Topic

Innovative procedures for settling disputes with respect to the siting of mobile phone transmitters

Start

01.10.2005

End

31.12.2006

Project Management

DIALOGIK gGmbH

Objective

Although mobile communication is widely accepted as a communication technology, the installation of mobile phone antennas is still a source of local conflicts in most communalities. New potential for conflicts arises from the increasing use of UMTS, since UMTS requires the siting of a great number of additional mobile phone base stations.

The objective of the project was to contribute to the factual discussion about mobile phone transmitters and to support the implementation of those aspects of self-commitment that refer to the communication and co-operation with the local authorities (section III.1 of the self-commitment). For that purpose, the problems (and their causes) identified so far in communication of local authorities in connection with site acquisition for mobile phone transmitters should be shown and proposals for their solution should be made. These proposals should be processed in the form of a guidebook and should be made available to the different members of the local authorities. The focus should be on the appropriate and early information between operators, local authorities and citizens. Thus, it should be ensured that the information of citizens will be maintained or will be improved, even in conflict situations.

Project activities and result

Altogether, research activities were divided into four blocks.

In the first phase of the project the theoretical foundation for working on the project was developed. Furthermore, an analysis of media coverage of conflicts and conflict processes in the field of site acquisition for mobile phone transmitters was carried out, investigating the causes, boundary conditions and information, participation and communication measures taken. Apart from media analysis, already available guidelines on procedures in site-planning were assessed and their benefits and disadvantages were analysed. The guideline analysis provided an insight into the possible optimisation potentials of a new guidebook.

The empirical evaluation of the results obtained in the first phase was a key issue of the second phase of the project. Single case analyses in the form of qualitative interviews based on the guideline were carried out with the main stakeholders involved (representatives of local authorities, mobile telecommunication operators and citizens´ initiatives). This work was particularly helpful to investigate possible factors influencing typical conflict processes and their consequences. In addition, the practical implementation of the theoretical concept of a traffic light model in the guidebook was examined and the guidebook’s conception was elaborated. In this phase of the project, the structure and the logical configuration of the online-guidebook were derived from the results gained so far.

In the third phase, the local authorities´ needs for information was more specifically defined through further single case analyses and expert interviews. The single case analyses were finally evaluated with respect to the criteria for the conflict determining self-assessment of the local authorities´ representatives. The results of this evaluation have been taken into account in the structure and the content of the guidebook.

The project was concluded by the final development of an online guidebook for preventing and settling conflicts in the field of site acquisition for mobile phone transmitters. This was done by taking into account the findings of the previous phases of the project and the results obtained through the feedback sessions.

On the one hand, selected local authorities were important feedback partners, who had evaluated the online version of the guidebook, so that further suggestions for improvement could be obtained.

On the other hand, a project advisory committee was established to provide advice related to the research activities. The committee held three meetings in the course of the project. The suggestions made by the committee were considered in the further design of the project and in the form of feedback sessions in the design of the guidebook. Finally the project was technically implemented by an external Internet agency.

Conclusion

Within the scope of this research project an online guidebook (www.ratgeber-mobilfunk.de) was developed which helps the local authorities avoiding potential conflicts during site planning and/or solve arisen conflicts. The empirical and the theoretical basis of the project was oriented towards the concept of the traffic light model which describe three levels of conflict (green = weak; yellow = medium; red = strong). Concrete instructions for conflict prevention and solution are assigned to each stage. Apart from situational-specific recommendations for action based on a multiple-choice enquiry, the online guidebook also includes general recommendations and background knowledge of the topics related to site acquisition, mobile telecommunication and health, risk communication, mobile telecommunication technology, legal bases and conflict settling.

The guidebook for local authorities can be found under www.ratgeber-mobilfunk.de.

The final report can be downloaded as PDF-File (728 KB) in German.