Conference STS Perspective on Energy€¦ · • Solar power, wind energy, biomass and nuclear...

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


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)


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 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


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


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


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)


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


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


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

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Institute of Science and Technology Studies (IECyT) – University of Salamanca

Conference STS Perspective on Energy€¦ · • Solar power, wind energy, biomass and nuclear...

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