Master Thesis

A Romantic World Perspective

How Romanticism Influences the Social

Acceptance of Wind Power

Master Program in Sustainable Management

Department of Business Studies

Uppsala University, Campus Gotland

Date of Submission: 2020-06-03

Lisa Dufner

Lize Klute

Supervisor: Fredrik Sjöstrand

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ABSTRACT

This study aims to expand and enrich the research on the social gap regarding wind power

development. We look into reasons for the malaise that people experience when confronted

with wind power projects and propose that aspects of the Romantic era still prevail in and

influence how humans relate to the world today. We show that the human relation to nature

and technology is influenced by Romanticism providing one additional explanation for the

social acceptance of wind power that has not yet been addressed in research. This is researched

through a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case design that focuses on exploring personal

stories and emotions about people’s relation to nature, technology and wind power. This

resulted in the discovery of several paradoxes in people’s thinking, a nature paradox and a

technology paradox which meet in the wind power debate. Our findings indicate that the

malaise around wind power can be further understood by these paradoxes. Ultimately, people’s

final decision on accepting wind power comes down to Romantic thinking versus

Enlightenment thinking, in which the latter dominates.

Key Words: Wind Power, Romanticism, Relation to Nature, Relation to Technology, Social

Acceptance, Social Gap.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project is the result of a year in which our understanding of sustainability issues has been

enhanced and our minds have been opened to critical and creative ways of thinking. We would

like to say thank you to everyone who contributed to the finalization of this work, as it would

not have been possible without them. First of all, thank you to our classmates for the discussions

and critical feedback in the seminars for this thesis and the entire program. Second of all, thank

you to our teachers and especially our supervisor Fredrik Sjöstrand (PhD) who showed us the

right track and assured us that we are still on it. Third of all, thank you to our interviewees who

gave us trust and took time to talk to us in the midst of the Corona crisis. Lastly, thank you to

our friends and family who supported us from distance and kept our spirits high when the wind

was blowing hard and the clouds were hanging low over Visby.

Thank you!

Lisa & Lize

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5

1.1. Being Out of Tune ..................................................................................................... 5

1.2. Scientific Relevance................................................................................................... 6

1.3. Problem Formulation and Research Question ........................................................... 7

1.4. Structure ..................................................................................................................... 8

2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................... 9

2.1. Social Acceptance of Wind Power ............................................................................ 9

2.2. Established Factors of Social Acceptance ............................................................... 10

2.2.1. Contextual Factors ............................................................................................... 10

2.2.2. Personal and Psychological Factors of Social Acceptance .................................. 12

2.3. Wind Power - Nature and Technology Meeting Place ............................................ 14

2.4. Relation to Nature .................................................................................................... 15

2.5. Relation to Technology ............................................................................................ 17

2.6. Theoretical Framework: Romanticism .................................................................... 19

3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 27

3.1. Research Strategy..................................................................................................... 27

3.2. Research Design and Case Selection ....................................................................... 27

3.3. Research Methods and Data Collection ................................................................... 31

3.4. Data Analysis ........................................................................................................... 33

3.5. Data Quality ............................................................................................................. 33

4. The Tale of Our Empirics ................................................................................................. 35

4.1. Places & Stories ....................................................................................................... 35

4.2. Romantic Themes in Interviews .............................................................................. 36

4.2.1. Background of Romanticism ............................................................................... 36

4.2.2. Technology .......................................................................................................... 42

4.2.3. Far Away & Long Ago ........................................................................................ 45

4.2.4. Emotional, Subjective Individual......................................................................... 49

4.3. Wind Power Opinions .............................................................................................. 51

5. Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 56

5.1. Nature Paradox......................................................................................................... 56

5.2. Technology Paradox ................................................................................................ 57

5.3. Explaining the Wind Power Malaise ....................................................................... 59

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6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 63

6.1. Future Research and Limitations ............................................................................. 64

6.2. Personal Reflection .................................................................................................. 65

Reference List .......................................................................................................................... 67

Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 72

Appendix A: Interview Protocols ......................................................................................... 72

Appendix B: Coding Frame ................................................................................................. 79

Appendix C: Description of Interviewees ............................................................................ 81

