Conference STS Perspective on Energy€¦ · • Solar power, wind energy, biomass and nuclear...
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Conference STS Perspective on Energy
The Unsuccessful Experience of "Consensus Conferences on
Alternative Energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.
Ana Cuevas Badallo, Tamar Groves, Jorgelina Sannazzaro
Institute of Science and Technology Studies (IECyT) – University of Salamanca
• General Goal • Methodology
approach • Previous
experiences
About Consensus Conferences
• Solar power, wind energy, biomass and nuclear energy
About the theme of our consensus conference “alternative energy”
• Possible interpretations of failures
Final Thoughts
The unsuccessful experience of "Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.
Castilla y León Spain
Is an autonomous community in north-western Spain.
Castilla y León in Spain
Spain in Europe
Population (2011) Total: 2,558,463
Density: 27/km2 (70/sq mi) Pop. Rank: 6th
Percent: 5.42% of Spain
Castilla y León
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
General goal
Promote citizen participation in debates of science and technology issues, particularly in the current controversies over energies. This would help us to ü Expand the concept of democratic participation ü Improve citizens’ knowledge about energy issues ü Enrich scientists’ knowledge with specific contextual elements provided by
the citizens participating in the conferences
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
Aim
Discuss two kinds of sources of alternative energy:
Renewable energies and on nuclear energy To do this we consider necessary to carry out two consensus
conferences, their objective is
ü to understand of the different perspectives of local citizens ü to provide them with the opportunity to voice their own ideas
about these issues.
Methodology: What are consensus conferences?
ü Consensus conferences were originated in Denmark in the 1980s ü The Danish Board of Technology had acted as inspirer and
consultant for conferences based on the Danish model held in such countries as Holland, England, France, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea and Israel.
ü They are made up of a panel of citizens who question expert
witnesses on a particular topic at a public conference Description: ü The panel is given time to get prepared before the actual
conference so they can come to the topic as better informed citizens
ü Panel members receive a detailed information pack and attend
preparatory events (usually two, held at weekends)
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
ü The initiative belongs to the citizens: they are who define what
the key points of the debate will be, including the choice of questions, selection of the witnesses, they make their own final conclusions
ü The press and public are able to attend the main hearing ü At the end of the conference, the panel produces a report
outlining conclusions and recommendations that are then circulated to key-decision makers and the media
ü The process is usually run by an organization with no stake in
the outcome to limit bias.
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
Consensus Conferences Used as
ü as a way of including the views of the general public into the
assessment of new scientific and technological developments ü a form of citizen participation which is particularly suitable
for involving citizens in decision making on complex and highly technical issues otherwise requiring specialist knowledge
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
Suitable participants
ü A citizens' panel usually consists of between 10-20 people, is
chosen to reflect a variety of socio-demographic criteria ü Panel members should not have any significant previous
involvement with the conference topic, they are there to take part as citizens, not as professionals or specialists
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
Time Requirements
ü usually lasts for three days
ü ensuring that the relevant experts can attend as witnesses usually requires contacting them well in advance of the events
When To Use / What It Can Deliver: ü can be used to deal with controversial issues at a national level
and with issues that are complex or expert dominated in general
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
Strengths
ü Good public outreach if run well ü Open and transparent process which encourages increased trust ü More control over subject matter and witnesses than is common in
Citizens' Juries and Deliberative Polling
Weaknesses ü Expensive ü The small sample of people might exclude minorities.
The participation of experts and citizens
ü Experts are “facilitators” for citizens to learn and improve their
knowledge
ü Rather than providing technical answers aimed at resolving political discussions, their task is to assist citizens in their efforts to understand new situations
ü The most complicated and arduous task is to express
information about complex scientific issues in language which is accessible for “average” citizens.
Ø In the academic literature it was concluded that the consensus conference model "travels well" (works in multiple national and socio-cultural contexts), nevertheless in our case it wasn´t so. During our project we detected several problems that will be discussed further.
The theme of our consensus conference “alternative energy” in Castilla y León, Spain:
Solar power, wind energy, biomass and nuclear energy
“Alternative energy” in Castilla y León, Spain: Renewables also suffer from certain problems
Many of them produce energy which is not constant
ü solar panels and photovoltaic cells yield when weather permits and wind turbines rely on wind energy (kinetic energy), which is not always available, to move their blades and transform it into mechanical energy ü both also are opposed by some groups because of their impact on the environment – e.g. bird preservationist groups, who have stressed the danger posed by wind turbines to certain birds ü biomass has also attracted its share of controversy: there is a question-mark over its actual performance, devoting farmland to energy crops results in a decrease in the area given over to food production and process of deforestation continues.
