D6.7: Policy Brief with Guidelines for Public Engagement and Recommendations

This policy brief presents key findings and recommendations from Work Package 6 on Social Acceptance and Public Participation. It draws on five years of engagement in the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal), the Ebro Basin (Spain), the Paris Basin (France), and exploratory work in Upper Silesia (Poland) and Western Macedonia (Greece). Activities included two waves of representative surveys with over 3,300 respondents, 56 stakeholder interviews, around 20 Regional Stakeholder Committee meetings involving about 300 stakeholders, and tailored citizen engagement activities in each region.
The brief provides recommendations for policymakers, project developers, and local authorities. Its central message is clear: technically sound CCS projects cannot succeed without social legitimacy, which requires sustained, transparent, and context-sensitive engagement.