Appendix D: Selection of Quotes ........................................................................................ 88

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: The triangle of social acceptance. 10

Figure 2: Established factors of Social Acceptance of wind power. 14

Figure 3: The Oxbow, by Thomas Cole, 1836. 22

Figure 4: Conceptualization of Romanticism. 26

Figure 5: Map of the two case locations, Kinderdijk and Eisenbach, Schwarzwald. 28

Figure 6: Kinderdijk - View from the mill of a miller we interviewed. 29

Figure 7: Typical landscape Schwarzwald. 30

Figure 8: Visualization of the proposed wind turbines in Eisenbach. 31

Figure 9: Established factors of Social Acceptance of wind power & factors in empirics. 53

Figure 10: Conflict between Topophilia, Technophobia and Technophilia. 61

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1. Introduction

The World Is Too Much With Us

This sonnet by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth from 1807 is about the loss of

nature that humanity both causes and experiences. People are described as being mainly

concerned with the material and financial world of consumerism and thus blind to the beauty

of nature. While nature has a constant rhythm, humanity is “out of tune” (p. 122) and

disconnected from it.

1.1. Being Out of Tune

Living in the 21st century, in times of artificial intelligence, digitalization and exploitation of

natural resources, but also of Fridays for Future, Greta Thunberg and the European Union’s

European Green New Deal, it seems as if people are more disconnected from nature as ever,

while simultaneously being perfectly aware of this disconnection. Wordsworth’s writings from

the beginning of the 19th century about the loss of nature that humanity is causing are just as,

or even more relevant now as they were back then. Humanity seems to be very aware of the

devastating effects we have on the Earth and its climate (European Commission, 2019).

Renewable energy, especially wind power, is one attempt to forgo anthropogenic climate

change and achieve the global CO2 emission goals of the Paris Climate Agreement (Wind

Europe, n.d.). National governments and transnational governance bodies are highly supportive

of this technology, however, local community acceptance is declining (Ellis & Ferraro, 2016).

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According to public surveys, a high percentage of citizens are supportive of developing wind

power projects, yet in many countries the expansion slows down due to local resistance (Ellis

& Ferraro, 2016). This is attributable to the social gap, which describes precisely that.

Individuals have a positive attitude towards the concept of wind power in general but oppose

particular wind power development projects (Bell, Gray & Haggett, 2005).

This speaks of great ambiguity and is exemplary for many issues around sustainability.

Our ideological world and behavior are often hard to match with reality and possible

adaptability. We, ourselves, feel like living in a paradox, between the need for and dependence

on technology while simultaneously sharing a deep appreciation for untouched nature and a

wish to live in harmony with it. Wind power is one such technological solution that promises

to make our lives more sustainable and the exact meeting point of people’s understanding of

technology and nature. Therefore, we understand the unease felt, when hypothetical wind

power development plans become reality. Diverging opinions on wind power and the social

gap uncover the ambivalent feelings we unconsciously have towards our context of technology

and nature. The wind power debate is the textbook example of a conflict that many of us carry

within ourselves everyday.

In this thesis, we take a look behind the façade of the debate and get to know people

and their stories connected to the areas they live in and their feelings connected to nature,

technology and wind power. We do so through a Romantic lens, as Romanticism encapsulates

the complex human relation to nature and technology and helps to understand these two value

systems better.

1.2. Scientific Relevance

Researchers have been working extensively on explaining the social gap and overcoming the

problem of low local acceptance of wind power projects, as Ellis and Ferraro (2016) show.

This research has predominantly focused on describing factors occurring as a problem in

specific projects, contextual factors, (Devine-Wright, 2005). This body of literature is highly

valid but seems insufficient to explain the full range of opinions and emotions around wind

power. A growing amount of literature acknowledges that these contextual factors, such as

benefit packages, citizen participation and justice perceptions, are insufficient explanations for

the social gap (Warren & Birnie, 2009). This research calls for understanding the rationales

that shape the public attitude of wind power projects and extending the factors to values and

individual understandings. The underlying reasons for the resistance to these changes in the

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landscape and what they symbolize is not adequately addressed in the literature about wind

power acceptance. Pasqualetti (2011) calls for considering the relationship between land, life

and people more, which is what we intend to do with this work, by looking at how people relate

to nature and technology around them. We suggest that Romanticism could provide a valuable

and new perspective to untangle this relationship to nature and technology and the reasons for

wind power development opposition.

