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This deliverable by PilotSTRATEGY WP6 on Social Acceptance and Community Engagement reports work on understanding societal contexts in the regions under study in this Horizon 2020 project.WP6 has so far focussed on characterizing the overall setting in which the discussions around potential geological storage of CO2 take place. In a next step, WP6 will centre on actual engagement and participation with key stakeholders and other members of local communities. The report focuses on the six relevant regions in the five PilotSTRATEGY countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Poland, Greece) and presents regional community profiles developed through interviews, media and documentary analyses, as well as results of a first wave of survey exploring community acceptance. The relevant regions are the Lusitanian Basin in Portugal including an onshore and an offshore area next to each other, the Ebro Basin in Spain, also including an onshore and an offshore area in different parts of the Basin, Spain’s Ebro Basin, Spain’s Ebro Delta, the Paris basin in France, and Upper Silesia in Poland and West Macedonia in Greece. In Portugal and Spain preliminary characterizations will lead to focus in the remainder of the project on just one of the two options. Overall, in Portugal, Spain and France smaller regions are considered than in Poland and Greece. Detailed enquiries from various perspectives (geological, technical, economic, and social) are intended to support the potential implementation of pilot storage sites in these three countries after the lifetime of the research project PilotSTRATEGY. We report that with regard to societal preparedness that the levels of awareness and knowledge on carbon capture and storage (CCS) are very low. This applies to citizens, but also to some societal stakeholders. The implication of this finding is that opinions and preferences regarding CCS are still under development in societies, and current levels of acceptance are preliminary and likely subject to change. The results share some commonalities across countries and regions, while the analyses also detected a series of local specificities. Our surveys indicated that a majority of citizens and stakeholders state positive attitudes towards CO2 storage as a climate mitigation measure. At the same time, negative views could be identified among the societal stakeholders interviewed, in certain media depictions, and also among relevant shares of citizens among the survey respondents. Important topics in the discussion are the expected environmental impacts as well as the opportunities to be offered for participation and engagement.

International audience; International efforts to reduce CO2 emissions also include efficiency goals, associated for example with better strategies for energy production and consumption. This goal is presently being addressed in France through the installation of smart meters. The theory of social representations is here used as a theoretical background to understand how climate-related arguments – justifying wider changes at the policymaking level – and arguments advocating individual behavioural change are combined to convey meaning to the new electricity meters. This study focused on the qualitative content produced by groups of citizens from the two French communities where the new meters were first installed: Château-Renault (rural) and Lyon (urban). The three participating groups met each in three different occasions, between which they kept a diary where they registered concrete behaviour changes and barriers to behaviour change. Group sessions were tape-recorded and content analysed. The discussions and the material generated by the groups provided very concrete elements on how the participants tried to make sense of the meter device itself and the policy goals, in relation to their daily and social life. The exchanges between participants seemed to fit into three main dialogical pairs, or themata: collective vs. individual (daily life); private (my behaviour) vs. public spheres (others’ behaviours); and consumption: individualist vs. collectivist. The collective elaboration throughout the group sessions reinforced the empowerment of the groups and led to considering more collectively oriented approaches in contrast to the prevailing individualistic lifestyles.

International audience; Nanotechnologies are becoming a larger presence in everyday life and are viewed by governments and economic actors as a key area for development. The theory of social representations proposes that the general public appropriates scientific information on the basis of common sense understandings, leading to the emergence of new hybrid forms of knowledge, or social representations. Starting from the assumption that scientists too can share common sense knowledge of areas outside their expertise, this work attempted a systematic assessment of how background knowledge about nanotechnology may influence how experts perception them. Study 1 demonstrates the existence of a polarized representation of nanotechnologies among experts, contrasting opportunity (medical, economic, and technological) and risk. This finding constitutes the first demonstration of a common-sense assumption, often found unexamined in the literature, that representations of ‘emerging’ technologies are structured along a risk-opportunity polarity. Interestingly, risk was distinguished at two levels: that associated with nanomaterial characteristics (toxicity, reactivity) and at the larger scale of impact (health, environment, legislation). This polarity could suggest the existence of an on-going debate among scientists with opposed visions on nanotechnology. Study 2 surveyed a larger sample of experts who self-described their scientific background and role viz. nanotechnology. Role had no visible influence. Specialists consensually viewed that nanotechnology represents opportunity, but depending on scientific background they did not agree to the same extent that nanotechnology also constitutes a risk. Participants with a physics and chemistry background tended to represent nanotechnologies predominantly in terms of opportunities and not in terms of inherent risks or impacts. In contrast, toxicologists, life and social scientists appeared to explicitly incorporate both benefits and risks in their representation of this new technology. Environmental scientists were a more diverse group, divided between the two patterns of representation.

Aunque tanto responsables políticos como ciudadanos coinciden al reconocer la gravedad del problema del cambio climático y la consiguiente necesidad de acción las iniciativas públicas orientadas a modificar nuestro comportamiento de modo que sea más "sostenible" no alcanzan la eficiencia esperada. El proyecto Pachelbel coordinado desde el CISOT-CIEMAT y en el que participan 10 instituciones de seis países europeos (Alemania, Francia, España, Reino Unido, Rumanía y Suecia), está desarrollando una herramienta (Stave) para estimular la eficiencia de las iniciativas orientadas a fomentar hábitos sostenibles entre la ciudadanía.

This deliverable provides an analysis of the early fieldwork reports that have been produced as part of WP3. Its focus is on identifying the assumptions that are evident in the approaches of the policy partners to human behaviour around sustainability. The themes of this early work will form one focus of subsequent interactions with the policy partners and will be used as the basis for developing a schedule for further investigations to be deployed with policy makers in each country

PACHELBEL WP4 “Stimulus Materials” uses findings from WP3 (Policy Assumptions) and from additional sources to prepare stimulus materials for the group-based process “STAVE” implemented in WP5. The output was material to inform and stimulate the group-based process. The material was of two types: a set of questionnaires common to all partners (EVOC/CAPA/SIMI questionnaires), and material that is issue-specific and individually produced for each country. EVOC/CAPA/SIMI short questionnaires serve as a comparative tool between countries, giving insight on the social construction of “sustainable consumption” across the PACHELBEL population. Partners asked participants to fill out the set individually at the first meeting of the STAVE group, results were then analyzed and data were fed back for discussion by group participants at their second meeting. A “re-test” was then conducted at the third of three group meetings. The present report details the representations revealed through this methodology – but moreover the impact of applying such a technique in STAVE groups in France, Germany, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK (where the methodology was slightly altered). The issue-and-country-specific material consists of an informative simulated newspaper article on the particular issue addressed in a given STAVE process, and/or other materials (for example, humorous drawings). The report details how this material was developed, and the experience of applying these stimulus materials in each country. On this basis, guidance for future STAVE processes is offered. Foremost among observations is that PACHELBEL stimulus materials serve a purpose that is distinct from that of “group exercises” as developed in WP5. The materials contributing to the formation of a group identity, a reflexive group norm, and a shared information basis. As such, stimulus materials prepare the group for a cooperative investigative process.

France's energy scene today includes traditional combustibles, some renewable energy source use, and the strong presence of nuclear electricity generation. Nationalized and private producers and transporters work together for generally harmonious delivery of a high consumer standard. There have been no catastrophic accidents or pollutions. Energy risk regulation is designed to maintain those good performances without imposing undue economic constraints upon industry, seeking an "empirical" balance between quality of life and national or industrial economic wellbeing.