P01- Acceptance and Participation ? The Public and Transition of Energy Policies
PANEL Organizers
• Graf Antonia (antoniag@uni-muenster.de), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Germany)
• Fuchs Doris (Doris.Fuchs@uni-muenster.de), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Germany)
SUMMARY
Objectives of acceptance and participation are “at least” of two types: On one hand, the increased interest in participation recurs on a necessity for more civic commitment - resting upon acceptance - in the supply of public goods like energy. On the other hand, the discourse on civic engagement informs a discussion on democratic needs - resting upon political participation - in a globalized world. Irrespective of this heterogeneous normative groundwork, acceptance and participation are often mentioned in the same breath. Especially in the sphere of energy and the transition towards renewable energies, the aims for acceptance and participation go hand in hand. Protests of citizens against infrastructure modifications, large-scale industrial facilities and the reconfiguration of natural landscapes threaten to become an incalculable risk not only for investors in renewable energies but also for politicians and require acceptance. Furthermore, petitions for referendums to rebuy privatized grids, local initiatives for self-sufficiency via renewables, and green-grassroots-projects indicate a demand for (new) democratic tools to involve citizens in decision-making- and planning processes, in other words: the participation of citizens. Inclusive tools like technological, investive, decisional and consultative instruments differ along the range of approaches to participation and acceptance form participatory governance to citizenship. They all have to meet the different interests and (democratic) expectations of stakeholders, the technical possibilities and the perspective of profitability. Hence, this panel discusses the often presumed but not sufficiently studied relationship between acceptance and participation. It asks which kind of acceptance fosters which kind and to what extent participation and which kind of participation can foster acceptance. Papers in this panel focus on the different forms of acceptance and participation and their relationship with respect to the energy transition.
KEY WORDS
Participation, Acceptance, Transition Towards Renewable Energies
ROOM
Sciences-Po Lille, B2.8
SESSION 1 : 8/07/2015 : 13:15-14:45
Panel Chair: Imrat Verhoven (i.verhoeven@uva.nl), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Discussant: horizontal paper protocol (reciprocal comments by paper givers of the panel)
speaker*
• ‘Particapptance' – Co-constitution of Participation and Acceptance?
Antonia Graf* (antoniag@uni-muenster.de),Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Germany)
Doris Fuchs (doris.fuchs@uni-muenster.de), Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Germany)
• Smart Energy Systems, New Institutional Arrangements and the Acceptance of Energy Transition
Maarten Arentsen* (m.j.arentsen@utwente.nl), University of Twente (Netherlands)
• Nuclear Power, Development and Geopolitics in a ‘Full World': Searching for Sustainability in Discourses of Power
Manu Mathai* (manu.mathai@apu.edu.in), Azim Premji University (India)
Govindan Parayil (prof.g.parayil@gmail.com), Institute for Sustainability and Knowledge Systems, American University of Sovereign Nations, Scottsdale, Arizona (USA)
