JustGreen focuses on conflicts that often arise in relation to land use changes driven by the green transitions. The participants in this project will develop a framework to strengthen and deepen the democratic processes of the green transitions with the aim to reduce such conflicts. 

Renewable energy is a core feature of the green transitions. However, renewable energy production requires development of infrastructure and mining for critical minerals. In this way, renewable energy development is an important driver of land use changes in the Nordic countries. These land use changes often cause conflicts between developers, planning officials, environmentalists, and local inhabitants. Securing public support for green transitions depends on resolving these conflicts in equitable and environmentally just ways.

JustGreen is aiming to develop a land use management framework that can be used to help resolve conflicts over land use in the green transitions. We draw on theories of legitimacy, justice, and pluralistic valuation to develop a framework for just land use assessment. 

This aspect is important, as a fundamental reason for the nature crisis is the failure to appropriately value nature in decision-making processes. The framework will be applied to studies of ongoing and completed processes of land use change in relation to onshore wind projects and mining projects in Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. The researchers in the project will analyse the knowledge base used in the planning process in each of the cases, and evaluate the extent to which justice and value recognition have been considered.

To further the theory and practice of land use justice, the project will also identify and test methods for conflict resolution within land use change processes. The framework will be made practically applicable for use in future land use change processes, thus holding the potential to support the democratisation of the green transition.