This deliverable is the result of Task 1.1 Theoretical and conceptual framework within the DUST Work package 1 Theory and methods. The document presents a comprehensive framework for research in and across the individual work packages of the DUST project. Guided by the concept of ‘active subsidiarity,’ the DUST project aims at an increased understanding of the participation of the politically least-engaged communities in the deliberative governance of place-based approaches to just sustainability transitions. Key concepts underlying this core objective stem from the fields of public policy, the democracy studies, and spatial planning and design. In conjunction they establish the DUST project’s interdisciplinary focus area within the wider field of citizen participation. More detailed objectives of the project are addressed in different dimensions of the DUST research. In its analytical dimension research will identify factors that enhance or hinder participation. In its evaluative dimension research will result in an index for assessing participation. In its instrumental dimension, research will test instruments for enhancing participation in democratic life at scale. In its communicative dimension research will increase our understanding of how narratives help or hinder participation and how affective two-way communication can support the emergence and dissemination of unheard story lines. The document presents theories and concepts that underpin and guide research in these dimensions.

This Deliverable 1.1 complements Deliverable 1.2, which concerns the methodological framework of the project. It is important to note that both documents are living documents, designed to evolve throughout the course of the project. Knowledge presented here will be further developed in the Tasks 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 and 6.1 which prepare research in individual work packages. A final iteration of the documents will form part of D1.3 Synthesis research report.@en