1.3. Problem Formulation and Research Question

The problem we see in the wind power debate is that although established factors are widely

researched and increasingly respected in the planning and development process, there is still

great unease among people whenever they are confronted with a wind power project. The

explanations that literature has provided so far (see 2.2. - Established Factors of Social

Acceptance) do not cover the complexity and depth of the inner discourse that comes into play

when an opinion on wind power is formed. The acceptance of a wind power project touches

upon very basic and individual assumptions about one’s context of life. This includes how a

person relates to nature in general, as well as to their immediate surroundings with its history

and technology.

Based on readings about and from the Romantic era, we propose that aspects of this

time period still prevail and influence how humans relate to the world today. After exploring

this assumption in our empirical data, we analyze what role a predominantly romanticized view

on our world plays in the acceptance of wind power. Therefore, our research question is:

How does a Romantic worldview influence the social acceptance of wind power?

We show that this is one additional explanation for the great unease about the expansion of

wind power that is evident among people, which is not yet addressed in past research. This is

a significant part of the picture that is very important for everyone part of the wind power

debate, planners, policy makers, and residents, to consider. Possibly, becoming aware of the

Romantic lens on our world can help to ease the tension around nature and technology and thus

around wind power projects.

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1.4. Structure

In order to answer the research question, a quick review is given of the established factors for

wind power acceptance that are most dominant in the literature. This review gives rise to a need

for further exploration of the topic, as past research does not sufficiently explain the unease

people feel. This is where Romanticism comes into play. Romantic thought disproves of an

entanglement of nature and technology, which clash in wind turbine development. That is why

literature on human’s relation to nature, followed by the outline of human relation to

technology, is presented. The meeting place of nature and technology, envisioned in the wind

power debate is elaborated upon, leading to an exhaustive explanation of the theoretical base:

Romanticism. Thereafter, the reasoning behind the research method used is elaborated upon. It

includes a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case research design, and focused on exploring

personal stories and emotions about the relation to nature, technology and wind power. Next,

the results from our empirical study are presented. The data is interpreted with a Romantic lens,

examining people’s thoughts on nature and technology. To connect this to wind power

acceptance, the opinions on the use of wind and the reasoning behind it are listed. Finally, in

the discussion the empirical material is condensed by describing people’s paradoxical relation

to nature and technology followed by a connection to the wind power debate. These findings

are discussed, the research question answered and our final takeaways concluded.

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2. Literature Review

2.1. Social Acceptance of Wind Power

Given that the initial problem that sparked our interest in the topic was the low acceptance of

wind power on the local level (Ellis & Ferraro, 2016), we intend to set a solid knowledge base

by looking at the terminology of Social Acceptance. Social Acceptance appeared in the late

1990s and developed from a minor study point to a concept that is widely studied and

acknowledged today (Ellis & Ferraro, 2016). Some authors use the term social acceptability,

others use public acceptance or societal acceptance (Fournis & Fortin, 2016). Similarly, there

are slightly different definitions of what these terms stand for. Upham, Oltra and Boso (2015)

summarize the term as follows:

“[A] favourable or positive response (including attitude, intention, behavior and —

where appropriate — use) relating to a proposed or in situ technology or social

technical system by members of a given social unit (country or region, community

or town and household, organization).” (p.103)

Fournis and Fortin (2016) review the vast amount of literature about Social Acceptance in

connection to wind power projects and through this they demonstrate the strengths and

weaknesses of the concept. Critique of the concept generally states that it is a simplification of

a complex social reality and therefore too confined as it neglects that there is a variety of

different public responses (Batel, Devine-Wright & Tangeland, 2013; Ricci, Bellaby & Flynn,

2008). Ambiguous is that it is, in fact, mainly used in contexts in which one actually speaks of

‘unacceptability’ (Chataignier & Jobert, 2003 in Fournis & Fortin, 2016).

