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Scientific Article details

Title Citizens' perspectives on climate change and energy use
ID_Doc 75379
Authors Kasemir, B; Dahinden, U; Swartling, ÅG; Schüle, R; Tabara, D; Jaeger, CC
Title Citizens' perspectives on climate change and energy use
Year 2000
Published Global Environmental Change-Human And Policy Dimensions, 10, 3
DOI 10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00022-4
Abstract In the beginnings of climate change policy, results from the natural sciences were essential for motivating the establishment of global change diplomacy. At present it is increasingly being recognised that these results must be combined with findings from the social sciences if effective climate policy is to emerge. In particular, participatory techniques for the involvement of stakeholders, ranging from ordinary citizens to business people, are needed. The paper presents the methodology of Integrated Assessment (IA)-Focus Groups, designed primarily for involving citizens in Integrated Assessments of complex issues like climate change. It focuses on collages produced by European IA-Focus Group participants faced with alternative possibilities of energy use. The results suggest that citizens across Europe see strong reductions of current levels of energy use as more desirable than a business-as-usual perspective, Moreover, they indicate that the opinion formation by citizens is by no means restricted to unambiguous stereotypes. We relate these findings to the concept of 'reflexive modernisation', stressing the importance of uncertainty and ambiguity in environmental debates. Implications for representing uncertainty in IA models are discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Author Keywords stakeholder participation; citizens; integrated assessment; climate change; energy use
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED); Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000090116500002
WoS Category Environmental Sciences; Environmental Studies; Geography
Research Area Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Geography
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