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Windmill Š Flickr CC, 2013
2013 - AtelierVA
Right to challenge:
Kritisch Platform
Windenergie de Zijpe (KPWZ) %" ,**2+&16 % ))"+$"0 1%" 2&)!&+$ of windmills in their region. Both new and e5isting towers. he6 Ćœght a attle against the windmills of large energy companies, and the current opinion in the public sphere; “that windmills are sustainable, so inevitable a good thingâ€?. hen Ćœrst met enno, he thought was a journalist looking for stories to show on the regional public broadcaster RTVNH. I told him that I might be interested to tell his story on the regional news. So he responded like journalist sources should; with enthusiasm and an unspoken carefulness about the viciousness of their counter partner. Henno though, turned this unbalance in power around by mentioning how other national broadcasters also showed interest in the story, and that he had to weigh up against my intentions and theirs. This careful and agile position is typical for the way members have to deal with public and market parties, they sometimes eĆ›ortlessly re-act, instead of act. Fighting against the tides Č” lobby groups and oĆžen statistically based evidence, which they oppose with the emotional narratives of stressed neighbors, who talk about their problems while some of us, standing in front of these large windmills, including myself, are constrained to empathize because we do not hear nor feel the disturbing vibrations. The general opinion is that only two out of ten residents are susceptible for it. The motive - It started as an innocent novelty about thirty years ago; neighboring farmers bought small wind turbines, “dishwashersâ€? as they are called in the local colloquial. Small
fast sweeping turbines, which caused no nuisance problems to the neighbors. But in the last decade many of them where replaced by modern windmills, yielding a surplus of energy power and completely changing the architectural outlook; from 10-20 meter high hyperactive combustions to 100-200 meter high ‘blades on a pole’ snoring slowly; swish, swish, swish It is this sweeping background noise which let the neighbors congregate and formed the platform. Because besides the troubled relations between farmers and their neighbors, the state government of the North-Holland province appointed the area as a gathering zone of large scale wind energy farms. It seems reasonable to appoint the Wieringermeer and de Zijper Polder for large scale wind farms. The two areas have a low population per square kilometer (133 inhabitants/km2 for the municipality of Hollandse Kroon). Enough open land to build large scale wind farms, you might think. But reality is diĆ›erent. any of the already build windmills are located at less than the recommended distance from buildings. Furthermore, other advantages of a low populated area - the sensations of stillness and the romanticized retreat to the countryside - continue to trouble the way residents feel about the building of windmills. Rather than blending in with other noises, in the night the sweeping sounds stand-alone against the silence.
KPWZ community
- solution based - emotions - open discussion - transparancy
x 2000
- harmony - elegance - content - design
affiliated national community group
- deliberative - sovereignty - equality - emotions
- solidarity - reputation - electorial gain
media
Specific political party affiliates
- capital profit - rationality - functionality - distanced - safety - frugality - environmental - sustainability
- democracy - controle - rationality - organization - sovereignty - consultation - sustainability
state parlement community Specific political party affiliates
energy companies
actor nodes (human and non-human) associations between actors value nodes
The network of cooperation of KPWZ, based on journalistic interview methods and website research conducted in April 2013 Š AtelierVA
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2013 - AtelierVA
How they challenge
Key issues
The community challenges the decision making processes of spatial professionals and politicians. K is not against windmills, Edwin saysǿ “ e would like to see more sustainability eƛorts in our region, but sustainability is not only clean energy, also a clear and open discussion about where and how we should realize this clean energy. So not the one-sided story we are seeing now; it is clean so good and the nuisance is not so bad. Instead we need a wider societal discussion about the beneƜts and the downsides of land based windmills (translated).”
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“ e have to be careful not to align too much to certain political parties, we are non-political”.
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Some of the alternative solutions to the windmill problem are non-negotiable due to landscape architectural norms and values (windmills should be built in straight lines).
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It is problematic to tell our story, since the nuisance is subjective to every individual. Some of us are not troubled by the sound and vibrations, others feel they are in a tunnel with continuous trains passing by.
