Citizen Deliberation

In November and December 2020, a total of 88 randomly selected citizens from across the country discussed in nine discussion panels what is particularly important to them for implementing the transformation of transport and electricity. In each session, people from a particular city or region met digitally. The aim of the online discussion rounds was to work out the diverse goals, priorities and needs, but also the challenges, concerns, conflicts and hurdles in shaping a climate-friendly transport and electricity sector. Of particular importance in the conversations were the underlying values and norms of the participants: Why are certain goals or challenges particularly important, and how can we jointly deal with different priorities and needs? The focus was thus on getting to know and understanding each other – between the participating citizens and with the Ariadne researchers.

The online discussions were recorded by the Ariadne team and the citizens‘ positions were subsequently structured into argumentative maps: Thus, the main points of the discussions were identified, and the corresponding arguments were gathered in the pros and cons. The aim was therefore not to determine the majority positions of the citizens, but to create an orderly overview of the most diverse opinions as possible. The discussions on the transport turnaround were divided into three main areas with a total of 16 topics. In the case of the power transition, there were also three focal points with a total of 20 topic areas. What is particularly important to the citizens was then reflected on with the Ariadne researchers on the basis of these overviews and integrated into the scientific work. The positions of the citizens were summarized in a report (in german only).

The Ariadne research reflected on the positions of the citizens from the online discussion panels in joint conversations and then incorporated them into the different research approaches of the work packages on the transformation of transport and electricity. One-day workshops were then held for both topics in spring 2021, bringing together researchers and people in direct exchange to clarify open questions. For this purpose, participants from the online discussions were invited and assembled into a group of around 20 people per topic, which reflected the diversity of regions and backgrounds of the people from the online discussions as accurately as possible.

During the workshops, the Ariadne researchers introduced their research approach on the objectives and problems from the discussion rounds to the participants from the online discussions, and what answers they are working on. Participants were able to comment and ask questions. But scientists also had the opportunity to ask whether they had understood the positions of the citizens correctly or how, from their point of view, conflicting arguments or conflicting goals could be dealt with. The scientific community calls such a joint working process between researchers and non-scientific participants „co-creation“.

In two citizen conferences in November 2021, citizens were presented with policy paths for implementing the electricity and mobility transition, which were drawn from the focal points of the online discussions and the research results of Ariadne research. Around 50 people from across Germany came together to reflect in direct and personal exchange which impact the different political measures would have on individual lives but also on the community, and how they evaluate policy options for climate protection. For the group of participants, people from the online discussion rounds were invited again, as well as randomly selected citizens from all over Germany were contacted.

In the framework of the citizen conferences, the main aim was to shed light collectively on the effects of various measures, to record the assessments of civil society and to explore possible areas of agreement on concrete policy options that may exist despite differing values. Exploration modules (in german only) were used to start the discussions. The results of the citizen conferences were summarized in reports (in german only).

Upon completion of the citizen‘ conferences, the citizens‘ evaluations and assessments of the proposed policy alternatives are incorporated into Ariadne’s further research work. The advantages and disadvantages of the instruments discussed and identified by the participants will be merged into possible pathways to achieve the goal of climate neutrality in the sectors of transport and electricity. The policy paths will be presented at a citizen summit in 2023. They provide orientation knowledge for political decision-makers combining expert knowledge of the impact of the instruments with the values and perspectives of citizens.

Deliberation means “consultation”, “consideration”. A deliberation process is about people coming together under fair conditions, exchanging their different views and arguments, weighing them up and learning from each other. Joint decisions should not be based on majority voting, but on convincing arguments that are discussed together in a process of understanding

In the Ariadne project, citizens are involved from the very beginning and throughout the entire course of the project on issues related to the energy and mobility transitions. There is a continuous alternation between citizen events, such as the online discussions and the citizen conferences, and Ariadne research phases. The focus is on a common understanding of the challenges and solutions of the energy transition.

Citizens cannot register themselves for one of the participation formats, but are invited on the basis of a lottery procedure. For this purpose, people are randomly selected from the population registers and compiled on the basis of population data in order to obtain a most representative picture of the population as possible. These people are then invited and can register for the various formats. For the citizen conferences and the citizens‘ summit, participants from the previous participation formats can also register again.

In the Ariadne project, the citizens‘ perspective plays an important role from the very beginning, since the results of all participation formats flow directly into the Ariadne research. The overall result is that the project provides policymakers with options for action that both reflect the results of scientific research and are endorsed by society.

Please contact ariadne@ifok.de for questions about the participation formats.
If you have general questions about the Ariadne project and research, please write to ariadne-presse@pik-potsdam.de.