from these experiments in a social environment through interaction with other actors
and through learning from each other’s behaviour.
This chapter compares the participatory approaches employed at the MERMAID
and the TROPOS projects that studied the development of multi-use platforms. We
describe the approach taken, and we relate them to the objectives of participation
with the aim to assess if participation was valuable. The chapter draws useful
conclusions of participatory design, based on the findings of the two projects with
the aim to inform future design processes. The remainder of the chapter develops as
follows: Sections 2.2 and 2.3 discuss the importance and the approach to stakeholder
involvement in the TRPOPOS and MERMAID projects, respectively. Section 2.4
provides a comparative assessment, and the last section concludes with useful
recommendations for future applications.
2.2 Stakeholder Involvement in TROPOS
2.2.1 The Importance to Involve Stakeholders
The TROPOS project aimed to develop a floating modular multi-use platform
system for use in deep waters with an initial geographic focus on the locations off
Crete (Greece), Canary Islands and Taiwan. The TROPOS multi-use platform
system wanted to integrate a range of functions including the transport and aquaculture sectors, leisure activities and renewable energy production. The so-called
Leisure Island concept was planned for Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), with a
combination of solar energy production with offshore leisure activities. For Taiwan
a so-called Green & Blue platform concept was planned as a future concept. In this
scenario ‘ocean thermal energy conversion’ (OTEC) was integrated with offshore
aquaculture. For Crete, the Green & Blue platform concept was also planned.
Different from that in Taiwan, offshore wind energy is combined with offshore
aquaculture. A fourth scenario, the Sustainable Service Hub Concept, was located on
the Dogger Bank in the North Sea and has been recently included in the scope of
TROPOS (Wenting et al. 2014).
Stakeholder involvement in the TROPOS project focused on social acceptance.
Social acceptance is recognised as a crucial issue in shaping a widespread and
successful implementation of novel technologies and infrastructures. Research on
other developments (such as offshore wind farms) has demonstrated that local
opposition can delay and prevent developments; and, conversely, where the public
and key stakeholders are engaged and consulted, this results in a better project,
which can demonstrate an understanding and awareness of the local geographical,
social, economic and political context (Aitken et al. 2016).
In the TROPOS project, social acceptance was regarded as a dynamic process
driven by various and alterable values rather than being based on static ‘facts’, which
also refers to issues of power, procedural justice, governance, communication and
engagement (Haggett 2011; Hall et al. 2013). Since the TROPOS platform was
2 Stakeholder Involvement in Technological Design: Lessons Learned from the. . .
27
and through learning from each other’s behaviour.
This chapter compares the participatory approaches employed at the MERMAID
and the TROPOS projects that studied the development of multi-use platforms. We
describe the approach taken, and we relate them to the objectives of participation
with the aim to assess if participation was valuable. The chapter draws useful
conclusions of participatory design, based on the findings of the two projects with
the aim to inform future design processes. The remainder of the chapter develops as
follows: Sections 2.2 and 2.3 discuss the importance and the approach to stakeholder
involvement in the TRPOPOS and MERMAID projects, respectively. Section 2.4
provides a comparative assessment, and the last section concludes with useful
recommendations for future applications.
2.2 Stakeholder Involvement in TROPOS
2.2.1 The Importance to Involve Stakeholders
The TROPOS project aimed to develop a floating modular multi-use platform
system for use in deep waters with an initial geographic focus on the locations off
Crete (Greece), Canary Islands and Taiwan. The TROPOS multi-use platform
system wanted to integrate a range of functions including the transport and aquaculture sectors, leisure activities and renewable energy production. The so-called
Leisure Island concept was planned for Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), with a
combination of solar energy production with offshore leisure activities. For Taiwan
a so-called Green & Blue platform concept was planned as a future concept. In this
scenario ‘ocean thermal energy conversion’ (OTEC) was integrated with offshore
aquaculture. For Crete, the Green & Blue platform concept was also planned.
Different from that in Taiwan, offshore wind energy is combined with offshore
aquaculture. A fourth scenario, the Sustainable Service Hub Concept, was located on
the Dogger Bank in the North Sea and has been recently included in the scope of
TROPOS (Wenting et al. 2014).
Stakeholder involvement in the TROPOS project focused on social acceptance.
Social acceptance is recognised as a crucial issue in shaping a widespread and
successful implementation of novel technologies and infrastructures. Research on
other developments (such as offshore wind farms) has demonstrated that local
opposition can delay and prevent developments; and, conversely, where the public
and key stakeholders are engaged and consulted, this results in a better project,
which can demonstrate an understanding and awareness of the local geographical,
social, economic and political context (Aitken et al. 2016).
In the TROPOS project, social acceptance was regarded as a dynamic process
driven by various and alterable values rather than being based on static ‘facts’, which
also refers to issues of power, procedural justice, governance, communication and
engagement (Haggett 2011; Hall et al. 2013). Since the TROPOS platform was
2 Stakeholder Involvement in Technological Design: Lessons Learned from the. . .
27