TY - JOUR
T1 - Creating a national citizen engagement process for energy policy
AU - Pidgeon, Nick
AU - Demski, Christina
AU - Butler, Catherine
AU - Parkhill, Karen
AU - Spence, Alexa
PY - 2014/9/16
Y1 - 2014/9/16
N2 - This paper examines some of the science communication challenges involved when designing and conducting public deliberation processes on issues of national importance. We take as our illustrative case study a recent research project investigating public values and attitudes toward future energy system change for the United Kingdom. National-level issues such as this are often particularly difficult to engage the public with because of their inherent complexity, derived from multiple interconnected elements and policy frames, extended scales of analysis, and different manifestations of uncertainty. With reference to the energy system project, we discuss ways of meeting a series of science communication challenges arising when engaging the public with national topics, including the need to articulate systems thinking and problem scale, to provide balanced information and policy framings in ways that open up spaces for reflection and deliberation, and the need for varied methods of facilitation and data synthesis that permit access to participants' broader values. Although resource intensive, national-level deliberation is possible and can produce useful insights both for participants and for science policy.
AB - This paper examines some of the science communication challenges involved when designing and conducting public deliberation processes on issues of national importance. We take as our illustrative case study a recent research project investigating public values and attitudes toward future energy system change for the United Kingdom. National-level issues such as this are often particularly difficult to engage the public with because of their inherent complexity, derived from multiple interconnected elements and policy frames, extended scales of analysis, and different manifestations of uncertainty. With reference to the energy system project, we discuss ways of meeting a series of science communication challenges arising when engaging the public with national topics, including the need to articulate systems thinking and problem scale, to provide balanced information and policy framings in ways that open up spaces for reflection and deliberation, and the need for varied methods of facilitation and data synthesis that permit access to participants' broader values. Although resource intensive, national-level deliberation is possible and can produce useful insights both for participants and for science policy.
KW - Energy system transitions
KW - National dialogue
KW - Public engagement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84907225927&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1317512111
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1317512111
M3 - Article
C2 - 25225393
AN - SCOPUS:84907225927
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 111
SP - 13606
EP - 13613
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
ER -