Deliberation through mapping assignments: exploring energy justice in citizen mapping assignments

Major recurring themes in energy transitions revolve around questions of energy justice: how burdens and benefits are distributed, how processes of energy choices are organized and who is recognized as a legitimate voice in these choices (and how). The inclusion of citizens in the decision-making process is suggested to increase social learning and influence of citizens; to harness local and experiential knowledge; and to generate legitimacy of policies or solve conflicts. However, literature also demonstrates that often policy or academic jargon is imposed on participating citizens. In this research, we experimented with deliberations with diverse groups of citizens, that we facilitated with two different artefacts: maps and sketches to explore if this raised new perspectives in justice dilemmas in the energy transitions. The question was of visualized information would contribute to (1) the deliberative quality of the conversation, and if the deliberations (2) led to new insights in elements of justice overlooked in the literature and by policy makers. This paper therefore discusses: What dilemmas are raised during a mapping assignment in a deliberative session with local stakeholders and citizens to create a more just energy transition? The aim of the paper is to apply the concept of energy justice and broaden it, by involving citizens in these considerations of justice. This paper is based on in depth interviews (N=8), a survey (N=1270) and 4 Deliberative sessions (N=64). Through the three tenets in energy justice (i.e., distributive, procedural, recognition, Jenkins et al., 2016) we analyze how citizens use elements of justice to design a just energy transition.