Dem Wind Wind machen — Putting Wind in the Sails of the Energy Transition

Switzerland’s energy transition needs wind power — yet a vocal minority dominates the public debate while the supportive majority stays silent. We develop a values-based, non-polarising communication approach and train Pro Wind boards, decision-makers and authorities across Switzerland to lead constructive conversations on wind energy — shifting it from a contested left-green issue into a broadly accepted pillar of the Swiss energy supply.

Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz

Mehring Sabine

sabine.mehring@gmx.ch

Ettingen BL

Switzerland’s official energy strategies (Energieperspektiven 2050+, BFE) all rely on a substantial expansion of wind power, particularly to secure winter electricity supply. Yet less than 1% of Swiss electricity comes from wind, while neighbouring Austria, Germany, Italy and France reach 8–31%. Domestic energy companies know wind’s value but increasingly invest abroad due to long Swiss permitting procedures. Each year, roughly CHF 10 billion flows out of Switzerland for fossil gas and oil — money that could fund a domestic, electrified, climate-neutral energy system. The structural barrier is not technical or economic *— it is communicative and political. Long permitting procedures combine with loud, emotionally charged opposition campaigns to slow projects to a halt and raise project costs; upcoming federal votes could de facto block the construction of wind plants in Switzerland. Recent Swiss research confirms that the loud opposition is not representative. A 2026 University of St. Gallen study on the hypothetical “Petra & Paula” wind park found that three quarters of residents would approve such a project — but the small minority of clear opponents shows markedly stronger emotions than any other group (source: unisg.ch, 29.4.2026). The supportive majority therefore stays silent, fearing polarisation and shitstorms; politicians, government employees, journalists and even energy companies hold back. Our hypothesis: the bottleneck is not public opinion, but a communication culture that lets a loud minority set the frame. .Without changing how supportive actors talk about wind energy — and how they engage with sceptics — Switzerland will fail to build the wind capacity its own scenarios require, with severe consequences for net-zero, energy security and economic sovereignty. * It becomes an economic problem as well, due to long project durations - even to the point where the technology is outdated by the time a project is permitted. 

We want to tackle three concrete everyday practices in how Swiss society talks about the energy transition: (1) How decision-makers and opinion leaders speak in public — from defensive silence to confident, story-led advocacy for wind power, without fear of polarising. Target groups: politicians (municipal, cantonal, federal), mayors, civil servants, energy executives, journalists. (2) How the renewables community frames wind energy — from technical / defensive arguments to values-based stories that connect with feelings, identity and concrete actions (Pro Wind sections, Suisse Eole, environmental NGOs). (3) How supporters engage with the undecided and with opponents — from confrontation or avoidance to constructive, non-dividing dialogue grounded in shared values, both in face-to-face conversations and in print, broadcast and social media. Approach: combine (a) a values & narrative analysis of the relevant stakeholder groups, (b) co-creation of a shared, evidence-based narrative on wind energy and the Swiss energy transition, and (c) a national communication training that equips Pro Wind board members and allied multipliers to apply this narrative in real conversations, panels and media appearances. The mechanism is social nudging: when a critical mass of trusted, non-partisan voices speak naturally about wind power, renewables move from a contested left-green issue to a broadly accepted Swiss energy-supply solution.

Direct beneficiaries: • Pro Wind sections, Suisse Eole and environmental NGOs — gain a tested values-based narrative and trained spokespeople, so they can move emotion and action in favour of the energy transition and act as multipliers towards further audiences. • Politicians at municipal, cantonal and federal levels — receive language and framing they can use to speak about wind energy in public without polarising, lowering the personal political risk of supporting renewables. • Authorities (planning offices, cantonal administrations) — gain confidence to propose zoning plans, master plans (Richtpläne) and permitting procedures consistent with Switzerland’s net-zero obligations. • Energy companies — gain the social licence to revive wind projects that have been stalled for years and to keep investments inside Switzerland. • Journalists — receive a reflective vocabulary to cover wind energy beyond the polarised pro/contra frame. Wider impact: The methodology — values mapping, narrative co-creation, communication training — is fully transferable. It can be adapted to other contested infrastructure debates (grid expansion, large-scale solar, geothermal, alpine PV) and to cities and cantons beyond our pilot region. By openly publishing the materials (training curriculum, narrative toolkit, evaluation results), we improve the structural communication conditions for renewable-energy actors across Switzerland.

