A highly volatile debate
Fueling debate
There is a great deal of confusion as to the benefit and the consequences of using biofuel. While the one considers it a suitable alternative fuel, the other warns that biofuel production is competing with food production, thus exacerbating the food shortage. There also appears to be a huge rift between the ideology and the practical side of the matter. This can be partly attributed to unspoken visions and mutual suspicion among the parties engaged in this field.
The researchers involved in this project examined the background to the various attitudes of interested parties (scientists, politicians, nature conservancy organisations and industrialists). They held interviews with a view to discovering how the parties arrived at their various assumptions and where they acquired their insights. The researchers also sought to gain understanding of the values upheld by all stakeholders. How do they view the matter of sustainability, and what is their opinion of Earth as an ecosystem: Does mankind form part of the system, or do we hold an elevated status that entitles us to intervene in it? The interviews were followed by a workshop which brought representatives of all interested parties to the table together, while special assignments were issued which persuaded them to examine their own visions and assumptions more closely.
One of the objectives of adopting the approach of organising a workshop was to encourage participants to understand and acquire insight into one another’s attitudes, in the hope that discussion might then not become so quickly polarised. The workshop produced a manifesto containing advice and recommendations to politicians, both nationally and internationally, which was endorsed by all parties involved. The manifesto has since been presented to the European Parliament.