Nevertheless, the theory of Social Acceptance has proven useful, as it has prevailed in

the literature on wind power. Wüstenhagen, Wolsink and Bürer (2007) split up Social

Acceptance in three constituents: 1) socio-political acceptance (most general level of

acceptance of technologies and policies by the public, key stakeholders and policy makers), 2)

market acceptance (adoption of technology and innovation by investors, financial institutions

and consumers) and 3) community acceptance (acceptance of specific projects by residents and

local authorities). This triangle of social acceptance is shown in Figure 1. The last dimension

of SA, community acceptance, is the one that we will refer to when speaking of Social

Acceptance as this is the barrier that is yet to overcome, given that the first two constituents

are largely accepted (Wüstenhagen et al., 2007).

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Figure 1: The triangle of social acceptance. Source: Wüstenhagen, et al., 2007, p. 2684.

2.2. Established Factors of Social Acceptance

There is a wide range of research on the factors of Social Acceptance. Devine-Wright (2008)

proposes a differentiation of contextual, personal and psychological factors. We will follow

this classification as it structures the factors literature presents in a clear and concise way which

makes them easier to grasp. Due to the high amount of research conducted in this field, we

inevitably had to make a selection of literature on wind power acceptance that generated most

new and relevant insights.

2.2.1. Contextual Factors

Most of the research on Social Acceptance of wind power explores factors that are dependent

on the specific project and its planning and implementation, put differently, the particular

context of the project. A contextual factor that has been researched since the start of the wind

power discourse and generally phrased as the most decisive reason for acceptance, or the

opposite, is the distribution of benefits and costs of a wind power project (Devine-Wright,

2008). Benefits can take the form of financial compensations for residents, as several studies

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point out that these entail positive effects on their acceptance (Dimitropoulos & Kontoleon,

2009; Walker, Wiersma & Bailey, 2014) or financial participation (Corscadden, Wile &

Yiridoe, 2012; Upham & Garcia Perez, 2015; Yildiz, 2014). Another way for a community to

reap benefits from a wind power project is through increased economic development, for

example through the creation of jobs (Brannstrom, Jepson & Persons, 2011; Firestone &

Kempton, 2007; Firestone, Kempton & Krueger, 2009; Firestone, Kempton, Lilley,

Samoteskul, 2012). Unfortunately, wind power projects also entail costs that communities may

perceive to be imposed on them in the form of infrasound, noise or shadows from the turbines.

It could impact the local ecosystem as well in terms of danger for animals with a habitat in the

vicinity of the turbines, such as bats or birds (Firestone & Kempton, 2007). Furthermore,

Firestone and Kempton (2007) and Firestone et al. (2009, 2012) find that Social Acceptance

decreases if property values or touristic activity are expected to decrease due to a perceived

loss of landscape aesthetic. The visible perceptibility of turbines in the landscape and its effects

on the latter are shown by several scholars to be named as reasons for non-acceptance (Devine-

Wright, 2007; McLaren, 2007; Westerberg, Jacobsen & Lifran, 2013; Wolsink, 2007).

The perceived unequal distribution of benefits and costs is connected to a sense of

distributional injustice. According to Walter (2014) that is the perception of how the negative

and positive effects of a wind power turbine are dispersed. In addition, procedural justice, can

be named as an important factor, as it describes the behavior of stakeholders in the development

process (leading to a certain level of trust towards them) and the possibility for citizens to

participate (Walter, 2014). A high number of scholars argue that distributional and procedural

justice play an important role in the acceptance of a wind power project (Fergen & Jacquet,

2016; Graham, Stephenson & Smith, 2009; Jobert, Laborgne & Mimler 2007; Khorsand et al.,

2015; Langer et al. 2018; Motosu & Maruyama, 2016).

Lastly, several studies and articles illustrate that citizen participation in decision-

making around a wind power project increases acceptance (Aitken, 2010; Corscadden et al.,

2012; Eltham, Harrison & Allen, 2008; Fast & Mabee, 2015; Friedl & Reichl, 2016; Jobert et

al.,2007; Upham & Garcia Perez, 2015). Langer et al. (2018) even show that alibi-participation

(when deceptive participation is set up and local interests are not truly considered) has

significant negative effects on the level of acceptance, whereas authentic consultation has

positive effects.

