Science and citizen deliberation – a promising coalition?

Abstract

Many countries, including Germany have struggled to agree on ambitious climate action, in part because technocratic policy advice failed to adequately consider the social and political consequences. The combination of science and citizen deliberation could enable a new coalition to stimulate policy learning along different climate policy options. The Ariadne Project was a transdisciplinary research project about different policy options for the German Energy Transition. It facilitated an iterative social learning process between researchers and citizens during focus groups, citizen conferences and online deliberations. As such, this case sheds light on a new culture of science–society relations. To assess if and how learning occurred, we ask whether the involved citizens and researchers have changed their understanding of policy options and of each other. We found that citizens were very enthusiastic about the new learning opportunities, and their roles within them. While researchers appreciated the new experience, they also faced challenges. We argue that despite these challenges, there is inherent value in providing spaces for researchers and citizens to interact with and jointly inform policymakers.