Need for Analysis of Danish Practice: Brief Presentation of The Situation of

V. Case Study on Constructive Technology Assessment: The Danish

technical and economic arguments. In Hungary and also generally in Central and Eastern-Europe, long-standing acceptance of top down decision-making, public passivity, and the transferring of responsibility to public authorities developed into slowly changeable tradition. After the political transition the market approach emerged with offering financial compensation, but its legitimacy is questioned by now. Currently, both old and new approaches and various conflict management methods are existing simultaneously (Vári and Caddy, 1999)³⁹.

Since the transition to democratic government, the legislative framework for public participation has been significantly expanded and reinforced. Culture of rights to information, consultation and participation begun to take root. In Central and Eastern-Europe legal provisions for public participation in the field of environment are far grater than in other policy areas, thus provide a unique testing ground in environmental decision making, which is a specific arena for interaction between public authorities and private individuals, also providing possibility of social learning (Vári and Caddy, 1999).

Vári⁴⁰ (1994, 133) highlights that siting of industrial and infrastructure facilities with potential negative impacts on the environment has become a burdening experience in Hungary and due to the strengthening the civil society and to the legal framework providing possibility to public participation, “public protest against the construction of energy producing and waste management facilities, highways and bridges have become more frequent and vehement”, but in the early period the environmental conflict management practices and methods have not developed in accordance with the requirements. The tendency gradually shifted from reactive to proactive approach to problems as in the case of siting of spent fuel storage facility in Hungary in the early

form would be essential to create sounder background for the handling of new challenges in governance (Várkonyi, 2005b).

39 In their book on ‘Public Participation in Environmental Decisions’, Vári and Caddy (1999) review recent experience of public participation in Hungary, which has great relevance also to other Central and Eastern-European countries, by critical analysis of case studies of environmental decision-making in the 1990s in the fields of siting of facilities, local and regional environmental planning, and national policy making showing the varying degrees of success of public participation through cases from the wide spectrum of policy areas involving waste management, water quality, transport and infrastructure.

40 Anna Vári carried out several practical researches on conflict perspectives in multi-stakeholder processes, decision supporting systems and public participation in environmental decision-making processes, furthermore on the development of conflict management, moreover developed practical methods for approaching nuclear risk from public participation perspective. She summarised policy and management recommendations through many practical case study analyses in various Hungarian and international topics among others as the siting low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities in the USA and Hungary, siting spent fuel storage facility in Hungary, waste management and facility siting in Hungary, power plant siting in Hungary, siting of secondary reserve gas-turbine power station in Hungary, environmental conflict management of siting of a bypass road around Budapest and public participation in developing

1990s, contrary to the reactive approach followed in the earlier case of the low- and intermediate-level waste repository (Vári, 1996a). Since legitimacy of a decision on siting depend on the gained level of consensus between the stakeholders, and on the design of fair process and the fair the fair distribution of both risks and benefits, Vári (1996b) suggests negotiation of mutually acceptable agreement of the main actors regarding principles and criteria of fairness before the before the planning the process.

The experience and results of early cases established possible role models for making environmentally-related decisions as in the case of siting spent fuel storage facility (Vári, 1996a) and of developing water quality legislation. The later case started nearly a decade ago in 1996 in the framework of the PHARE programme and was the first attempt in Hungary to directly apply public participation methods in rulemaking from early stages of the process. Its importance was significant as there was no history of cooperation between those who bring new legislation, relevant experts and those affected. Vári and Kisgyörgy (1998) highlight that direct stakeholder participation in the planning of legislation and regulation processes is a key importance in finding of feasible and broadly accepted solutions, while providing possibility for stakeholders of assisting the elimination of expert preconceptions and the emergence of new alternatives and perspectives. The original project extended far beyond its original aims and created a starting point for a general model of public participation in Hungary.

In Hungary the elements of TA and its related activities mostly appeared after 1992 in the practice and interest fields of universities and research institutes. Later it resulted in the gradual appearance in education and research as well. The former role of OMFB (Országos Műszaki Fejlesztési Bizottság; National Committee for Technological Development) and the studies of Institute of Social Conflicts of MTA (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia;

Hungarian Academy of Sciences; recently HAS, Institute of Sociology) and also the Budapest University of Technology and Economics should be highlighted in this area. The first TA book in Hungarian edited by Hronszky and László under the title of ‘Introduction to Technology Assessment’ was published by the OMFB (Országos Műszaki Fejlesztési Bizottság; National Committee for Technological Development) in 1994, based on the works of most of the leading domestic experts of TA. It established the relevant terminology and provided theoretical and historical framework for TA, also consisting the analysis of case studies form mainly international TA practices. It aimed at enhancing the wider recognition of TA and spread its methodologies, furthermore it can be considered as the first initiative in the establishment of TA culture in Hungary.

