Participation processes can make a signifikant contribution to increasing the acceptance and acceptability of policy measures in society as a whole. However, existing participation formats often stand side by side without any connection. The experience of recent years shows that, on the one hand, more participation processes are being initiated for renewable energy (RE) projects and also for grid expansion; on the other hand, however, it is also becoming clear that the hoped-for correlation between acceptance and participation "more participation = more acceptance" does not simply arise directly, but depends on various framework parameters. Thus, solving the challenges of the energy transition requires active behavioral decisions and investments by individuals and organizations in numerous places, as well as acceptance of these decisions.
With the help of an interdisciplinary approach from political science, socio-psychological and communication science research approaches, relevant and current participation processes, especially at the federal and state level in different sectors of the German energy transition / Energiewende, will be identified, categorized and evaluated (empirical analysyis).
Building on this, the project focus is the presentation of an overarching energy transition participation approach with a view to the socio-political level: The aim of the project is the development of a sector- and level-integrative participation concept.
In this way, the dimension of socio-political acceptance, i.e. the overarching social climate in the context of the energy transition discourse, is also to be illuminated. In this sense, the research project addresses the lack of a "meta-governance", i.e. an overarching political and societal directional debate and orientation for overall societal transformation processes such as the energy transition.
However, an orienting perspective appears to be indispensable and represents an important basis for making not only the dimension of social-political acceptance but also the local level or, for example, the acceptability of implementation projects from the perspective of individual actors the central building block in the co-design and joint development of transformation paths.
The task of the Environmental Psychology departement of IZES gGmbH is to participate in all 5 work packages, and in particular to lead WP 2 on the identification and analysis of target groups and actors, as well as to lead WP 4 on the conception of a societal transition participation process.
Project partners
- Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI (Projektkoordination)
- Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien e.V. (AEE)
Funding body
FKZ 03EI5232B