The literature on contextual factors regarding distribution of benefits and costs,

procedural and distributive justice and citizen participation is a valuable base for the

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understanding of Social Acceptance. This contextual base to Social Acceptance needs to be

supplemented with personal and psychological factors, among others, which are outlined next.

2.2.2. Personal and Psychological Factors of Social

Acceptance

A second major area of investigation of the Social Acceptance is the individual factors that are

independent of the context of a particular wind power project and work on a personal and

psychological level. Several studies focus on the importance of people’s attachment to a place

(Devine-Wright, 2009; Devine-Wright & Howes, 2010; Swofford & Slattery, 2010). Devine-

Wright (2009) uses the following definition of the term by Manzo (2015): “place attachment

is a positive emotional connection with familiar locations such as the home or neighbourhood”

(in Devine-Wright, 2009, p. 427). Place attachment goes hand in hand with place identity,

which originated in environmental psychology and describes that people consider certain

attributes of a place to be part of their own identity (Devine-Wright, 2009). Therefore, changes

in a landscape that wind turbines entail, are seen as an eruption and violation of people’s

identity (Devine-Wright, 2009; Pasqualetti, 2011). According to Pasqualetti (2011), it is human

nature to assume that the landscapes we feel closely connected to will remain inert over the

course of our lives. We have become attached to, even seek comfort in, the landscapes that we

are most familiar with.

Strongly related to place attachment is the infamous phenomenon not in my backyard

(NIMBY). NIMBY is “rather simplistic as it suggests that people have positive attitudes

towards something (wind power) until they are actually confronted with it, and that they then

oppose it for selfish reasons” (Wolsink, 2007, p. 1199). Their reasons for opposition often are

said to be the impact on factors in their immediate environment, but can sometimes be

‘overcome’ by significant financial benefit. The NIMBY theory for resistance against wind

power has gotten a strong following both from scientists and politicians as it gives an ‘easy’

explanation for the difficulties encountered. Nevertheless, the critique against the NIMBY

theory seems to be increasing. The main focus of this critique is that NIMBY “fails to reflect

the complexity of human motives and their interaction with social and political institutions”

(Bell et al. 2005, p.460). It does not explain the discrepancy detected in public attitudes

adequately, or recognize the unique characteristics and opinions of individuals and their

communities (Krohn & Damborg, 1999; Swofford & Slattery, 2010).

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Heavily connected to both place attachment and identity as well is the notion of

symbolism. Devine-Wright and Howes (2010) show that whether a landscape is perceived in

terms of its panoramic beauty with recreational values or as an industrial area is important for

Social Acceptance. Firestone, Bates and Knapp (2015) further stress that the attitude towards

wind power is influenced by what people connect with it, clean energy or the destruction of the

place they are used to. Gee (2009) goes one step further by considering what the landscape

symbolizes to the residents. Solli (2010) equally emphasizes the importance of understanding

the symbolic meaning that technology has in a given context as this symbolic value is vital to

understand local resistance.

There is also a stream of research that stresses the decisiveness of individual values and

personal worldviews in Social Acceptance of wind power projects. Altruism, unselfish concern

for others’ welfare as opposed to egoism, was shown to be a positive factor for the acceptance

of wind turbines (Bidwell, 2013; Perlaviciute & Steg, 2014). Perlaviciute and Steg (2014) point

to biospheric values, unselfish concern focusing on environmental quality, as a decisive factor

for Social Acceptance. Moreover, conservatism and traditionalism were shown to be an

indicator for skepticism of wind power (Bidwell, 2013).

All of these studies, concerning place attachment, symbolism, values and worldviews

play a role in the formation of the attitude towards wind power projects locally and indicate

that there is much more to uncover in the debate. A big part of the opinion formation is

happening within the individual, independent from the specificities of the project. These are

very complex processes that touch upon how individuals are shaped by the place they live in,

what they are used to, what they connect with it and how they make sense of their immediate

environment. Hirsh and Sovacool (2013) stress that there are numerous irrational components

to the development of Social Acceptance that need much more attention than they are given in

the wind power literature and debate. Pasqualetti (2011) calls for considering the relationship

between land, life and people more, which is what we proceed with next, by looking at how

people relate to nature and technology around them.

To make the contribution of this vast amount of research on wind power acceptance more

visible, Figure 2 illustrates the contextual, personal and psychological factors that are

established to have an influence on the Social Acceptance and that we described in the past two

sections. We will come back to this illustration in the analysis of our empirical data.

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Figure 2: Established factors of Social Acceptance of wind power. Source: Own illustration.

2.3. Wind Power - Nature and Technology Meeting Place

After having established the concrete factors for the Social Acceptance of wind power projects,

we continue by considering in what way wind power can be seen as a meeting place of nature

and technology. Pasqualetti (2000, 2001) describes that people in the Western world especially

distance themselves and their lives from the generation of the energy we consume. According

to him, we tend to transfer costs and risks of energy production to other places and people.

Kahn (2000) depicts that people try to have a clear understanding of where things belong and

that the siting of wind turbines confuses the perception of industrial technologies not belonging

in nature. Wind turbines in natural settings break with the traditionally clear separation between

consumption and production of energy, between where we live and enjoy natural beauty and

the reality of the changes that our lifestyle demands. This connects to how Thayer (1994) in

his book “Gray World, Green Hearts” describes that society finds itself in a conflict between

the love for nature and the dependence on technology. He further depicts how we are culturally

used to hiding technological solutions in our immediate surroundings, i.e. by covering up air

conditioning solutions with wooden panels, as well as in greater surroundings, by creating

industrial zones far away from residential areas. Thus, we disconnect nature and technology in

our minds and physical environment (Thayer, 1994).

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However, wind power projects are de facto a meeting place of technology, the turbines,

and nature, where the turbines are placed. As Kahn (2000) argued, this meeting place might

confuse the perception of our surroundings and lead to discomfort when a wind turbine is built.

In order to understand this discomfort around the placing of nature and technology better, it is

interesting to consider how people relate to those two aspects in general. That is what the focus

of the following two paragraphs will be.

2.4. Relation to Nature

The basic tone of the literature on people’s relationship to their natural surroundings is that

humans indeed have an affectionate bond with the earth, which is yet difficult to pinpoint

(Thayer, 1994). There is no single term that fully describes how we relate to it but the label that

suits best is Topophilia, “the affective bond between people place or setting” (p. 4), a term

coined by Yi-Fu Tuan (1974) or the “human love of place” (p. 92) (in Thayer, 1994, p. 4).

Thayer (1994) develops the term further and defines it as “the range of positive human

emotions relating to affection for land, earth and nature” (p. 5). There are many other connected

concepts, such as Wilson’s biophilia or Lovelock’s Gaiaphilia, all coming down to an innate

tendency of appreciating the earth and nature. This appreciation goes far beyond pure aesthetics

and is often connected to a strong attachment to the land (Thayer, 1994).

There are two directions of research describing the roots of Topophilia. One argues that

the origins of human attachment to nature lie in genetics, the other attributes it to culture.

Wilson (1984) is one of the strongest advocates for the genetic theory. For him, biophilia

describes a genetically based need and propensity that emerges unconsciously (in Thayer,

1994). He is supported by David Pitt (1982) who summarizes four different hypotheses that

argue for genetics to explain human relation to nature (in Thayer, 1994). Pitt’s hypotheses are

very much influenced by the primitive survival needs that our ancestors relied on, including

the longing for a natural environment similar to former primitive times. This preference might

be genetically ingrained and touches upon our most basic instincts, as it reflects positive

attitudes towards landscapes that were most suitable to survive in. Numerous other studies have

supported these genetic hypotheses. For example, Rene Dubos (1980) showed that humans

prefer landscapes that resemble the habitat of our ancestors in the savanna of Africa that satisfy

our biological needs of food, shelter and safety (in Thayer, 1994). Similarly, research from

Ulrich, as well as from Kaplan and Kaplan proves that people prefer natural environments over

built ones (in Kahn, 1999). An interesting research path that supports the genetic hypothesis is

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that nature has positive physiological and psychological effects on humans. The results from

numerous studies range from increased overall health, productivity and relaxation to lowered

stress (Kahn, 1999). An interesting study by Ulrich (1984) even found that patients recovered

faster when they had a window with a view of vegetation (in Kahn, 1999).

