Good practices
Good practices

Project

BePart Quo Vadis Participation?

Aims to evaluate the form and effect of participation processes in renewable energy projects and electricity grids within Germany.

Project

BePart Quo Vadis Participation?

Aims to evaluate the form and effect of participation processes in renewable energy projects and electricity grids within Germany.

Project

Topic

Public Acceptance & Engagement

Dimension

Energy & Society

While we advance in the transition towards a renewable energy system, infrastructure deployment will be required. During the planning and implementation stages of these projects, public engagement is necessary to guarantee acceptance from local communities.

How to promote a fair public participation within energy development projects? And what are the effects of such activities?

Looking towards these questions, RGI, together with the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS Potsdam), the Bündnis Bürgerenergie e.V. (BBEn) and the ECOLOG-Institut, will lead BePart – Quo Vadis Participation?


Funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN), the project runs from April 2023 until September 2025, and aims to evaluate the form and effect of participation processes in wind and solar energy, and electircity grids projects within Germany.

How will the project achieve this?

01

Create a large-scale sample of different participatory processes all across Germany using quantitative and qualitative methods

02

Collected data will be fed into a database, which will be later available to relevant stakeholders

03

Evaluate cases, using a framework to be developed with relevant stakeholders

Main project questions

The project aims to answer the following questions:

  • What are the impacts of participatory processes on solar power, wind power and electricity grid infrastructure projects?
  • Do participatory processes affect the actual implementation of the projects, and if so, under which conditions and how?
  • Do participatory processes change public acceptance of the projects, and if so, under which conditions and how?
  • Can participation accelerate the energy transition in Germany, and if so, which forms of participation and how?
  • Are there patterns in the effects?
  • Are the effects of different forms of participation different?

highlighted

BePart Abschlussveranstaltung | Wie schaffen wir mit der Energiewende einen Mehrwert vor Ort?

Diskutieren Sie mit uns am 11. September 2025 in Berlin bei der Abschlussveranstaltung des BMWK-geförderten Projekts BePart – „Quo vadis, Beteiligung?“. Im Fokus stehen regionale Wertschöpfung und Beteiligung bei Erneuerbaren-Projekten im ländlichen Raum. Analysiert wurden über 200 Wind-, Solar- und Netzausbauvorhaben – mit Blick auf Akzeptanz und mögliche Verzögerungen.

Event

Public Acceptance & Engagement

contact

Stephanie Bätjer

Director – Communication

Stephanie Bätjer

Director – Communication

t: +49 30 2332 11017
Stephanie Bätjer is leading the Renewables Grid Initiative’s communication and event activities as Programme Manager – Communication. She is also heavily involved in RGI’s policy work and all activities that look at social engagement around grids. She previously worked in the communications team of the European Climate Foundation. Stephanie has studied at the Universities of Marburg and Hamburg, Germany, and the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. She holds degrees in political science and journalism.

Dr. Andrzej Ceglarz

Director – Energy Systems

Dr. Andrzej Ceglarz

Director – Energy Systems

t: +49 30 233211014
Andrzej has been working at RGI since May 2017, having previously cooperated with RGI as researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Currently, he works as a Director for Energy Systems, being responsible for projects and activities under the RGI’s Technical Dimension addressing the questions how to plan, design and implement a carbon-free and optimised energy system. He holds a Master Degree in International Relations from the Wrocław University and completed his PhD at the School of Social Sciences and Technology at the Technical University of Munich.

Dr. Ira Shefer

Manager – Energy Systems

Dr. Ira Shefer

Manager – Energy Systems

t: +49 30 2332 11000
Ira joined the Technical Team at RGI in July 2023. Previously he worked in the BMBF-funded research project Ariadne on local acceptance of wind energy in Germany. Ira holds a Ph.d. from the Technical University of Munich, researching transnational collaborations and their impacts on local climate governance and policy making. He has a MA of Environmental Studies at Nagoya University (Japan) and has a joint Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Asian Studies from Haifa University (Israel. Ira was engaged in several research initiatives that addressed, among others, urban climate governance (at RIFS, Germany) and green building (ILGBC, Israel). He was also a reporter and sections editor at an Israeli magazine for seven years, covering environmental and development issues.

Nathália Pimentel

Manager – Communication & Energy Systems

Nathália Pimentel

Manager – Communication & Energy Systems

t: +49 30 2332 11035
Nathália joined RGI in November 2022 as Junior Manager within the communication team. Currently, she works as Manager – Communication & Energy Systems. She is responsible for communication-related tasks, while also co-leading different activities within the Grids & Energy Systems Dimension in RGI. Her main work topics are circularity and stakeholder engagement, as well as permitting and acceleration of renewables and grid infrastructure. Previously, she worked for the private sector, as well as GIZ Brazil and the European Union’s International Urban Cooperation Program in Latin America and the Caribbeans (IUC-LAC). Nathália studied at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) in Brazil, and the University of Pécs (PTE) in Hungary. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations.

Stephanie Bätjer

Director – Communication

Stephanie Bätjer

Director – Communication

t: +49 30 2332 11017
Stephanie Bätjer is leading the Renewables Grid Initiative’s communication and event activities as Programme Manager – Communication. She is also heavily involved in RGI’s policy work and all activities that look at social engagement around grids. She previously worked in the communications team of the European Climate Foundation. Stephanie has studied at the Universities of Marburg and Hamburg, Germany, and the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. She holds degrees in political science and journalism.

Dr. Andrzej Ceglarz

Director – Energy Systems

Dr. Andrzej Ceglarz

Director – Energy Systems

t: +49 30 233211014
Andrzej has been working at RGI since May 2017, having previously cooperated with RGI as researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). Currently, he works as a Director for Energy Systems, being responsible for projects and activities under the RGI’s Technical Dimension addressing the questions how to plan, design and implement a carbon-free and optimised energy system. He holds a Master Degree in International Relations from the Wrocław University and completed his PhD at the School of Social Sciences and Technology at the Technical University of Munich.

Dr. Ira Shefer

Manager – Energy Systems

Dr. Ira Shefer

Manager – Energy Systems

t: +49 30 2332 11000
Ira joined the Technical Team at RGI in July 2023. Previously he worked in the BMBF-funded research project Ariadne on local acceptance of wind energy in Germany. Ira holds a Ph.d. from the Technical University of Munich, researching transnational collaborations and their impacts on local climate governance and policy making. He has a MA of Environmental Studies at Nagoya University (Japan) and has a joint Bachelor of Law (LLB) and Asian Studies from Haifa University (Israel. Ira was engaged in several research initiatives that addressed, among others, urban climate governance (at RIFS, Germany) and green building (ILGBC, Israel). He was also a reporter and sections editor at an Israeli magazine for seven years, covering environmental and development issues.

Nathália Pimentel

Manager – Communication & Energy Systems

Nathália Pimentel

Manager – Communication & Energy Systems

t: +49 30 2332 11035
Nathália joined RGI in November 2022 as Junior Manager within the communication team. Currently, she works as Manager – Communication & Energy Systems. She is responsible for communication-related tasks, while also co-leading different activities within the Grids & Energy Systems Dimension in RGI. Her main work topics are circularity and stakeholder engagement, as well as permitting and acceleration of renewables and grid infrastructure. Previously, she worked for the private sector, as well as GIZ Brazil and the European Union’s International Urban Cooperation Program in Latin America and the Caribbeans (IUC-LAC). Nathália studied at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) in Brazil, and the University of Pécs (PTE) in Hungary. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations.