GET Engaged: Citizen Engagement and Areas Under Pressure in the Green Energy Transition

Will help you get involved when new energy is planned. What do citizens think about the construction of an ammonium factory in their neighbourhood or a power line through the valley? The research project ‘GET Engaged’ will help to involve residents in the plans when common areas are to be used for new green energy projects. If Norway is to achieve its climate goals, the transition to green energy is crucial. But green energy takes up space in the landscape and residents have attitudes towards the use of common areas at sea and on land. Protecting natural areas, or an undisturbed view, can be challengigng if you do not know the value for the residents. The project will, among other things, quantify the monetary value for both users and non-users of the area. GET Engaged is a research collaboration between 15 municipal partners, the Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE ), and the University of Stavanger on citizen engagement, areas under pressure and the transition to green energy. The project has been funded with 12m NOK from the Research Council of Norway and is led by NORCE. Experience shows that land use can lead to dissatisfaction and conflicts, but the municipalities are obliged to involve citizens in decisions about land use and it is important and necessary to ensure local support. However, this can be challenging to achieve in practice and the project will test new methods for citizen engagement, in order for the process to be as good as possible. GET Engaged will - examine how citizen engagement is practiced in municipalities today. - test new methods to include more citizens and ensure a good outcome of the process. - communicate feedback from citizens to decision-makers. - measure the value of the areas for citizens and calculate the social loss that comes with the development of green energy. - examine how compensations offered to affected neighbours affects the experience of social justice.

GET Engaged is about the complexities surrounding land-use decisions in Norway in the context of the green energy transition (GET) and the provision of renewable energy. Norway's commitment to reducing CO2 emissions by 2030 necessitates a shift towards renewable energy sources, yet the realization of renewable initiatives poses challenges and has significant landscape impacts. There is a dilemma between the need to protect natural areas, emphasized by international agreements, and the demand for land for energy infrastructure. This dilemma often leads to citizens opposition, especially in areas exposed green-energy infrastructure. Citizen engagement in land-use planning is legally required in Norway, but there is limited evidence on how effectively it is implemented, particularly in cases involving renewable energy. Existing evidence suggests that engagement processes are often initiated late in the planning stages and face challenges in identifying and involving relevant citizens. There is also concern that smaller municipalities struggle to meet engagement requirements due to resource constraints. Deliberative methods for citizen participation in local decision-making have gained attention for their potential to enhance democratic ideals and transparency, although they are still in early stages of implementation. Land-use decisions impact ecosystem services (scenery, wildlife, biodiversity etc.), which in turn affect human welfare. However, the traditional use of valuation methods have limitations in capturing the full range of ecosystem service values. Deliberative valuation workshops offer a promising alternative by facilitating a deeper understanding among participants on the complex links between ecosystem services and human welfare, which can lead to both more accurate value estimates and a better engagement process. GET Engaged aims to address these challenges using deliberative workshops in Norwegian regions with planned renewable energy projects.