TPM researchers Anatol Itten and Niek Mouter are going to the arctic circle

Two researchers from TPM are involved in a proposal for the Norwegian Research Council that received positive funding news. 

The proposal with the name DRIVKRAFT (driving force) focuses on new forms of participation and co-creation in climate-, environmental and energy planning for rural municipalities in northern Norway. There, the interests of younger generations and business actors regarding climate-, environmental and energy policy are strikingly opposing. Indeed, rural municipalities face several challenges that differ from those of the urban area in the transformation to a renewable-energy society. The projects main aim is to innovate a new generation of municipal climate-, environment- and energy plans (CEE-plans).

The project is based on two main innovative elements. Firstly, the new ways that youth and business actors will be engaged and connected to each other in the planning process. Secondly, the way the process is directed at both planning and implementation in the CEE-plans. Anatol Itten and Niek Mouter will apply PVE in northern Norway three times, in order to measure whether participating in a PVE also influences citizens' own behavior and see how preferences between (youth and business) participants might change over time.

The project will be led by Senja municipality (see headerphoto). The partners besides TU Delft in the project are The Arctic University of Norway, Durham University, Vågan and Vestvågøy municipality, Nordavind utvikling, The Lofoten Council, three secondary schools and several local businesses. The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway, and the duration is from April 2021 to June 2025.