Behind the curtains of deliberation: unveiling climate policy and behavioural challenges through a mini-public in Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT Citizen participation has a crucial role in delivering the transformations needed to tackle the climate crisis. To capture citizens’ perspectives on the issue, we use a deliberative mini-public on consumption and mobility in Spain. Following a mixed-method research design, we combine the results from a deliberative survey with a thematic analysis, being one of the few case studies transcribing deliberations and systematically identifying the themes emerging from them. Our results show how deliberation increased citizens’ understanding of the complexities of the climate crisis, as well as their willingness to commit to certain behavioural changes and accept certain policies, although it had no effects on policies recognised as unjust. The thematic analysis unveiled participants’ perceived barriers and solutions to climate action and the most common emotions linked to them. Our findings indicate that citizens feel more empowered to act on consumption, as mobility is often seen outside their remit. Moreover, citizens’ feelings of frustration with the current socio-economic system and hope for future changes deserve further scrutiny to evaluate the acceptability of alternative futures. The deliberative process created a space of dialogue among citizens and showed the potential of deliberation to contribute to democratising climate governance and action.