.nl in the spotlight: particibeter.nl

Can you tell us a bit about Particibeter.nl?

Paul: "It's our agency's latest project, which we're running in collaboration with Maya van der Steenhoven. Waai helps organisations contribute to a prosperous, sustainable and inclusive future. The transition to renewable energy is central to that. Although it's very important, policy-makers often fail to consider things from the citizen's perspective. So particibeter.nl has been started to help the national government and local authorities improve public participation in the planning of solar farms and windfarms. Not nearly enough is being done to involve ordinary people in such developments. We want to increase awareness of what's possible, so that the power of public participation can be used to drive a successful energy transition."

Particibeter.nl, waai.nl: it looks like you've got a flare for coming up with catchy names!

Paul: "The Dutch word 'waai' comes from the verb 'to blow', like the wind. But you pronounce it almost the same as the English 'why'. So it makes you think about the wind blowing and at the same time it challenges you with a question. The name popped into my head one day on the beach at Noordwijk. We started with wijzijnwaai.nl ('we are Waai'), but later we were able to buy waai.nl for €500. It's better because it's punchier. We try to come up with a suitable name for every project we set up. Once, for example, we started work on a project under the name energiekabouters.nl ('energy gnomes'). Unfortunately, that one didn't come off. Here in the Netherlands, there was a popular TV series in 2019 called De Luizenmoeder ('The Nit Nurse'). A feature of the show was that the characters would order a 'participizza' – a pizza to share while they talked about how to improve things. That gave us the idea for particibeter: a project devoted to better public participation in the energy transition. Another option we considered was blijebewoners.nl ('happy residents'), but we didn't think that was quite so good."

How did you build your website?

Paul: "I work mainly with WordPress, unless I need to make a small website for a customer very quickly, in which case I use readymag.com. In WordPress I prefer to use uncode.com's commercial templates, because they provide good, user-friendly themes."

How are you planning to promote particibeter.nl online?

Paul: "We'll include the site in our e-mail footer and share the address on LinkedIn. One new thing we're doing is hosting discussions about public participation in the energy transition on the Clubhouse app. Half-hour sessions once a week, at lunchtime or at the end of the day. Each one features an invited panel of experts and stakeholders. Lots of people listen during their lunch breaks or in the car, on the way from one appointment to the next. Clubhouse enables you to reach people in a way that's informal but allows in-depth analysis. It's much more direct than Twitter. And users don't have to look at their screens, because it's audio only."

What would count as success for particibeter.nl?

Paul: "We want to have a lot more content on particibeter.nl. So far, we've mainly been concentrating on LinkedIn and external sites, such as the Association of Netherlands Municipalities. We want 'particibeter' to become an everyday term within local councils."