Please note that this session was withdrawn and is no longer available in the respective programme. This withdrawal might have been the result of a merge with another session.
T3-5 | Long-term relationships: exploring civil society involvement in repository construction, operation and closure
Long-term relationships: exploring civil society involvement in repository construction, operation and closure
Main Session Organizers: Robbe Geysmans, Alexis GEISLER, Sophie Kuppler
The participatory turn in radioactive waste management has manifested itself in many countries through a discursive and practical involvement of citizens in the long-term management of various waste categories. In most cases, such involvement has primarily focused on repository planning and siting. However, the lifetimes of repositories and radioactive waste extend far beyond these early implementation stages, which themselves often span various decades – or even longer. To seriously address civil society involvement in radioactive waste management, this means we also need to consider the ways in which civil society groups and individual citizens could be engaged in this management over longer periods of time. Some initial scholarly commitment with this topic is currently developing, with theoretical and empirical work being conducted around concepts such as stewardship, care and hosting. However, a range of questions remain to be further explored, such as; What does it mean to pass engagement on from one generation to the next, and how could/should such intergenerational involvement be facilitated?; What sort of consequences could long-term engagement with civil society have regarding institutional responsibilities ?; How can participatory structures be adapted in such ways that they remain both sufficiently durable and flexible?; What meaningful role(s) are envisaged or intended to be played by civil society actors at later stages of a repository lifetime, especially also post-closure?; How could the different roles of actors over time be considered meaningful?; How can repository projects enact future opportunities for civic engagement?; What kinds of socio-technical governance structures or systems might emerge from these long-term interactions?

This session will delve into these questions and more, inviting contributions from diverse scientific disciplines. We particularly welcome insights related to intergenerational participation, stewardship, sociology of care, awareness preservation, youth involvement, innovative forms of civic participation and similar topics. By addressing these issues, we aim to build a deeper understanding of how long-term civil society involvement in radioactive waste management can be sustained and enriched over time.