Professor: Strong opinions can intimidate silent majorities from town meetings

Streng opinions can deter quiet majorities from town meetings

Selected citizens in group work are the way forward.

Several municipalities are in full swing with town meetings about what the green tripartite means locally. This week, 350 curious residents gathered in Vejle. (Photo: © Anders Davidsen, DR) 49 minutes ago

Crossed arms, harsh tone, and even assaults.

It can be a minefield to dare to attend a town meeting about what should happen to our landscape.

Therefore, the country's municipalities should think twice before inviting to open town meetings about the green tripartite, says professor at the University of Copenhagen, Lars Tønder.

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> The town meetings being held today sometimes attract Tordenskjold's soldiers

> Lars Tønder, professor

He researches citizen involvement, particularly around climate and environmental projects.

- The town meetings being held today sometimes attract Tordenskjold's soldiers, he explains Lars Tønder.

- Perhaps those who have a special bone to pick with the municipality or in some way are dissatisfied with the project.

Over the course of the next year, all the country's municipalities – along with farmers and nature conservation organizations - will plan where agricultural land will be turned into nature.

The exercise is called the local green tripartites. And several municipalities are now inviting residents to large information meetings.

Also read: Residents of Vejle want to be involved in the green tripartite: 'Nature concerns us all' ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/borgere-i-vejle-vil-inddrages-i-den-groenne-trepart-naturen-vedroerer-os-alle-sammen )

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Risk of missing the quiet majority for green transformation

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If one thinks of town meetings about, for example, wolves, solar panels, and wind turbines, it is often those who are against change who can become the loudest voices and set the agenda.

And this can prevent residents who do not have a strong opinion for or against from attending, warns professor Lars Tønder.

The green tripartite should, among other things, ensure that there is not too much nitrogen running from fields into rivers and fjords. (Photo: © Michael Lyck Poulsen, DR)

- They are also interested, but they may feel that they are not invited to this town meeting, and therefore remain absent.

Research shows that the Danish population is very concerned about the green transformation. Most worry about water quality and biodiversity.

And the absence of a voice at a meeting can have consequences for the decisions that politicians make.

- So the municipality loses a view of what all the other residents in the municipality are going and thinking and believing, and can distort the municipality's image of a given situation.

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Citizen assemblies provide a more nuanced picture

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Instead, Lars Tønder points to a new tool in the municipal toolbox, which should ensure a broader representation when citizens are to be involved in making decisions about important changes:

Citizen assemblies!

A group of 30 to 50 randomly selected citizens of different ages, with different education and income, from different parts of the municipality.

- They are presented with the most up-to-date information on the subject and work together with the aim of making some recommendations for the decision that needs to be made.

In this way, the involvement becomes more inclusive, decisions are made on a larger knowledge base, and citizens have more real influence, Lars Tønder points out.

Also read: Town meetings about green tripartite are publicity magnets, but several municipalities hesitate with the invitation ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/moeder-om-groen-trepart-er-publikumsmagneter-men-flere-kommuner-toever-med )

According to the researcher, there is a need for municipalities to think about the involvement of citizens wisely in the local green tripartites.

- It is one of the largest reforms of the landscape in Danish history, at least within the last 200-300 years.

- So it affects us all and therefore we all have an interest in making sure it is done right.

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