“Alternative Energy” in Castilla y León, Spain
The “Trama Solar” or “Solar Plot”
ü This was a political scandal that implicated several government
employees and several politicians who held public offices in León
and Zamora (two of the provinces in Castilla y León), which came to light in 2008.
ü They were accused of improperly awarding permission to build and operate photovoltaic plants in their provinces.
ü Regional Government intervened and started disciplinary proceedings against those government employees.
“Alternative energy” in Castilla y León, Spain: In the throes of political and social controversy
about a nuclear plant: the Central Garoña
ü the government decided that the plant should close in 2013: six years earlier than recommended by the CSN (Nuclear Safety Council)
ü in July 2009, a governmental decree was handed down, postponing the closure and dismantling of the plant for four years (until 2013)
ü in order to fulfill the technical requirements of the Nuclear Security Council, they would need to invest around 120 million Euros (the international-scale challenges that the Fukushima accident has raised)
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
The design of the proyect was divided into six phases: (Only the first two phases were completed) 1st Phase – “Preparation” 2nd Phase – “Recruitment of collaborators” 3rd Phase – “Citizen meetings”; 4th Phase – “Public forum” 5th Phase – “Deliberation” 6th Phase – “Dissemination of the results”
The Implementation Phase
1st Phase: Preparation
We started by consulting different stakeholders, for a more comprehensive description of the problem that we were going to consider. In order to do so, we contacted members of sectors such as energy companies, scientists and technologists involved in the development of innovations in the field, and environmental groups.
2nd Phase: Recruitment of Collaborators
Step 1 of Phase 2:
The recruitment of a set of instructors/researchers to collaborate in the development of the material and the various tasks to be carried out
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
2nd Phase: Recruitment of Collaborators
Step 2 of Phase 2: Recruitment of Citizens
ü place advertisements in major newspapers in the different provinces of Castilla y León requesting citizen participation in a number of sessions to address energy problems, asking them to send a short letter or email explaining the reasons why they were interested in the subject
ü to choose around 15 members who were sociologically representative of the region, ensuring that all nine provinces were represented
"Consensus Conferences on alternative energy" in Castilla y León, Spain.”
The Consensus Conference which did not take place
The number of calls and written communications received was surprisingly scant
and
Neither the number of citizens who responded to the call was significant, nor did the respondents fit the required profile to form part of the sample.
then
The Committee decided to contact the Federation of Neighborhood Associations of Salamanca and ask them for cooperation. But this initiative did not yield good results either.
What has happened with the “Consensus Conferences on alternative energy” in Castilla y Leon, Spain?
Possible Interpretations
Ø Although we used the procedure recommended in the academic
literature and reports of previous consensus conferences, it is clear that in our case we did not manage to recruit citizens.
Ø That might be related to the kind of media we used in order to attract citizens. Data concerning the level of newspaper readership in Spain shows that, generally speaking, it is very low.
Ø Spain is ranked below the threshold that UNESCO defines as underdeveloped with respect to readership
Media Penetration Amongst the Population
36,4
44,7
60,8
88,9
Audience
newspapers
Internet
radio
TV
Own representation of data from source: AIMC -Association for Research in Media
Media Penetration Amongst the Population
0 5.000
10.000 15.000 20.000 25.000 30.000 35.000 40.000
Audience
newspapers
Internet
radio
TV
Own representation of data from source: AIMC -Association for Research in Media
Two issues can, at least partially, account for the low civic response to our project:
the attitude toward science and technology
The average of the indicator of the overall attitude towards science and technology across Spain is 0.48 (on a scale from -2 to +2). The highest value can be found in Navarra (0.6) and the lowest in Extremadura (0.29). Castilla y León has the fourth-lowest indicator (0.39)
the cultural identity of the region
Historically, the region of Castilla y León was mostly identified with a unified vision of the Spanish state, opposed to any local sentiment of regionalism.
Final Remarks
The political context is important in connection with:
ü the dominant view on public participation
ü the kind of roles that deliberative procedures play
ü the legitimacy of public participation and deliberation in relation to the decision-making process.
The socio-historical context is important in connection with:
ü tradition for applying the consensus conference tool in the country or community in question
ü status of the topic of the conference: topical relevance and the public attention paid to the topic.
Conference STS Perspective on Energy
Thank you
Institute of Science and Technology Studies (IECyT) – University of Salamanca