Climate Change Discourses and Citizen Participation: A Case Study of the Discursive Construction of Citizenship in Two Public Events

Abstract

Citizen participation is a recurrent and democratically important issue in the ongoing debate about climate change. However, different meanings are ascribed to citizen participation in different contexts, ranging from top-down involvement to bottom-up engagement, thus creating tension between conflicting ideals. Focusing on public engagement and its construal in different situational contexts, we explore how citizens are discursively included or excluded from participation, as various climate change discourses unfold in two forums where local needs and global concerns interact. Furthermore, we address some opportunities and barriers regarding citizen participation in climate change issues.

Visual Climate Change Communication: From Iconography to Locally Framed 3D Visualization

“…(Moser, 2010;Moser and Dilling, 2007). For instance, dialogic, two-way forms of positive communication and collaboration seem to stimulate change more effectively (Lassen et al, 2011). In addition, Thakadu et al 2011 However, the age of the respondents was a factor in the study and the authors recommended that mixed methods should be applied when working with diverse audiences.…”

Cultural Discourses of Public Engagement: Insights for Energy System Transformation

“…While this question might suggest the development of measures of effectiveness, notions of "meaningful" participation are contextual-dependent on purposes, expectations, and outcomes of participation (Depoe & Delicath, 2004). As meaningfulness is situated, multiple, divergent meanings for public participation can be simultaneously activated in talk (Lassen et al, 2011). Government agencies might assess the process as meaningful based on the number of meetings held or public comments received yet the public very often finds these measure insufficient (i.e., far from "meaningful") (Walker, 2004).…”

Energy Transition in and by the Local Media

“…Although these three discourses are formulated in relation to policy studies, they offer a strong point of departure for studying media representations as well (see Lassen et al 2011 for an analytical application). They go beyond the distinction between science, skeptics and spectacle by focusing on the different rationalities that are employed in discussions on how to mitigate global warming.…”

“…This is not at least because whereas decision-making processes furthering sustainability and renewable energy seem to be moving slowly in international fora, many local or regional initiatives have recently been taken in that direction. Examples of such local initiatives are the 'Transition Town' movement, which began as a civil society initiative in Britain (Hopkins 2011), and the 'Energy Towns' in Denmark, where local municipalities have been a driving force (Lassen et al 2011). This indicates a need for research into the ways in which these local initiatives are mediated and how they emerge as public phenomena in and through the mass media.…”