Send message to Authors

Paper short abstract

This study illustrates how CIDS applied the concepts of negotiation theater to design the innovative participatory workshops on Taiwan's pending nuclear waste siting issues. The findings suggest the need for participatory governance that is responsive to stakeholders.

Paper long abstract

Nuclear waste management in Taiwan has long been paralyzed by severe social and political conflicts, indefinitely delaying the siting processes for both low-level and high-level radioactive waste.

Adopting a reflective praxis approach, CIDS (Centre for Innovative Democracy and Sustainability) utilizes Bruno Latour’s Theater of Negotiation as an artistic communicative medium to discuss the deadlock of nuclear waste disposal. By integrating participatory design with social-technical imaginaries in a pedagogical case, we are able to make the proxy for stakeholders to interact and negotiate through the simulated process. Through the deliberative negotiation process, we then further examine how diverse stakeholders—including technical experts, local residents, NGOs, governmental officials etc. perceive nuclear waste siting issues.

This study explains how CIDS applied the concepts of negotiation theater to design the "The Pending Future of Nuclear Waste” for the 2020 Taipei Biennale and three “Tech Waste” youth camps in 2023. By observing how participants interacted and reflected in the above events, we further analyze participants' collaborative strategies and discussions throughout the negotiation process, as well as their reflections on the design of the deliberative process after concluding their roles.

Our preliminary findings suggest that the simulated scenarios effectively led the participants to a better understanding of the dilemma of nuclear waste siting issues. While different stakeholders hold divergent imaginaries of the nuclear waste, most participants are more concerned about procedural justice rather than technical solutions. This paper argues that policy communication can be enhanced through the innovative participatory mechanism and pedagogical practices.