Constructive public participation

The aim of this project is to support an improved interaction between the public and authorities in the planning and implementation of infrastructure projects. The aim is that the public participation will be more constructive for the involved actors and the project contributes to it by developing the scientific basis for an improved interaction. The project has focus on energy infrastructure and is carried out in cooperation with Energinet.dk and relevant authorities.
Ambitious political targets on climate and renewable energy necessitates that the dialogue between citizens, authorities and developers is improved; if the planning reach a deadlock, the targets can hardly be achieved. It does not mean that the dialogue must be hurried, but that there is a need for better insight and methods in the dialogue.
In these decades, there is a lot of focus on public participation due to an increasing organization of citizens and media coverage. The organization can be both positive as qualification of planning and negative as attempts to hinder the development of infrastructure. This project increases the focus on the constructive element of citizens’ movements with the point of departure that better public participation processes should result in better planning and better solutions.