Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Community Attitudes And Wind Energy Development Types: A Comparative Study In Ontario And Nova Scotia, Sara M. Wilson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wind turbines will continue to be an important part of the green energy transition in Canada. However, opposition to onshore wind projects from potential host communities has increased over time, and install rates are flattening. Dimensions such as NIMBYism, place, distance from turbines and connections to landscapes have proved relatively inadequate for explaining community attitudes. The value of community-based development models over developer-led models has had recent traction, however limited empirical investigation has been done. I used a mail-out mail-back survey in Ontario (n=192) and Nova Scotia (n=170), to communities with (n=172) and without (n=190) a community-based development model. Using …