Birgit Jæger

Scenario workshops and consensus conferences: Towards more democratic decision-making

Consensus conferences and scenario workshops have been developed in Denmark within a democratic perspective that assumes it is both possible and necessary to establish a dialogue with citizens about technology politics. In consensus conferences, the citizens have the role of a citizen panel, which will set the agenda for the conference. In scenario workshops, a group of citizens interacts with other actors to exchange knowledge and experience, develop common visions and produce a plan of action. The focus of both methods is to create a framework for dialogue among policy-makers, experts and ordinary citizens. Both methods are also characterised by their ability to create new knowledge. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Borgernes stemmer i klimadebatten – hvilken vej blæser de globale vinde?

Det globale arrangement World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) var et innovativt eksperiment med borgerinddragelse i komplicerede videnskabelige og tekniske problemstillinger. Formal med WWViews var at skabe en faelles global borgerstemme, hvis budskaber skulle kommunikeres til de politiske delegationer, der skulle modes pa FNs klimakonference COP 15 i Kobenhavn i december 2009. Denne artikel er baseret pa et empirisk studie af det WWViews arrangement, der blev gennemfort i Kobenhavn. Teoretisk traekker vi pa teorier om deliberativt demokrati og teorier om borgerinddragelse i tekniske og videnskabelige problemstillinger. Analysen fokuserer pa, hvordan borgernes dialog blev institutionelt rammesat som en deliberativ proces. Analysen inkluderer saledes refleksioner over, hvordan processen var designet, hvordan forskellige typer af viden og ekspertidentiteter blev konstrueret og forhandlet, samt hvordan deltagerne oplevede at vaere en del af arrangementet. Eftervirkningerne af arrangementet, herunder relationen til COP 15, bliver vurderet i den afsluttende diskussion om den fremtidige brug af WWViews som metode til global borgerinddragelse. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Birgit Jaeger, Erling Jelsoe, Louise Phillips and Annika Agger: Citizens’ Voices in the Climate Debate: Which Way Does the Global Wind Blow? The global event World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) was an innovative experiment with public engagement in science and technology, aiming to create a ”global citizen voice” on climate change. The purpose of WWViews was to convey the opinions of ordinary citizens to political decision-makers at The United Nations Climate Summit, COP 15, in Copenhagen in December 2009. This article is based on a study of the Danish WWViews event, drawing on theoretical perspectives of deliberative democracy and studies of public engagement with science. The focus of the article is on the manner in which citizen deliberations were institutionally framed as an exercise in deliberative democracy. The analysis includes reflections on how the process was designed, how different types of knowledge and expert identities were constructed and negotiated, and how the participants experienced being a part of the event. The implications of the event and its relation to COP 15 are also considered in the discussion about WWViews as an innovative design for global public engagement in science and technology. Key words: Public engagement, deliberative democracy, climate changes, global citizen voice.