The canton of St.Gallen has identified suitable areas for the use of wind energy on the basis of the Energy Strategy 2050 and the federal government’s wind energy concept. After weighing up protection and benefit interests, 17 wind suitability areas resulted. The canton wants to enter into a dialogue with the municipalities and the population.

In order to promote dialogue between the canton, the municipalities and the population, Risiko-Dialog accompanied the project up to the participation procedure. Risiko-Dialog took over both the overall concept of the dialogue and the moderation of the events. After preliminary discussions, we first informed the community representatives in three regional information events at the beginning of February 2023 about wind energy in general and the 17 identified suitability areas in order to listen to their concerns.

The information and dialogue events for the population started after a press conference on 16 February 2023. The format consisted of five stations with topics such as wind use in general, specific aspects of planning in St. Gallen or also experiences from other cantons. The stations, which could be freely chosen by the participants, offered opportunities for information, dialogue and questions. By means of surveys and individual discussions, the concerns of the participants were also recorded. Overall, the format facilitated intensive but fair discussions.

The final step is the public participation process, which will be open to the entire population of St. Gallen, the municipalities, associations and other organisations in the coming weeks. This will form the basis for the subsequent decision by the cantonal government to amend the structure plan.