Citizen Participation in Climate-Technology Governance

This review examines citizen participation in climate-technology governance. The organizing question is which participatory arrangements materially affect technology choices, distributional outcomes, and accountability. Ten related scholarly sources are synthesized through a decision-centered framework spanning problem definition, mechanism, measurement, evaluation, implementation, and governance. The review does not invent experiments, pooled estimates, or unreported quantitative results. It instead evaluates the strength and transferability of the available evidence, with particular attention to using consultation counts as evidence that community knowledge changed decisions. The resulting framework links technical or empirical performance to explicit use conditions and identifies tests that should precede wider adoption in climate mitigation and adaptation programs.

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2. Buuren, A. V., Meerkerk, I. V., & Tortajada, C. (2019). Understanding emergent participation practices in water governance. International Journal of Water Resources Development, 35(3), 367-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2019.1585764 DOI
3. Fritz, L., Baum, C. M., Low, S., & Sovacool, B. K. (2024). Public engagement for inclusive and sustainable governance of climate interventions. Nature Communications, 15(1), 4168. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48510-y DOI
4. Glass, L. M., & Newig, J. (2019). Governance for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: How important are participation, policy coherence, reflexivity, adaptation and democratic institutions?. Earth System Governance, 2, 100031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2019.100031 DOI
5. Janowski, T., Estevez, E., & Baguma, R. (2018). Platform governance for sustainable development: Reshaping citizen-administration relationships in the digital age. Government Information Quarterly, 35(4), S1-S16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2018.09.002 DOI
6. Kiss, B., Sekulova, F., Hörschelmann, K., Salk, C. F., Takahashi, W., & Wamsler, C. (2022). Citizen participation in the governance of nature‐based solutions. Environmental Policy and Governance, 32(3), 247-272. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.1987 DOI
7. Kythreotis, A. P., Mantyka-Pringle, C., Mercer, T. G., Whitmarsh, L. E., Corner, A., Paavola, J., Chambers, C., Miller, B. A., & Castree, N. (2019). Citizen Social Science for More Integrative and Effective Climate Action: A Science-Policy Perspective. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2019.00010 DOI
8. Leifsen, E., Gustafsson, M. T., Guzmán-Gallegos, M. A., & Schilling-Vacaflor, A. (2017). New mechanisms of participation in extractive governance: between technologies of governance and resistance work. Third World Quarterly, 38(5), 1043-1057. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2017.1302329 DOI
9. Robles, P., & Mallinson, D. J. (2023). Artificial intelligence technology, public trust, and effective governance. Review of Policy Research, 42(1), 11-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12555 DOI
10. Whitton, J., Brasier, K., Charnley-Parry, I., & Cotton, M. (2017). Shale gas governance in the United Kingdom and the United States: Opportunities for public participation and the implications for social justice. Energy Research & Social Science, 26, 11-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.01.015 DOI