E-participation in Local Climate Initiatives: From Collective Engagement to Measurable Impacts?

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  • Presentation speakers
    • Georg Aichholzer, Principal Senior Researcher, Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA), Austrian Academy of Sciences

  Video (starts at 37:00)

  Public participation in the field of climate policies has considerable potential that largely lies idle. Local governments in Austria, Germany and Spain have taken an innovative approach based on citizen panels collaborating on CO2 reduction supported by online carbon calculators and other electronic tools. In the light of theories of environmental democracy and sustainable citizenship, empirical research results from seven locations including both urban and rural regions are ambiguous: they indicate positive impacts in terms of support to achieving climate targets as well as particular challenges and limits of this form of technology-supported citizen participation.

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