This thesis explores the challenges of citizen participation in renewable energy projects in the context of the LIFE project and neighbourhood Venserpolder. The research is composed of a literature review on participation and an ethnographic study in Venserpolder and in LIFE project between February and July 2022.
The research resulted in the identification of nine main challenges, with several nuanced sub-challenges. These were divided into four challenge spaces describing the context in which these challenges arise. The most important challenge was to “Find the touchpoints between residents’ lives and LIFE project”. Finding those touchpoints will raise appreciation of participation in LIFE project and improve the quality of the participation.
The ethnographic research in the community centres of Venserpolder and one community centre in Holendrecht, provided knowledge about how residents currently participate in their community, which is something LIFE project can learn from.
This knowledge has been transferred to the members of the LIFE project team through a specially designed workshop in which the participants explored the challenges and reflected on how these challenges are relevant to their project. The workshop concluded with clear future steps the project can take. This workshop can be used further to continuously improve awareness around participation challenges in LIFE project, but also in other, similar projects.
It is recommended to explore how residents experience energy in their daily lives and how you can talk about energy, without talking about energy.