BEYOND NIMBYISM-THE ROLE OF PLACE
ATTACHMENT IN EXPLAINING PUBLIC
RESPONSES TOWARD THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS: A WIND
ENERGY CASE STUDY
A master’s thesis
Submitted by
Sahar CHTOUROU
Supervised by
Pr. Abdelfattah TRIKI
OUTLINE

Problematic and context
Research questions
Objectives

Literature review
Chapter one
Chapter two
Chapter three

Methodology

Results

Practical implications

Limitations and future perspectives
2
PROBLEMATIC
Controversial theme of renewable energy
Efforts made by:
Developed countries
Developing countries
 United States
 European United States
 Japan …
 Algeria
 Kenya
 Brazil …
National policies
Soderholm and Pettersen (2007)
Climate change mitigation
Diminishment of carbon gas emissions
3
PROBLEMATIC
Distribution of acceptance and rejection of facilities by people holding a
Aeschbacher & Stauffacher (2006)
NIMBY attitude
Social acceptance
Surveys conducted between the 80’s and the 90’s
CORNER STONE OF SUCCESS
Energy projects
New technologies
Public opinion: highly supportive of RES adoption
applied
to the field, projects often end up
RenewableOnce
energy
technologies:
being confronted to local opposition
Wüstenhagen et al. (2007) ; Wolsink (2007)
• Failed to meet the required attention
General
Sauter & Watson (2007) ; Wüstenhagen et al.(2007)
Social public
“Not in my Backyard”
support
acceptance
Understanding
public acceptance
requires
much
more
than
the
• Research
is
still
on
its
primary
phases
Oppositional tactic
What is expected
Toke
Public
mere comprehension
of public opinion and necessities
a (2005)
deeper
• Efforts
converge
only to type
specific
A label
for a spatial
acceptance
knowledge
of the way in whichtechnologies
attitudes are
formed and shaped. 4
Local resistance
of opposition
Del Río & Burguillo (2009) ; Llera et al.(2010)
What is found
Walker (1995) ; Heras-Saizarbitoria et al. (2011)
PROBLEMATIC
Alternative framework
Review of the PA literature:
Explanatory utility
NIMBY
Questioning
Empirical support
Academic disciplines
Contexts
theSetting
exception
collegues’
study Parks
and(2014)
recreation
for aDebenedetti and his
-with
Sociology
landscapes
Emotional
bondsStedman (2002)
new
Recreation sciences
explanation
 Protected
areas Walker & Chapman
did not
take into account the wider
context within
Human geography
(2003)
which the PA concept operates  Neighborhoods and
communities
Environmental psychology
Mesch & Manor (1998)
KylePA
et al.structure
(2004)
did notInstead
address
in
a
holistic
way
of
Spatial closeness
limiting to
5
RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
OBJECTIVES
 To deepen understandings of the role of place attachment , relatedsymbolic
in explaining
 How canmeanings
we explainand
localsocio-economic
opposition whilevariables
putting aside
the logic of
public responses to renewable
energy developments, against a
NIMBY syndrome?
backdrop of academic social science critique of the ‘NIMBY’ logic.
 How does place attachment contribute to explaining public responses
toward proposed wind power developments?
 To dig deep inside the PA structure (meaning and operational
 Under which
can PA lead
to public
acceptance?
definition)
and tocircumstances
develop a conceptual
model
that explores
its role
in the wider context of land use-changes.
 What is the meaning of the PA concept within specific contexts of
land-use changes?
6
CHAPTER 1: Why opposition occurs? Answers from the
perspective of decision-making process
Conceptualizing social acceptance
acceptance
of policies and technologies
Socio-political
acceptance
by: the public, stakeholders and
policy makers
Community
acceptance
of:
procedural justice,
trust and distributional
justice
Market
acceptance
by: consumers, investors
and intra-firms
7
Fig.1: The triangle of social acceptance of renewable energy innovation
CHAPTER 1: Why opposition occurs? Answers from the
perspective of decision-making process
The limitations to the use of public opinion
polls
Further investigation
is needed about
on RE projects
as means for evaluating
publicbeliefs
attitudes
 Justifications for public
 PUS in the process of
The planning literature
engagement
decision
making
The misunderstanding of general
public
advocacy
 Public of RES
toward the deployment
key conceptual insights
 Public opinion
from the PUS literature
Surveys have failed to adequately explain the nature and
 Logicperceptions
of evolution of PUS:
complexity of public
from a deficit model to more
Public understanding of
 Ways
for acheiving
PUREof
participatory
approaches
renewable energy
public engagement
8
CHAPTER 2: Why opposition occurs? Answers from the
perspective of outcomes of development
McGrath (1964)
Combination between
Devine-Wright (2009)
9
Fig. 2: The role of PA in predicting public responses to proposals for change as
related to the success/failure of RE projects.
Favorable
Unfavorable
Positive
Negative
(yes)
Degree of
Supportive behaviors
matching
(no)
(local acceptance)
Place protective actions
(local opposition)
Making sense
Acknowledgment
of change
(Becoming aware)
Identification
stage
Interpretation
stage
Denying or
accepting
change
Coping 10
