its value as both a diagnostic and developmental framework, and highlighting the role of upstream transition planning and problem framing alongside existing transition practice. The twelve CSH boundary questions are reformulated for the energy transition domain and applied to surface implicit framings and decision premises in two contrasting projects originally delivered outside a CSH framework: (i) the decarbonisation and repurposing of a North Sea oil and gas platform for green hydrogen production, and (ii) the design of a hybrid renewable district heating system for a rural community. By reframing these projects through the lens of CSH, divergences between current (“Is”), and explicitly justified and inclusively grounded (“Ought-to-Be”) framings are revealed, and the influence of such reframing on the definition of beneficiaries, purposes, success measures, and decision-making structures is examined. The analysis shows that CSH exposes narrow technocratic framings, makes visible marginalised perspectives, and strengthens legitimacy through participatory governance and broader knowledge integration. The enabling role and limitations of the system design optimisation and decision-support software tool used in these projects are also examined, highlighting how digital platforms can support or constrain the realisation of CSH-informed planning.