Researcher interview #3: Antti Silvast and long-term planning — who does it and why should we care?
In the third part of our blog series interviewing the project's researchers, Antti Silvast, Associate Professor at LUT University and Deputy Director of the Material Democracy project, reflects on participation practices and knowledge production in long-term energy and infrastructure planning.
What is meant by long-term energy and infrastructure planning?
When we talk about long-term energy and infrastructure planning, we are referring to societal processes focused on the future, which aim to outline how we will transition to a carbon-neutral society.
The national climate and energy strategy, a new version of which was published for consultation in the summer of 2025, is a concrete example of this. Each government draws up its own strategy, and the strategies contain detailed policy measures on energy production, technological solutions, and entire sectors such as the hydrogen economy. The plans also have the potential to have a major impact on, for example, the direction of investments, as they include assessments of the impacts of various policy measures and investment strategies.
Who should be involved in long-term planning in the energy sector? Why?
To date, long-term planning has mainly involved experts such as ministry representatives, technical researchers, computer modelers, and consultants. Discussions on long-term planning are usually based on scenarios, which in turn are based on calculations.
The energy system is undergoing major changes, and we can expect, among other things, a shift from centralized systems to decentralized systems in which people act as both energy consumers and producers. It is important to ask what information and perspectives will be overlooked if citizens are unable to participate widely in the discussion on the future energy system. It is also interesting to explore how the group of participating citizens could be made more representative so that the voices of the various groups of people affected by the decisions are heard.
What are the typical challenges in increasing citizen participation in long-term energy planning?
In an article published a few years ago, we analyzed the long-term planning of the Danish Energy Agency. One of the challenges of participation was that it was difficult for citizens to take a position on information that was mostly presented in numerical form. On the other hand, we noticed that the consultations were usually attended by actors who had the time and interest to participate, such as representatives of companies and interest groups, who may have interests in certain technologies, for example. It is not that there is no desire to promote participation, but various characteristics of the process make participation difficult for most people in practice.
In the Material Democracy project, we will continue our research on participation and examine, in particular, scientific models of long-term planning from academic literature, the role of the domestic electronic consultation service in participation in long-term planning, and the relationship between the energy industry and the authorities in anticipating the energy transition.
Text: Liisa Perjo and Antti Silvast
Photo: Daniel Giacomelli, Aalto University
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