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“Government lacks the implementation of a ind bank (a state wide eƛort to regroup nuisance given windmills), they’ve said they will, but the bureaucratic process slows the process down”.
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“ e have continuously invited energy companies to talk about our cases, but they fail to respond to our invitation.
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K does not communicate with their huge aƛiliate community, they only inform (one-way communication). Rather they could actively engage to address or search for solutions.
The members challenge the way the debate is shaped and feel a gap between rational thinkers and emotional victims; “we should create more understanding for other state habitants, so people in the southern regions of the province also understand our thoughts. They just think; “well it is sustainable and free, so Ɯne, besides almost nobody lives there”. But in this tiny dwelling, 80 of us are highly troubled or concerned about the future, you now this is 80% of this dwellings’ residents, it all depends how you look at it (translated)”.
The network of cooperation - The community challenges the way public services dealing with private and public interests. They understand the power of market investments in the area, but question if these investment are really beneƜcial to the local economy. Telling this story to as many people as possible, would theoretically beneƜt the goals of K .
PVDA Statemember at the Windmill bustour © PVV NH 2013
Solution orientated - But since the community is not against sustainable energy, let alone windmills, the groups tries to be helpful and solution oriented. Their online platform (2000+ aƛiliates) works like an open-source database for agreement and solutions. It represents the critical part of local residents, who sympathize with each other and like to inform about the issues at hand. But this huge backing is not used to its full potential. New bridges between these nodes, including a solution oriented frame, would connect political representatives with their electorate, and media with a new reservoir of data and narratives. The shared solution oriented direction would also Ɯll some structural holes in the network. Turning the negative re-acting around to a positive acting story would frame K as a constructive and heuristic aƛiliate in the network. This is what state members of the province prefer to see. They are assigned to create 685 megawatt of land based wind energy in their province (to execute the national energy agenda) and ask the question. “If we don’t do it where you want to, where should we?”
Community members interview former PVDA council member for RTVNH © AtelierVA
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2013 - AtelierVA
BIASES: RECALIBRATE ș
Create devices so the larger network society is able to empathize with other actors, increase the understanding and perception of the wider provincial North-Holland society.
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Debate the architectural point of view to only build aligned rows of windmills in Dutch rural areas. The debate is whether this aesthetic value is more important than economic or livability values (due to this “artiƜcial view”, as residents say, planners have to Ɯnd other locations to build there windmills, locations that undermine the interest of local residents. Locals consequently frame landscape architects as “opposed and ill-perceived to our personal problems”).
CONNECT ș
Create ‘interaction devices,’ to build additional ties between energy companies, other state politicians and the K platform. Devaluating the single bridge function of speciƜc party aƛiliate members (to Ɯll structural holes).
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Gain support for wind banks, by mapping and forwarding possible locations and create the support for these solutions among stakeholders.
GLUE ș
Nudge the 2000+ sympathizers of K to be more actively involved into the debate K started. First of all to connect other nodes to the network (such as media and other political parties), secondly to Ɯnd alternative solutions (such as cooperative based windmill investments or collective action to Ɯnd alternative locations).
“The Transition movement is based upon the sharing of ideas between diƛerent initiatives, without a dogmatic or prescribed character. This contradicts to the Ɯrst key issue of TTC described in this document. ithin this organization structure, Ɲexibility is endless and it makes connections with other more rigid organisations (such as government or corporations) possible, also in practice. The core-members recognize in this case, that ‘it’s goes like it is going’ is not always possible. Reaching targets also means, rolling up our sleeves; especially in the situations that inspire us” (translated). Maarten Nijman (TTC member).
“The framework of the etering Community is like an umbrella-organization, under which everybody in the neighborhood can take his/her own initiatives, facilitated by the etering Community, but not guided or controlled as such. This is to my understanding the type of organization (in the making) you advise us to be. Except the S C’s aim to be a self-directed neighborhood. There is no program, there are initiatives that go aƞer their sole goals” (translated). aartje Romme (S C member)
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