Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
European Sociological Association 16th Conference , Porto, Portekiz, 27 - 30 Ağustos 2024, ss.427, (Özet Bildiri)
In the wake of the escalating environmental crisis, demo-
cratic innovations (DIs) try to contribute to democratic de-
cision-making through citizen participation. In this paper,
we aim to explore whether and how Dis can help advance
the scholarly debate (and policy practice) of environmen-
tal sustainability. Our findings are based on an extensive
historical review carried out under the EU-funded project
“INCITE-DEM Inclusive Citizenship in a World in Transforma-
tion: Co-Designing for Democracy”. Here we focus on the
345 peer-reviewed articles, supported by interviews with
internationally acknowledged scholars, that delve into the
role of Dis for environmental sustainability in Europe. Our
findings suggest an emerging connection between pro-
cesses like deliberative mini-publics and the Sustainable
Development Goal 13 (Climate Action), which is most likely
based on the role played by climate assemblies in the last few years. Although such assemblies have had some recog-
nition by public bodies, questions remain open about the
impact on the policy agenda and, in particular, the political
uptake of citizens’ recommendations.
Against this backdrop, and by acknowledging the key
themes of RN12 Environment & Society, this paper exam-
ines the role of DIs in setting out the conditions for pol-
icy solutions to emerging environmental challenges, with
a focus on Europe. We believe that the transformative na-
ture of DIs can feed new research on citizen participation
for environmental policies. Yet, we also alert for risks of
over-reliance on initiatives of participation as a panacea for
solutions in the environmental field. A critical appraisal of
strengths and limitations of DIs in environmental policy is
much needed in the scholarly debate, and this paper can
hopefully indicates new pathways for future research.