Overcoming Language Barriers Through an Interactive Platform for Public Engagement

Abstract

The article discusses the framework for a city visioning platform which can offer a public participation in energy-related actions and support the social acceptance of energy transition. The platform has a dual feature: a. the interactivity of the platform is based on crowd-sourcing tools, open linked data approach, trend mining and scenario building tools to address the gaps in urban planning for energy supply, traffic management and governance practices that have been criticized for being exclusive, top-down and short sighted; b. the platform will act as an intercultural & linguistic mediator by offering the opportunity to the community to interact with people from different cultures in all European languages, stimulation of interest and critical thinking, the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogues and projects, capitalizing on the skills and creativity of the participants.