Energy Transition in the Municipality of Utrecht: An outlook on inclusivity within public participation, the energy transition and the new Environmental and Planning Act

Abstract

The global climate change problems have a significant impact on nature and society as a whole. In the Netherlands specifically, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity, extreme weather occurrences and air pollution could seriously jeopardize quality of life. One of the contributing factors towards the problem is the way society uses and produces energy in a harmful way towards the environment. The use of non-renewable sources of energy is contributing to this problem in the Netherlands. The energy transition towards sustainable energy sources by 2050 requires impactful alterations throughout European countries down to local municipalities in various states Netherlands. Within the scope of the Participatory Value Evaluation, Customer Journey model and in light of the upcoming Environmental and Planning Act (EPA) in the Netherlands, an analysis of current policy and legislature is made. The aim of this research is to assess current public participation policy and increase public involvement towards and the energy transition and achieve a higher amount of inclusivity within the communities in the municipality of Utrecht in order to hopefully be more successful in the energy transition process towards sustainable use and production of energy. Key concepts: climate change, energy transition, Environmental and Planning Act, Participation, inclusivity.