Mapping meaningful places as a tool for participatory planning of renewable energy projects

• Research unit: COST
• Project number: C15.0108

Key words (English)

Place meaning; place attachment; PPGIS; mixed methods; experimental interventions; public participation; renewable energy; wind park; planning

Research programs (English)

COST-Action TU1401 - Renewable Energy and Landscape QualitY (RELY)

Short description (English)

Most European countries aim to increase their RE-production to mitigate climate change. Although there is a high public support for RE, actual projects increasingly meet local opposition. Recent studies revealed that this opposition was mainly motivated a) by the lack of fit between the meanings they associated with the site area and the meanings they associated with the project and b) by a lack of residents' involvement in the planning of the projects. Including residents’ place meanings into a participatory planning of RE-projects might be a promising way to increase the acceptance of RE-projects. So far, however, it is not known which kinds of place meanings are most sensitive for residents’ acceptance of RE-projects, and to which extent mapping and exchanging these place meanings contributes to find better accepted project alternatives. To answer these open questions the planned project will a) explore and map the meanings stakeholders and local residents associate with places within the area of designated wind parks combining qualitative interviews, PPGIS and standardised surveys, b) investigate the relationship between these places and preferred wind turbine sites, and c) evaluate the contribution of different interventions of exchanging these mapped meaningful places to finding a consensus for better accepted project alternatives. The findings will be used to develop an instrument for integrating place meanings into the participatory planning of RE-projects.

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise: Eidg. Forschungsanstalt WSL Abteilung Landschaft und Gesellschaft Gruppe Sozialwissenschaftliche Landschaftsforschung

Partners and International Organizations (English)

AT; BE; HR; CZ; DK; EE; FI; FR; MK; DE; EL; HU; IS; IE; IL; IT; LV; LT; MT; NL: NO; PL; PT; RO; RS; SI; ES; SE; TR; UK; CA

Abstract (English)

See short description

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C15.0108