The Shaping of Social attitudes toward Energy-Parks in the Belgian Countryside

Due to recent evolutions- increases in global raw material prices and the growing awareness of global warming, several countries have embraced the development of renewable power production. Because these facilities often require a lot of space, they are located in the countryside. This paper focuses on wind energy development in the Belgian countryside, a densely populated area in Western Europe. It presents the results of the Lacsawep research project that examined how Belgian citizens in different contexts perceive wind farm projects. Attitudes toward wind farms in Belgium are based on several sources of information: word of mouth; public announcements by local government and project managers; and the regional, national, or international media. Citizens hardly analyse the mishmash of pro- and contra- information. The discourses shaping attitudes toward wind farms are a compendium of physical annoyances, economic arguments, symbolic preferences, and critiques of decision-making processes.