This project about e-Participation in the context of climate change has been assigned the ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ Award from the German UNESCO commission.
The international comparative study carried out in Austria, Germany and Spain investigated the effect of electronic vs traditional participation on local climate change protection measures. The aim was to research the effects of various electronic forms of participation as compared to traditional participation, and to find out how collective engagement induces citizens to adapt their climate-related everyday practices. This project has been funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF: I 169-G16) within the EUROCORES ECRP 2008 programme of the European Science Foundation (ESF).
Using an online CO2 calculator, a CO2-book and methods such as telephone and online surveys as well as expert interviews, we investigated the following key research questions:
CO2 reduction by energy saving, changing nutrition and consumption behaviour and ecology-minded mobility behaviour is only possible with the active involvement of citizens. Hence, it is especially important to find the best ways to engage the public in this process. With its multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, the project aims at closing the still persisting evaluation gap in the field of e-participation.
ITA dossier No. 9 ("Local citizen engagement in climate protection") provides a summary of the project outcomes.
There is a widely acknowledged evaluation gap in the field of e-participation practice and research, a lack of systematic evaluation with regard to process organization, outcome and impacts. This book addresses the state of the art of e-participation research and the existing evaluation gap by reviewing various evaluation approaches and providing a multidisciplinary concept for evaluating the output, outcome and impact of citizen participation via the Internet as well as via traditional media. It offers new knowledge based on empirical results of its application (tailored to different forms and levels of e-participation) in an international comparative perspective. The book will advance the academic study and practical application of e-participation through fresh insights, largely drawing on theoretical arguments and empirical research results gained in the European collaborative project “e2democracy”. It applies the same research instruments to a set of similar citizen participation processes in seven local communities in three countries (Austria, Germany and Spain). The generic evaluation framework has been tailored to a tested toolset, and the presentation and discussion of related evaluation results aims at clarifying to what extent these tools can be applied to other consultation and collaboration processes, making the book of interest to policymakers and scholars alike.
-> Effective climate protection needs the support of citizens and companies.
-> The research project e2democracy investigated the contribution of citizen panels to CO2 reduc- tion in seven European regions.
-> The participation format led to pro-climate sensi- tisation, behavioural changes and measurable CO2 reduction, but also showed some limits such as in reaching wider segments of society.
-> Wirkungsvoller Klimaschutz braucht die Mitarbeit von BürgerInnen und Unternehmen.
-> Das Forschungsprojekt e2democracy untersuchte den Beitrag lokaler BürgerInnen-Panels zur CO2-Reduktion in sieben europäischen Regionen.
-> Das Beteiligungsformat bewirkte eine Sensibilisierung, Verhaltensänderungen und messbare CO2-Reduktionen, ließ aber auch Grenzen, etwa in puncto Breitenwirkung, erkennen.