Utrecht Energy Transition City Dialogue in the Netherlands: Inviting the Silent Majority to Dream
Editor's note: This article is a record of the talk "Energy Transition, Citizen Participation - A City Dialogue in Utrecht, the Netherlands," held by the Citizens of the Earth Foundation on May 11, 2017 in Kaohsiung. The speaker, Lai Hui-ling, has long studied green energy and is currently a doctoral student at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Two years ago, ten thousand residents received an invitation from the city government
Imagine that one day you suddenly receive an invitation from the city government, reading roughly as follows:
To achieve carbon neutrality for the entire city by 2030, the city government needs your help! We sincerely invite you to attend an event where citizens will draft a vision for the city's energy plan. The event will be held on three separate Saturdays and will take up eighteen hours of your time in total. In return for attending, the city government will provide discount vouchers for energy-saving equipment worth about NT$20,000, or shopping vouchers worth about NT$10,000, as well as free learning opportunities. ※Energy-related knowledge for the event is enclosed for your reference.
As an ordinary resident who suddenly receives an invitation to jointly draft a vision for the city's energy plan, how would you react?
Two years ago, ten thousand residents of Utrecht, the fourth-largest city in the Netherlands, received such an invitation. About one thousand people signed up to take part, and the city government then randomly drew two hundred of them. In the end, whatever their reasons, one hundred sixty-five residents chose to attend this rather experimental city forum.
Note 1: Lai Hui-ling said that interviews revealed that immigrants in fact showed little willingness to attend. Although the city government could provide full assistance with language, the immigrant communities' relatively low sense of identification with the city may be the reason for their lower participation.