Project Head and Team:
Konrad Götz
Funding:
Hessische Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie,
Jugend, Familie und Gesundheit
City of Viernheim
Field of research
about the Institute
|
In 1994 Viernheim, as a result of its energy saving policies, was the first city in
Hesse to be awarded the Brundtland Prize. As a Brundtland city it is Viernheim's goal to
achieve 30% in energy savings by the year 2010. The Hesse Ministry of Environment
contracted with the Research Association for Environmentally Sound Energy Conversion and
Use ltd. in Kiel to evaluate the first package of energy saving measures . The ISOE
received a sub-contract for a social-scientific evaluation of the public relations work.
The study, which used methods of empirical social research, had four main goals:
- to identify the points which could lead to an involvement in, and commitment to, energy
saving on the part of Viernheim's residents
- to examine the public relations work already underway in terms of their clarity of goals
- to estimate the effect of an active involvement of citizens
- and, finally, to set up a feedback loop for ideas and suggestions for improvement with
respect to the project.
The research topic is dealt with using a two level research design: In the first,
qualitative level, a group of 40 residents of Viernheim, chosen as a representative
sample, will be questioned in open interviews using a standardized questionnaire.
In the second, quantitative level a representative group of approximately 800 persons
will be questioned. The goal here is to, first, quantitatively support the research
results and, second, to use the material to set up a target group typology employing a
cluster analysis.
The results are to provide those taking part &endash the officials of the City of
Viernheim and of Hesse's Ministry of Environment &endash with criteria to help them
continually optimize and adjust the public relations work of the project.
In the meantime, the qualitative research phase has been completed.
|