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Contribution short abstract

From Instrumental Rationality to Reflective Governance: Participatory Dilemmas in the Energy Transition

Contribution long abstract

The poster is based on several previous studies on the narratives about the energy transition in the Basque Country (Garcia et al, 2025) and the limitations of instrument proposed by the regional government for the spatial planning of renewable energies (Urkidi and Gurrutxaga, 2024), as well as on a new research project for the participatory design of a supra-municipal energy plan (Campos, 2025). The energy transition in the Basque Country is marked by conflicting narratives about the essence, scale, socio-economic framework, and governance of the transition. In this context and amid several conflicts over large-scale renewable energy installations, the Basque Government proposed a spatial planning instrument with serious participatory deficiencies, following an instrumental rationale that did not allow for the transformation of the proposal or for a reflective governance. Given these circumstances, local energy plans seem to offer an opportunity to deepen energy democracy. However, the different approaches to the design of the participatory process (citizen councils, future workshops, participatory integrated assessment, etc.) entail different decision-making capacities, exclusions, and deliberative depth. This poster seeks to reflect on the complexity of public participation in energy planning in conflict scenarios.