Evaluación de la cadena

Public participation

Two large developments in the field of public participation can be distinguished in the Netherlands. The first development was around the sixties, when public participation became an important topic within governments, especially in the bigger Dutch cities. On the one hand, this movement was caused by the extraordinary economic boost of the 1960s and the movements that began to resist against related developments like increased car ownership and related infrastructure developments, a growing population and thus a growing need for extra houses. On the other hand, around the 1960s, the youth went to universities and enjoyed a higher education than the older generations. As a result, the Dutch younger generations began to raise their voice about issues which they perceived as being important. The second development was around the 90s due a political win of liberal parties like D66 and the VVD, which valued older traditions different than there left winged predecessors. At the same time, different information channels like the local and regional and also (national)

commercial television came up during this period which provided citizens with more and more information (Respondent Hajema).

Recently, the governance paradigm of complex processes with a strong societal impact has changed the relation between citizens and the government once again due an increasingly complex world. Initially, society initiated the function of a government as citizens or groups of citizens weren’t able to govern the common good due a conflict of interest and due the complexity of the society that they were living in (Respondent Schuurs). However, nowadays, we live in a society that is requesting the exact opposite by asking governments for more autonomy and engagement in decision-making processes. Besides, the neo-liberal system caused the individualization of society with a focus on people’s own responsibilities and self-reliance (Respondent Schimmel).

This paradigm shift is also about a shift from a top-down blue print for (traditional) efficiency towards a bottom-up approach with local solutions. The increasingly complex world requires a government that’s able to differentiate and act case specific but meanwhile respects the equality of

Schuurs). According to Rietveld, this require an approach that facilitate the participation of citizens in governmental decision-making. Rietveld refers to the ‘Lobbycratie’, which is a term that explains the way interest groups unite and represent themselves to influence governmental decision-making. Without public participation, there is not a single party that solely represent the interest of citizens as governments represent all stakeholder groups of a society (Respondent Rietveld).

Two categories of public participation in the energy transition can be identified. The first category is public participation in policy development and governmental actions, including targets setting and decision-making processes. A second category of public participation in the energy transition is active public participation by taking energy related measures (Respondent Akerboom). Next to that, there is a difference between project participation, process participation and financial participation. Differentiating between these different forms of participation is important as many organizations and governments confuse these terms (Respondent Schwencke).

Public participation in governmental action in the energy transition

The current energy transition is a perfect example of the complex world that we are living in (Respondent Schuurs). Especially, when compared with the gas transition of the Netherlands in the 1960s. During this transition to natural gas, the government decided what was going to happen and citizens simply accepted these decisions. Nowadays, people are only willing to cooperate if they are engaged and heard (Respondent Schimmel). Besides, the privatization of the energy sector made this sector more complex by introducing a strong commercial framework for decision making

(Respondent Schimmel).

On one hand, governments should be able to act in line with the public’s opinion. On the other hand, renewable energy projects directly influence people’s lives and the environment where people live in. Therefore, citizens should be actively informed about the planning process and should have the possibility to raise their opinion (Respondent Schwencke). To add to that, by strictly following the theory, citizens should be engaged from the very first moment of such decision-making processes (Respondent Akerboom). This especially accounts for the implementation of the energy transition on regional and local levels (Respondent Buchel). Transitions like the heat transition force governments to take a step back to engage their citizens. This new approach opens up different opportunities for participation processes (Respondent Schuurs).

Currently, we are in a crucial moment of the energy transition in which the classic approach to public participation isn’t enough anymore. This classical approach refers to consultation evenings, surveys and comparable measures that doesn’t attract many people. These approaches often attract a select group of people that most often are positive towards the energy transition. However, the biggest groups of people, the ones that are less motivated to participate in and that are less positive about the energy transition, often don’t feel engaged by these approaches (Respondent Buchel).

Active participation in the energy transition

A second category of public participation in the energy transition is active public participation of citizens. For example, by taking measures to reduce people’s energy consumption and by producing renewable energy. According to Akerboom, research showed that these people often stimulate their neighbors and relatives to start with these measures as well. Citizens can also unite themselves in energy cooperatives (Respondent Akerboom). These active citizens should have an active role in policy programs like RES (Respondents Schwenkce, Schuurs, Wolkorte and Buchel).