In Hungary the decision-making processes relating to technology emphasize the role of expertise. In this expert based framework, there is lack of intention to move toward higher level of governance. While expertocracy should be avoided and significant steps towards public participation would be needed, the application of technology assessment is still in its initial phase in Hungary, meanwhile public participation based TA reached its second stage in some of the member countries of the European Union, which requires two main steps from Hungary to accomplish in the near future (Várkonyi, 2005b). The crucial importance of participatory methods and their applicable formation in the domestic environment leads to the issue of the different role of democracy in the former socialist countries with their problematic situation of emphasizing technocratic approaches in connection with expertise rather than applying discourses and public participation. Generally, small amount of effort have been done for awaking responsibility relation to engineering constructions in Hungary. Technology assessment remained practically unknown at Hungarian universities, ethics for engineers has not much better position. In most of the cases fresh engineering diploma holders are not prepared to get integrated in multidisciplinary participatory projects (Hronszky, 2002b). The creation of TA as a culture through multilevel education would be essentially needed as a background to an effective long-term process. Despite the fact that in countries for instance, like the Netherlands (Twente University) and Denmark (Aalborg University, Technical University of Denmark⁴¹, Roskilde University) TA has an emphasised role in technical education, courses in Hungary were only introduced at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics until recently.

In less than a decade, the basic framework of rights to public participation in environmental decision-making has been established and was accompanied by the emergence of a set of actors which enhances the extended utilisation of new and existing opportunities for participation. The joining to the European Union and to respond to international initiatives such as the Aarchus Convention were also important external factors reinforcing the principle of public participation in Hungarian policy making. Even though, without the supplementary measures and strong political commitment, the relatively well developed legal framework will continue to meet with limited or formalistic application and will increase the widespread disillusionment with institutions of

41 At the Technical University of Denmark, there are significant intentions to develop new type of engineering education through the integration of engineering disciplines, ‘citizens’ disciplines’ to create technologies that can work, based on socio-technical approach, aiming at integrating broader society in their perspectives. These programmes intend to educate engineers with the focus on social-technical dimension in order to provide competences for managing projects with integrated, broader assessment of technology in their development (Christian Clausen, verbal notification, Copenhagen (Technical

representative democracy. The basic framework for the exercise of the rights to public participation is of recent introduction in Hungary still having limited experience of its use.

Even those who have decided to use their rights are often disillusioned by their experience because of perceiving that the public still counts as little currently as under the previous system. Under the circumstances of frequent overlapping of existing laws, lack of implementing legislation, the absence of adequate training for those responsible for implementation reduces many innovative elements such as the improvement of decision-making through public participation to mere formalities. The existence of the legal framework is only a necessary, but not sufficient precondition for comprehensive public participation. Many factors can be identified that hinder the effective use legislative provisions for public participation as the overwhelming predominance of economic concerns under financial and unemployment hardships, slow evolution of positive and proactive relation between public officials and the public with deep-rooted suspicion of decision-makers and widespread passivity, furthermore the lack of appropriate mechanisms for public participation and of methodological knowledge to manage such procedures effectively. Moreover, the extent and intensity of public participation gradually decrease as the level at which decisions are made is relatively remote, although the structure of rules governing public participation in decision-making also becomes weaker at higher levels in Hungary. Involvement in decision-making at the local level where the benefits of actions are more immediate and tangible.

Main changes occurred in connection with the recognition of the need to involve affected parties in decision-making by public administration and business, furthermore with the greater voice of non-governmental organisations, although neither the exercise of the right of proactive participation in cases of the preparations of decisions and the development of policies in all policy fields is rarely used nor the successive phase of participation with individuals exercising responsibilities which accompany the rights of citizenship and considered as partners in decision making has not emerged in Hungary, yet (Vári and Caddy, 1999).

Many developed industrial countries provides the public the possibility to participate in or follow the debate, while in Hungary there is an incomplete knowledge on debates, their historical development and their lessons. Up-to-date management of risk conflicts requires practices of participation with relevant learning processes, but in Hungary risk bargaining is still dominant, although it should be the final element of these processes. Many cases of industrial facility siting with different results show a trend leading to the more complex

management of environmental conflicts with the emphasised role of public participation (Hronszky, 2002c).

Methods of participatory-based constructive technology assessment should be applied to increase the role of the public in the decision-making process. The domestic possibilities of these techniques framed by political and social approaches and the regulatory background should be considered to be widened in order to establish systematical applicability. The following analysis of Danish mode of CTA with participative methods being used on many levels of Danish the society, create a democratic basis for decision-making on technology development, showing a possible, recommended procedure of techniques, being a great part of culture and attitude, to the countries like Hungary, aiming to further develop their practice in this matter .