Towards equal opportunities in public participation in environmental matters in the European Union

Squintani, Lorenzo; Schoukens, Hendrik

doi:10.4337/9781788976176.00009

Cited by 3 publications

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“…6(7)), and the decisionmaker must provide the public with information about the outcome of the public's participation, as well as the final decision (art. 6(8), (9); Squintani & Schoukens, 2019).…”

Section: Public Participation and Access To Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

Akerboom

Craig

2022

Env Pol Gov

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Despite some skepticism regarding its effectiveness, public participation has become a central facet of environmental decision making, including governments' various decisions to address climate change. However, the existing literature tends to address the general benefits of environmental public participation rather than examine details of how such participation actually occurs and how it differs among nations—even among nations all purportedly pursuing similar public participation goals. This article begins to fill that knowledge gap by examining law's key role in structuring how the public in different countries may actually participate in environmental decision making, including in unfolding national agendas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change impacts. Both the United States and European Union member states have decades of experience in writing—and rewriting—public participation into their environmental laws. This article actively explores and compares how the laws of the United States, the European Union, and the Netherlands (as an exemplar of an EU member state) structure public participation in environmental decision making in order to assess how far along the scale of public participation categories each government has progressed. It concludes that, for the moment, United States environmental law more often allows for public collaboration and empowers the public to make certain kinds of environmental decisions—although a new law in the Netherlands may soon encourage more creative and collaborative forms of public participation there, as well.

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Section: Public Participation and Access To Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

Akerboom

Craig

2022

Env Pol Gov

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“…3,7,17,30,32 The latter may be a result of public participation being just a ''box-ticking practice,'' when minimal public procedures are organized that do not provide real room for public input and/or may even marginalize certain groups in society. [33][34][35] Public participation is therefore a grand societal and environmental challenge. If organized properly, it can enhance democracy and meet the urgent demand for action to combat climate change.…”

Section: Early and Meaningful Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Participation procedures may require time, effort, and skills (e.g., public speaking), which may prevent people-especially marginalized groups (e.g., lower education, income)from participating. 14,34,35,59 Particularly at the macro level, the policies, visions, and programs that are discussed may be highly abstract, complex, and qualified by many uncertainties, creating barriers for (some) people to effectively engage in the discussion. 11 Importantly, there is initial evidence that people can engage with topics, such as climate policy and energy transition, even on a national scale, if provided with balanced information and opportunities to deliberate the different options.…”

Section: Ll Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Participation in Climate Policy Making: Toward Reconciling Public Preferences and Legal Frameworks

Perlaviciute

Squintani

2020

One Earth

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Climate policies require public support. But if people feel excluded from decision making, this can fuel resistance to such policies. Legal frameworks, such as the Aarhus Convention, mandate extensive obligations to engage the public in decision making on local projects, such as renewable energy siting. But such frameworks often overlook the macro-level decisions that affect local projects. Public influence at a project level may be limited by such macro-level decisions. A solution could be to engage the public earlier in the decision-making chain. But is this what people want? In this Perspective, we present a survey in the Netherlands (n = 1,121) that revealed that people want to participate most in decision making on local projects-exactly where their influence is most limited due to legal constraints. We propose a cross-disciplinary research agenda for studying how to reconcile legal frameworks and public preferences for participation to reach socially acceptable climate policies. ll

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“…For the three functions of public participation, it seems imperative that diverse perspectives of different people are represented in decision-making. Otherwise participatory procedures may be dominated by homogeneous groups, such as well-educated people (Hall et al 2011, Entradas 2016, Squintani 2017, Squintani and Schoukens 2019, which hinders the development of a democratic society (i.e. the normative function of public participation).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opposing out loud versus supporting in silence: who wants to participate in decision-making about energy projects?

Liu

Perlaviciute²,

Squintani³

2022

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Public participation in decision-making is widely expected to contribute to democratic society, better decisions, and higher public acceptability of energy projects. The realization of the desired functions of public participation depends, however, on who participates in decision-making. In opinion surveys about two planned wind parks in the Netherlands, we found that opponents were more willing to participate than supporters. Those who would not accept the project under any conditions were more motivated to participate than those who may accept the project if certain conditions were met. Furthermore, motivation to participate was associated with stronger negative emotions towards the project (e.g., angry, disappointed), and weaker positive emotions (e.g., happy, proud). Taken together, public preferences to participate in decision-making can affect the desired functions of public participation, as not everyone will equally participate. Our findings have important implications for energy policies primarily focusing on demographic representativeness in participation: it is also important to consider the representation of different perspectives in decision-making. Also, incorporating people’s different emotions towards energy projects can be a valuable route to effective public participation, in addition to the dominating rationalistic approach

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Towards equal opportunities in public participation in environmental matters in the European Union

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

How law structures public participation in environmental decision making: A comparative law approach

Public Participation in Climate Policy Making: Toward Reconciling Public Preferences and Legal Frameworks

Opposing out loud versus supporting in silence: who wants to participate in decision-making about energy projects?

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