Wind In My Backyard: Using holistic modelling tools to advance social awareness and engagement on large wind power installations in the EU

Wind In My Backyard: Using holistic modelling tools to advance social awareness and engagement on large wind power installations in the EU

Wind power is one of the fastest-growing, most mature and cost-competitive renewable energy technologies. But its deployment faces significant challenges due to a lack of understanding of the (distribution of) complex (positive and negative) impacts and their interplay with low local acceptance. WIMBY addresses these challenges by fostering the societal engagement of citizens and stakeholders so that wind energy gains substantially more popular support, thereby enabling its role in Europe's decarbonisation goals. To do so, WIMBY translates the results of in-depth models to assess the potential for the development of wind parks into useful and comprehensive information and tools for stakeholders, facilitating decision making towards lower impact and more participative wind energy deployment. To thoroughly assess location-dependent potential impacts, conflicts and synergies of wind power deployment on the natural and social environment, WIMBY combines high resolution spatially explicit techno-economic models under multiple regulatory frameworks, with models to assess environmental, security and health impacts on the one hand, and models to determine potential synergies in ecosystems on the other. WIMBY follows a citizens' science approach for dissemination supported through a Web-GIS interactive forum that improves upon the content and functionality of the New European Wind Atlas. On a community level, we study four geographically, climatically and socio-economically diverse pilot cases across the EU, where detailed modelling and an immersive 3D platform and a Multi-Criteria Satisfaction Analysis framework are employed in workshops with stakeholders of potential projects. Throughout the project, WIMBY deepens the knowledge of the drivers and barriers for social acceptance and develops guidelines to raise public understanding and engagement with wind power, especially promoting the uptake of new generations of large(r) wind power turbines and farms.