GfK (Czechia)

The term public engagement (PE) refers to processes that provide a distinct role for citizens or stakeholder groups in policymaking. Such engagement is distinctive because it aims to create opportunities for mutual learning among policymakers, scientists, stakeholders, and members of the public. In so doing, PE involves a particular type of voice in public debate and policymaking that is different from more established discourses, such as those expressed through official policymaking channels, scientific institutions, civil society activists, or the public media. By the early 1970s, PE had emerged in the context of an overall democratization movement in Western societies through such innovations as the “citizen jury” in the United States and “planning cells” in Germany. Today, it is often more pragmatically motivated, such as in the European Commission, where PE is seen as a tool for responsible research and innovation that helps to anticipate and assess potential implications and societal expectations of research and innovation, as well as to design more inclusive and sustainable research policies. The first global PE processes in history were created to incorporate citizen voices into United Nations (UN) conventions on biodiversity and climate change. Building on theories of deliberative democracy and tested PE practices, a new World Wide Views process was developed to provide informed and considered input from ordinary citizens to the 2009 UN climate summit. This and subsequent World Wide Views (WWViews) deliberations have demonstrated that PE may potentially open up policy discourses that are constricted and obfuscated by organized interests. A telling example is provided by the World Wide Views on Climate and Energy deliberation held on June 5, 2015, where nearly 10,000 ordinary citizens gathered in 76 countries to consider and express their views on the issues to be addressed at the UN climate summit in Paris later that year. In a noteworthy departure from prevailing media and policy discourses, two-thirds of the participating citizens saw measures to fight climate change as “mostly an opportunity to improve our quality of life,” while only a quarter saw them as “mostly a threat to our quality of life,” a result that was consistent across high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Recent research on PE has indicated that when effectively implemented, such processes can increase the legitimacy, quality, and capacity of decision-making. Earlier aspirations for broader impacts, such as the democratization of policymaking at all levels, are now less prominent but arguably indispensable for achieving both immediate and longer-range goals. The relatively new concept of a deliberative system captures this complexity by moving beyond the narrow focus on single PE events encountered in much research to date, recognizing that single events rarely affect the course of policymaking. The evolving prospects for PE in biodiversity and climate change policy, therefore, can be seen as requiring ongoing improvements in the capacities of the deliberative system.

This chapter examines the pulses generated by the emerging network-like entities that are the products of the nexus of developments, focusing in particular on commercially produced everyday products whose digitalization is changing the relative negotiating positions of consumer and producer. The idea of a rhythm-sensitive digital service economy acknowledges the emergence of new diagnostic tools and policies such as active pricing. A data economy, the move from the collection of big data to its use, seems to be among the hottest promiseware6 being offered by international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations, together with giant consulting agencies, as a critical step towards digital wealth creation, a movement that the academic audience has recognized only recently. Daily, weekly, and annual rhythms pertain to a very broad range of economic phenomena. Indirect measurements such as gross domestic product (GDP) or exchange rates are the most commonly used pulse meters with regards to economy.

from the case studies.Finally, we discuss some of the limitations of our analysis and the approach in general, and suggest ways forward. Learning from field experiments for sustainable energy systemsIn the following, we draw on previous research, in particular in strategic niche management, to illustrate how field experiments are conceptualized as important sites for learning for the proponents of new technologies, for prospective users, and for society.We then turn explicitly to existing literature on how field experiments may reveal necessary and missing competences in society. The role of experiments in creating sustainable energy systemsHow could society promote particular (more sustainable) directions for technological change?Well-known examples are R&D support and support for the deployment of technologies, such as the feed-in-tariff for solar power.However, the governance paradigm of transition management proposes a more active role for government in actively searching for more sustainable future technologies together with stakeholders.In this perspective, alongside visions, targeted experimentation plays an important role.Transition management as a model of governance relies on a learning cycle of problem structuring, visioning, experimentation, policy development, implementation and adaptation (Kemp et al. 2007, 12).

This paper reports an investigation into the provision of information on social benefits and sevices to the elderly. It was found that most agencies rely heavily on leaflets. A selection of these were evaluated and most were found to be difficult, dull and confusing; a survey of elderly people revealed that few could recall seeing them, and few professionals used them. The survey also showed that the most house-bound were the least well-informed and contact with family, friends, doctors and social workers did not improve matters. One conclusion was that much money is spent on information which is seen by just a few.