Konfliktkommunikation für Energieinfrastrukturprojekte

Subject of this literature-based contribution are approaches to the communicative processing of conflicts in the context of energy infrastructure projects. A total of 83 sources were evaluated. The focus is on types of conflicts, measures of their (communicative) processing and the connections between conflict type, conflict object (technology) and conflict management. All in all, there is a clear need for research on customized approaches. Most approaches to (communicative) processing of conflict situations remain rather general. There are only a few authors, who consider the parameters conflict type and conflict object (e.g., wind energy versus deep geothermal energy). These consider primarily the types distribution conflict, value conflict, knowledge conflict and social conflict. The findings and recommendations on conflict communication are primarily based on the participation forms of information, cooperation and consultation. Recommendations on the information level are considered to be independent of the type of conflict, whereas measures on the cooperation and consultation level depend on the type of conflict. Less influence is ascribed to the variable technology. The focus is on (conflict- and technology-type related) topics and stakeholder groups and formats. Overall, it is noteworthy that formats are mentioned and presented, but mostly lack specific information on the how, i.e., the conflict-reducing communicative design of the processes and formats. Hints on how to do this are offered by a few studies on energy communication, which were also evaluated in this article. The development of approaches to the communicative processing of conflict situations that take a greater account of the type of conflict and the technology involved would contribute significantly to the development of customized overall strategies for energy transformation infrastructure projects. This includes measures to build up corresponding expertise.