Evaluation
stage
Acting
CHAPTER 3: Review of the literatures on place attachment
and customer experience
Tab1:
Classification of conceptual and operational definitions of PA as identified in the literature
Place dependence:
one dimensional
Place identity:
one dimensional
Place attachment:
two dimensional
Dim1:Place dependence
Dim2:Place identity
Place
affect
Social
bonding
familiarity,
belongingness,
rootedness
Place attachment:
three dimensional
Dim1:Global attachment
Dim2:Social attachment
Dim3:Physical attachment
Sense of Place:
one dimensional
(7 items)
Place-related social identity:
three dimensional
Dim1:Social cohesion
Dim2:Place satisfaction
Dim3:Place identification
Sense of Place:
one dimensional
(6 items)
Place attachment:
three dimensional
Dim1:Place: social, physical
Dim2:Person: individual, group
Dim3:Process: affect, cognition,
behavior
11
CHAPTER 3: Review of the literatures on place attachment
and customer experience
 Philosophical
investigations
 Cognitive
science
 Applied writings
on management
EXPERIMENTAL DIMENSIONS
Theoretical foundation for the PA construct
- as applied to a context of proposals for change -
12
METHODOLOGY
Interview guide
The exploratory nature of the
First theme: Place attachment
research
1:Continuity
ABDUCTIVE LOGIC
2:distinctiveness
Literature review
Fieldwork (case study)
3:familiarity
4:attachment
5:symbolism
QUALITATIVE METHODS OF INQUIRY
Choice justification: the classification is quite inclusive of all the sub
 To generate
valuable
dimensions
of PA. information across a sample of opinions.
Teddy et al. (2008)
 To realize how locals construe meanings about their socio-physical
environment.
Bryman (2004 )
Second theme: Perceived project outcomes
Tape-recorded
Data collection
Transcribed
Semi-structured interviews
method
Analyzed
Third theme: attitudinal responses
Research
technique
13
Content analysis
RESULTS
Attitudinal responses to proposals for change
indifference
positive
negative
The project was seen through different ‘lenses’
quiet and
‘natural’ wealth
symbolic
meanings
(Place)
PPOs
Strengthen
interrupt
Lack
of fit
symbolic
meanings
(Project)
‘industrialized’
noisy area
PA
local
continuity
resistance
distinctiveness
familiarity
attachment
symbolism
beneficial novelty
symbolic
meanings
(Project)
Good
local
fit
acceptance
Project
symbolic
acceptance
(-)
(+)
meanings
(Place)
14
‘adressing internel issues’
RESULTS
Customer experience research angle:
The implementation of specific forms of place change
(RE projects)
sensory level
affect the sensory features of a place: favorable/unfavorable
views, smells...
affective level
blur/keep alive past emotional experiences: inner feelings
and affective relations to the setting.
social level
impact positively/negatively pre-lived relational experiences.
intellectual level
impact the cognitive processing of information.
15
RESULTS
literature on PA
1:continuity
2:distinctiveness
3:familiarity
4:attachment
5:symbolism
DS based–attachment experience:
6: local/regional development
the tendency of individuals from local communities to engage in projects
aiming
the local
creation
increasing
society’s
a setatofimproving
experienced
tieseconomy,
acquiredjobover
timeand
through
continual
living
standards
merely
by making
rational
use of thebonding
current arises
features
of the
interactions
with
a particular
place.
Person-place
from
area.levels of experience in which
personal involvement at different
individuals construe meaning about their socio-physical environment.
customer experience literature
the active participation of local residents’ in the construction process
of any sort of projects of land-use change type.
16
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
McLachlan’s (2009) claim :
Development companies proposing RE technologies need to place more
emphasis on place-person bondings and associated symbolic meanings
Project managers need to :
• Scan the external environment
Mentally warn managers to the particular aspects of locations that require
to be taken into consideration
when
executing
plans
 better manage
land–use
changes
 increase
of socialoutcomes
acceptanceare
among
affected community
• Make
sure chances
that congruent
transmitted
to local residents
members
conveying information
social media
interpersonal connections
Suitable RE developments
Suitable contexts
• Support and add value to the locals’ experiences
creating favorable experiences during the stages of the project
development
17
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES
The process of collecting data
precise point in time
temporal ordering of public
responses:
 cannot be evidenced
 might be less linear than presented
 to adopt a longitudinal design
Causal relationships
 cannot be evidenced from qualitative  to apply quantitative techniques
research techniques
Eg. Structural equation models
Moderating factor
 perceived project outcomes (PPOs)
Other factors
 procedural justice in decision
making
Gross, (2007)
18
 public trust in stakeholders
Eg. Developers, opposition groups
Walker et al. (2010)
THANK YOU
FOR
YOUR
ATTENTION
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