Fairness and Competence in Citizen Participation

Ortwin Renn is a social scientist focusing on risk governance and public participation. He retired as Scientific Director at the International Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam (Germany) in December 2022 and serves as a Professor Emeritus for Environmental Sociology and Technology Assessment at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He directs the non-profit company DIALOGIK, a research institute for the investigation of communication and participation processes. His research interests include risk governance (analysis, perception, communication), stakeholder and public involvement in environmental decision-making, transformation processes in economics, politics and society, and sustainable development.

Thomas Webler is a Senior Research Fellow at the Social and Environmental Research Institute in Massachusetts, USA. He studies community engagement in decision-making about controversial technologies. His current research focuses on civic capacity building for public participation in consent-based siting of controversial energy facilities such as deep geological repositories for nuclear waste, wind energy facilities, and solar farms. 

Pia-Johanna Schweizer leads the Research Group “Systemic Risk” at the RIFS Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ in Potsdam, Germany. She is a Co-Speaker of the RIFS Research Theme “Transforming Human-Earth Interactions”. A trained sociologist, she focuses primarily on systemic risk, risk governance, and deliberative decision-making under risk and uncertainty. Schweizer investigates decision-making support efforts for risk management, as well as improving dialogue and cooperation of actors on all governance levels based on enhanced engagement, communication, and risk management strategies. Her research focuses on mechanisms of systemic risk propagation across society, multi-hazard/multi-risk phenomena, and inclusive risk governance.