Vision:En 2040-2.0: Beteiligung für alle. Mainstreaming des Tools für eine landesweite Verbreitung
Co-Applicant: |
Dr. Oliver Karras |
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My role: |
Principal investigator |
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Funding: |
€119,659.00 (out of €425.479,00) from Niedersächsischen Ministerium für
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Duration: |
06.2026 – 05.2028 |
The goal of Vision:En 2040-2.0is to scale and mainstream an interactive dialogue and spatial decision-support tool for citizen participation in regional renewable energy planning (wind energy and ground-mounted photovoltaics) across Lower Saxony. While initial testing demonstrated high citizen engagement and constructive consensus-building, broad statewide deployment requires lower organizational barriers, improved usability, and digital access to expert domain knowledge. Vision: En 2040-2.0 addresses these challenges by transforming the prototypical tool into an easy-to-use, intelligent, and planning-compatible participation platform. Three core concepts will be developed and evaluated:
- Enhance Technical Usability & Spatial Data Integration: Implement intuitive tool features (e.g., freehand drawing, WMS legends, direct interface to the Market Master Data Register), enable bi-directional data exchange with regional spatial planning tools (RROP/FNP formats), and integrate refined local solar potential data along with carbon sink/source modeling.
- Deploy AI-Powered Expert Assistance: Develop and integrate a voice- and text-activated AI chatbot powered by Large Language Models (Mistral) and the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG Ask). Supported by automated web crawling and expert curation from LUH’s Energy Center Life 2050, the system answers complex citizen questions on demand during participation events, replacing the need for on-site scientific expert presence.
- Streamline Event Formats & Enable Statewide Transfer: Design and test low-threshold event formats (including online dialogs), establish templates for tracking results in municipal planning, update the step-by-step application manual, and evaluate workflows with citizens, municipalities, and regional planners to ensure long-term, independent tool adoption.
By combining intuitive spatial decision support, AI-curated scientific knowledge, and streamlined event formats, Vision: En 2040-2.0 will empower local communities across Lower Saxony to shape a nature-compatible, transparent, and democratic energy transition.