This book discusses how citizens can participate more effectively in sustainability science and environmental policy debates. It discusses designs for participatory procedures, and experiences of ...their application to issues of global change. While the focus is on citizen participation, the involvement of specific stakeholders - including water managers and venture capitalists - is also addressed. The book describes how focus group methods were combined with the interactive use of computer models into new forms of participation, tested with six hundred citizens. The results are discussed in relation to other important topics, including greenhouse gas and water management. By combining this with an examination of issues of interactive governance and developing country participation, the book provides state-of-the-art, practical insights for students, researchers and policy makers alike.
This book discusses how citizens can participate more effectively in sustainability science and environmental policy debates. It discusses designs for participatory procedures, and experiences of ...their application to issues of global change. While the focus is on citizen participation, the involvement of specific stakeholders - including water managers and venture capitalists - is also addressed. The book describes how focus group methods were combined with the interactive use of computer models into new forms of participation, tested with six hundred citizens. The results are discussed in relation to other important topics, including greenhouse gas and water management. By combining this with an examination of issues of interactive governance and developing country participation, the book provides state-of-the-art, practical insights for students, researchers and policy makers alike.
In the beginnings of climate change policy, results from the natural sciences were essential for motivating the establishment of global change diplomacy. At present it is increasingly being ...recognised that these results must be combined with findings from the social sciences if effective climate policy is to emerge. In particular, participatory techniques for the involvement of stakeholders, ranging from ordinary citizens to business people, are needed. The paper presents the methodology of Integrated Assessment (IA)-Focus Groups, designed primarily for involving citizens in Integrated Assessments of complex issues like climate change. It focuses on collages produced by European IA-Focus Group participants faced with alternative possibilities of energy use. The results suggest that citizens across Europe see strong reductions of current levels of energy use as more desirable than a business-as-usual perspective. Moreover, they indicate that the opinion formation by citizens is by no means restricted to unambiguous stereotypes. We relate these findings to the concept of `reflexive modernisation', stressing the importance of uncertainty and ambiguity in environmental debates. Implications for representing uncertainty in IA models are discussed.
Lienen et al demonstrate the latest prototype developments and highlight the role of natural gas as a bridge toward future transportation in the Swiss industrial region of Basel. They also discuss ...the environmental impacts of mobility, in which the Basel region is experiencing with a high standard of living.
Increased personal mobility has come at a high environmental cost to air quality and global climate stability. The Swiss industrial region of Basel has adopted a pilot program addressing the ...feasibility of natural gas as a transportation fuel. The program will demonstrate prototype developments and show how natural gas leads the way to biogas-based fuels. It will also provide incentives for consumer purchases of natural gas vehicles. The program is driven by a public-private partnership. Interactive project development, technology development, and pilot and demonstration projects are summarized.
Options for creating synergies between venture capital investment and European climate policy were explored in a recent policy exercise study, including a workshop involving representatives of the ...European venture capital community and of young technology companies, and a subsequent round of interviews with representatives of the European Commission. This article concentrates on findings from the study pertaining to questions of European harmonization. If policy measures for supporting venture capital investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy innovations were implemented, should this be done at the European or at the member state level? The results of the study indicate that representatives of the private sector see this question rather differently from European policymakers.
Involving the Public in Climate and Energy Decisions Kasemir, Bernd; Schibli, Daniela; Stoll, Susanne ...
Environment : science and policy for sustainable development,
04/2000, Volume:
42, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
It is essential for public and corporate decision makers to know what dimensions of a strategic issue are important to the public. Contends that European citizens see catastrophic climate impacts as ...quite possible and do not view scientific uncertainty as a reason for not taking action. (Contains over 20 references.) (WRM)
