A blueprint for epistemic justice in the green hydrogen economy

The green energy transition has garnered widespread support from governments around the world. However, there are concerns that the transition could exacerbate global inequalities if not pursued carefully. Osman Barghouth, associate professor at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), says the higher education sector has a vital role to play in safeguarding against unfairness and inequality in this transition, ensuring that environmental ambitions support both local and global needs.

Epistemic justice refers to fairness in the creation, validation and distribution of knowledge, ensuring that people’s capacity to contribute to knowledge is not unjustly discredited or excluded. “We are currently working on a research paper on how hydrogen governance and education support national development pathways in Oman, building on a prominent 2022 paper on hydrogen justice by Franziska Müller, Johanna Tunn and Tobias Kalt,” says Barghouth. “It notes that hydrogen policies and strategies may lead to epistemic injustice if they pay insufficient attention to local knowledge,” he explains.

“Higher education plays a critical role in preventing this through two main channels: educating the national workforce and conducting localised research,” Barghouth says. GUtech works to ensure local talent is equipped to lead the energy transition through its courses, including bachelor’s programmes in environmental engineering and master’s programmes in hydrogen economy and technology.

Its MSc in Hydrogen Economy and Technology is a prime example of how interdisciplinary curricula can support innovation. The course is designed around a holistic, future-orientated curriculum that reflects the complexity of the sector. Rather than focusing only on technical aspects, economics and policy are critical components of the programme, reflecting the geopolitical complexities surrounding green hydrogen as a fuel source.

“Studies indicate that the emerging green hydrogen sector will require over 200,000 employees,” Barghouth says. “This target is impossible to reach without dedicated educational programmes. Without them, we fall back into epistemic injustice, relying entirely on foreign expertise. We want to ensure the ecosystem is not dependent on knowledge developed and consumed outside the Omani context.”

Such programmes ensure that the countries participating in the global hydrogen economy are not only resource providers but also knowledge producers. “Our mission is centred around building local research capacity and encouraging entrepreneurship,” Barghouth says. “By supervising real-world projects, we are converting existing infrastructure into hydrogen-ready systems and ensuring that countries are contributing original research and innovation to the global stage, rather than just exporting raw resources.”

The MSc in Hydrogen Economy and Technology covers topics such as value chain, economy and sustainability from global and local contexts. With its focus on national development goals, the programme offers a case study on how institutions can strengthen local research capabilities and workforce development. It is directly linked to the Oman Green Hydrogen Strategy, supporting the country’s capacity to run operations and conduct research locally. “The programme is tailored for working professionals, with classes held on weekends,” says Barghouth. “It is highly collaborative. We bring in guest speakers from industry and organise international excursions, enabling students to travel to Europe to visit hydrogen projects.”

Institutions play a central role in bridging the gap between education, industry and policy, developing local knowledge and expertise in strategic sectors. “Universities do this in several ways, such as designing interdisciplinary curricula, forging industry partnerships and establishing cutting-edge research laboratories and pilot projects,” Barghouth says. “By linking these directly to national hydrogen initiatives, they create a practical starting point for the energy transition.”

Find out more about the German University of Technology in Oman.