IIASA researchers are participating in a new Horizon Europe project that will develop innovative tools to facilitate citizens and stakeholders’ interaction, in particular around knowledge sharing, collaborative evaluation of impacts, mitigation of controversies, and social innovation potential of new onshore and offshore wind power deployments.
The Wind in my backyard (WIMBY) project uses holistic modeling tools to advance social awareness and engagement on large wind power installations in the EU. According to the researchers, WIMBY can pave the way for a greener and more sustainable future by facilitating the acceptance of wind farms that are both widely embraced by the public and economically viable, while acknowledging and addressing the concerns of local communities and considering ecological aspects. The project will collect real-world data on four pilot sites located in Austria, Italy, Norway and Portugal, and directly engage local communities to identify the factors influencing the public attitude towards wind power and its applications. The selected pilot cases cover a wide range of geographical, technological, cross-societal and ecological characteristics that ensure that the developed tools are relevant and useful both to wind power developers and to citizens, promoting a just transition towards future energy citizenship.
The tools will include a Web-GIS platform, a 3D immersive environment and an open discussion forum, enabling users to exchange opinions and make informed decisions. The WIMBY Consortium’s 16 European partners will share their multidisciplinary expertise to address all the points that come into play in the development of wind energy: studies of the territory, both with regard to impacts on biodiversity, landscape and communities; technical studies for the development of the most suitable and user-friendly tools; citizen science and social research methodologies to develop best practices to involve local stakeholders in decision-making processes.
