2005 Volume 3 Pages 241-258
As WTGs (wind turbine generators) are getting introduced rapidly, especially large scaled wind farm siting often causes environmental disputes. The results from literature and interview surveys on nationwide trends of disputes and intensive comparative case study on two cases which occurred at the same time and brought contrasting results sug-gested the followings; Scope of the agenda in the formal process is determined by institutional requirement, informa-tion gained at informal process and definition of public interests. Environmental disputes arise from a fact that wind farm siting is exempted from the application of Environmental Impact Assessment Law and also a lack of knowledge regarding local ecosystems of wild birds and animals. Therefore, an institutionalization of Strategic Environmental Assessment realizing multilevel governance among central and local governments, and an application of step-by-step participatory approaches in which agenda setting is moving from the general such as the necessity of the facility to the particular such as the location of sites are recommended as a social decision making process to address these dis-putes for the future.
