Considering target groups and needs

Source: BASE

Public participation is only possible if people have access to good and intelligible information. This should be separately prepared for different target groups. “The feedback from the current series of meetings, which we deliberately organised for representatives of rural districts, local communities and towns, has basically confirmed that our course of action in gearing information to target groups is correct,” say Wolfram König, President of the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BfE).

The BfE working with Bundesgesellschaft für Endlagerung mbH (BGE or the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal) is currently providing information to the representatives of local communities about the search for a disposal site. In addition to today’s meeting in Ulm, meetings have already been held in Leipzig, Hamburg and Frankfurt. Discussions did not focus on which areas might be considered for a disposal site. The BGE has announced that it will publish its report on possible areas being considered for further exploration in 2020.

“It’s clear that this target group is focusing on different issues than interested members of the general public,” König added at the start of the fourth meeting in Ulm. “Representatives of local communities want to clearly know, for example, where and from whom they can obtain reliable information on the search for a disposal site. Local citizens are less interested in the structures and responsibilities and more in the state of the procedure,” the President said.

Criticism from environmental activists about the series of meetings

König has responded to this criticism. “It’s also clear that the transparency and plausibility of the procedure, as required by law, for which BfE has provided extensive information and concepts, are being confused with an entitlement to attend all the meetings. We’ll continue to meet the need for closed discussion formats for individual groups.”

The BfE had presented and discussed an extensive concept for public participation in August 2018 – and included renowned academics who are conducting research into this topic. The meeting formats described there are geared towards the different target groups – including interested members of the general public, younger people, experts from the academic world or representatives of rural districts, towns and local communities.

“A great deal of positive feedback from local authority representatives has contradicted the criticism from BUND e.V. about the internal discussion format,” König says. “The BfE has not yet received any specific responses from BUND on its participation concept, which was published so that comments could be registered.” The environmental network also has a representative on the National Civil Society Board, which was invited to the series of meetings.

“We’re in a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, the whole of society bears some responsibility and as broad involvement as possible is required in the search for a disposal site. On the other hand, we’ve recognised that a desire to participate is only strong where communities feel affected. This can also be seen in the different numbers of people registering at the meeting venues.”