YES in my Backyard
Urban development, energy, climate, mobility and welfare
More people need to be better involved in the radical decisions we make about climate, urban development, welfare solutions, renewable energy and the green transition.
How do we get more people involved in the transformation of our society?
We are facing complex transitions and developments in our societies and communities that, unfortunately, often end up in polarised conversations, NIMBY movements and political paralysis that drive a wedge between established systems and citizens. More and more people are turning to democracy when it comes to urban development, mobility, renewable energy, climate adaptation, energy supply, coastal protection – in the battle for land.
But there is another way to respond as a society to the many crises of our time, ranging from climate and biodiversity to food and energy. When we are faced with making political decisions as to where to place wind turbines, how to reduce our consumption and climate-proof our cities. These are all challenges that require citizens’ acceptance and co-ownership.
As a society, we can emerge stronger from crises by actively leveraging each other’s resources and capabilities. Democratic innovation and early participation, where multiple parties can play an active role in decision-making and implementation processes, can go a long way. The challenges we face require sustainable solutions that more people can make sense of. This means more people are invited to join the table and more people can see themselves in the solutions.
We are here to help:
Urban development and urban transformation concerns us all. The complex transformations of our cities require a break from back-end consultation processes and a one-sided focus on engineering and architecture. There is a need for active and meaningful citizen participation at the forefront of development. We facilitate participation in complex urban development processes that follow international standards of arm’s length and independence, enabling decision-makers to make wise and bold decisions together with citizens. We have helped Albertslund Municipality with a new coherent urban development plan driven by the needs of the citizens. And we have ensured that citizens across 12 municipalities in the capital could have the time and opportunity to go in-depth with Lynetteholm on an informed basis and come up with balanced recommendations for the controversial mega project in Copenhagen.
Renewable energy, energy transition and climate protection put pressure on all parties in the battle for land. Where should the wind turbines be placed, where should we climate-proof for the future and where should cables for the green transition be placed? Instead of only talking to the highly engaged or highly frustrated, we open up the conversation to a representative group of citizens to address the dilemmas and priorities, as a shared governance tool – for all parties and set some basic criteria for how we transition in a fair and transparent way. In a unique private/public partnership between Novafos and Egedal Municipality, we ensure that citizens have the time and opportunity to weigh the difficult dilemmas and identify a model for climate protection that both takes into account several considerations and at the same time future-proof the municipality’s citizens against future weather.
Welfare must be rethought in a version 2.0. In a future with more elderly people and less money for services. Citizens’ expectations are increasingly out of proportion to politicians’ room for maneuver. It calls for conflicts and dilemmas. We facilitate strategy processes for politicians and civil servants and ensure early citizen participation when developing future welfare solutions through the use of citizen budgeting, where the difficult dilemmas and priorities are made in interaction with the citizens who will help live out the changes and be part of the future welfare solutions. We have helped Greve Municipality conduct Denmark’s first citizen gathering on the municipality’s road behavior, where dilemmas and priorities form the foundation for Greve in the future.
Climate, green transition and consumption shift are themes that call for citizens to be involved in both decision-making and implementation… Those who will live the change must have co-ownership of the solutions. We facilitate the processes that activate the collective intelligence of society, bringing solutions to decision-makers while rebuilding democratic trust in the system and self-confidence in the individual. We have helped Greve, Gentofte, Hørsholm and Copenhagen implement Climate Citizens’ Assemblies that live up to the OECD’s international principles, and implemented Citizens’ Assembly on sustainable consumption across two regions and three municipalities.
Mental health, discrimination and unhappiness are prevalent. Both in the individual and in society. We facilitate processes where difficult challenges are linked to broader agendas and thus solutions where more people can contribute than just those directly affected. Because more people can do more. We have carried out a citizen gathering on mental health and unhappiness in Copenhagen, as well as the country’s first Youth Citizen Gathering focusing on unhappiness for the benefit of the municipality’s future initiatives
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