Over the past 12 months, Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz has held informal exploratory conversations with energy companies, municipal and cantonal politicians, planning authorities and residents in north-western Switzerland. The recurring finding: even committed supporters express significant hesitation to speak publicly in favour of wind energy, citing fear of polarisation, personal attacks and shitstorms. This confirms that the missing element is not factual information — which exists in abundance — but a usable, emotionally resonant narrative and the confidence and skills to use it. We have also observed that, when supporters are given concrete framings and counter-questions, the dynamic of conversations visibly shifts from defensive to constructive — suggesting that a structured training intervention is likely to have a measurable effect. 

During the booster we will: (1) Conduct a values & frame analysis of the key stakeholder groups (politicians, civil servants, energy companies, journalists, undecided residents) — combining short qualitative interviews with desk research on existing Swiss public-value and energy-attitudes studies, and synthesise the findings into a values map. (2) Co-create a shared evidence-based narrative on wind energy and the Swiss energy transition with Pro Wind boards and an external expert in campaigning / communication psychology — and (3) pilot a national communication training (one-day workshop plus two practice rounds) with board members from several Pro Wind sections and selected multipliers, equipping them to (a) tell the new story, (b) lead constructive dialogue with sceptics, (c) handle polarising media situations. Key assumptions to test first: A1 — A values-based, non-polarising narrative actually changes how Pro Wind multipliers feel and behave in real conversations, not just in workshops. A2 — Trained multipliers measurably reach decision-makers (politicians, authorities, journalists), who in turn shift their public communication. A3 — There is willingness among political and institutional actors outside the renewables movement to adopt elements of the narrative. We will test A1 first, in the training pilot, since it is a precondition for A2 and A3.

Success indicators by 31 December 2026: • 20-40 Pro Wind board members from at least 4 sections complete the training and co-own the resulting narrative. • At least 80% of trained participants report (post-training and 3 months later) higher confidence in leading constructive conversations on wind energy without polarising. • At least 6 documented public applications of the new narrative (panels, op-eds, council interventions, media interviews) within 3 months of the training. Pivot trigger: if fewer than 50% of trained participants apply the narrative publicly within 3 months — or if pre/post evaluation shows no shift in self-reported confidence — we will fundamentally rethink the approach. The bottleneck would then likely lie not in narrative & training but in structural fear of personal attacks, and a different intervention (legal/institutional protection, peer-support networks, Deep Canvassing) would be needed.

Confirmed and planned test partners (status as of May 2026): Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz and Pro Wind Aargau — board members already committed to participate in the analysis and the training pilot (internal team, decision taken). At least four further Pro Wind sections across Switzerland (e.g. Bern, Vaud, Wallis, Zürich) — outreach planned via the Suisse Eole network in May/June 2026; we need booster support to confirm participation. Suisse-Eole: the national association of wind power will be contributing factual data and insights in the Swiss Wind Situation. Two municipal mayors (Gemeindepräsident:innen) in NWCH wind-park municipalities — first conversations to be scheduled in June 2026. Cantonal administration BL (Energy / Spatial Planning) — initial contact established via Pro Wind NWCH; first interview to be scheduled in May/June 2026. FHNW — Public Value research group (HSW) as research partner; first contact to be initiated during the booster (see Section 11). A national-level journalist or editor as critical reviewer of the narrative — we need booster support to identify a constructive partner.

Expert knowledge in campaigning, strategic communication and political/social psychology — in particular values mapping and narrative design (deriving a story from the values of people and decision-makers); access to a research partner (ideally FHNW or comparable) to ground the methodology and document results; network access to other Pro Wind sections, Suisse Eole and federal energy-policy actors (BFE, ENDK); and structured sparring at key milestones (analysis, narrative draft, training design, evaluation).

• Sabine Mehring — Vice-President, Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz. Project lead, stakeholder access in NWCH, content steering. Long-standing experience in advocacy for renewable energy in Swiss municipalities. • Celestina Rogers — Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz. Sustainability consultant for SMEs (Net-Zero, sustainability transformation, organisational development). Project management, methodology, evaluation design. • Benno Graber — Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz. Communication and organisational Specialist with a long standing track record of developing organisations and their voice. • Anna Bossard — Pro Wind Aargau. Cross-section outreach, Suisse Eole / Pro Wind Switzerland network access, recruitment of training participants. • Implementation partners: Pro Wind Nordwestschweiz (legal entity for the application), Pro Wind Aargau. • Research partner (to be confirmed during the booster): FHNW — Public Value research group (HSW), or comparable institution.

A research partner from the field of campaigning, communication or social/political psychology. We would like to approach the FHNW Public Value research group as research partner; in addition, we are looking for (a) a senior practitioner-expert in narrative campaign design (campaigning agency or political communication consultancy), and (b) a coach with experience in non-violent communication or Deep Canvassing for the training module.