Although research generally agrees that humans do prefer natural landscapes, a second

stream of literature doubts it is innate to our genetic make-up and argues for a cultural

transmission. Cultural arguments explain human bonds with nature with our needs for land for

economic reasons, values, regional identity or spirituality and religion. Culture transmits a

certain image of nature, as scholars such as Leo Marx (1963) or Aldo Leopold (1949) describe

(in Thayer, 1994). One such image of nature that seems to be very persistent in our society is

the “pastoral ideal” (Thayer, 1994, p. 16). The pastoral ideal describes the “myth of a simple,

peaceful, natural life in a rural, ‘middle’ landscape where humans and nature meet without

conflict” (Thayer, 1994, p. 17). This agrarian image is shaped by television, movies, books,

postcards and numerous other matters of our daily lives and evolved into symbolizing nature

itself. This influences how people understand naturalness and wilderness and evolves into an

idealized vision of our landscapes, that some describe as being unrealistic (Thayer, 1994).

Kellert, for example, describes from his research in Germany that people romanticize wild

nature by emphasizing heroic qualities they connect with it, although they merely came in touch

with it in recreational settings (in Kahn, 1999). This is a certain kind of Topophilia that strongly

supports the cultural argument.

Next, we will look at an important body of literature that makes the estrangement from

nature a subject of discussion. Kahn (1999) reviews authors such as Leopold, Muir and many

more and argues that people in the modern world have lost a deeper, satisfying and diverse

connection with nature. Nelson (1993) in connection to research on native people wrote:

“Probably no society has been so deeply alienated as ours from the community of nature, has

viewed the natural world from a greater distance of mind, [...]” (pp. 202-203) (in Kahn, 1999,

p. 20).

The overview of literature about human’s relation to nature shows that it is not one-

dimensional and simple to grasp but entails several layers and touches upon our deepest

understanding of life and the surroundings we live in. Part of these surroundings have always

been, and are nowadays more than ever, machines. With that in mind, it is valuable to look at

the development of our relation to technology.

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2.5. Relation to Technology

Technology has developed immensely, from basic tools made out of wood to Bluetooth signals

cutting through the sky. Technology can simply be described as any object made by humans

and it seems to be everywhere, and an immensely influential factor of our current times

(Murphie & Potts, 2017). The use of technology has contributed heaps to economic growth,

which in its turn allows for more technological development and use, and has significantly

improved our quality of life in some ways (Mowery & Rosenberg, 1991). A sharp contrast to

this are dystopian books like Huxley’s Brave New World, popular shows such as Black Mirror

and even Modern Times starring Charlie Chaplin that all sketch the dangers their creators see

and fear with regards to technological development (Cirucci & Vacker, 2018; Huxley, 1998;

Shaw, 2008). The human relation to technology can be seen in the light of two opposing

aspects: Technophobia and Technophilia, which follows Thayer’s argumentation (1994).

The first one, Technophobia, which is enhanced by Topophilia, is described as “the

suspicion, fear and aversion to certain technologies and their physical manifestations” (Thayer,

1994, p. 50). Moreover, the increasing amount and visibility of technology in nature, through

alterations of the landscape as well as use of natural resources makes many people skeptical

towards technology. Especially nowadays, guilt towards the environment manifests itself in

many people for using up natural resources. Another aspect is that with technological changes

also come social changes. Technological determinism describes technological development to

be a change agent to society, not only generating progress but also major uncertainty and the

need for protection against it and its consequences (Murphie & Potts, 2017). This raises

questions of freedom, that is reduced for the individual, and power, that is increased for

corporations (Thayer, 1994). Even stronger, nihilistic even, is the position of Baudrillard who

delineates how our society “is increasingly determined by an array of technologically produced

‘simulacra’, which has come to hijack reality itself” (in Murphie & Potts, 2017, p. 15). What

he means by that is that our society has become too obscene, too reproduced to grasp what it is

truly about. This attitude towards technology, technophobia does not only affect human

emotions, also behaviors and attitudes are adapted to it (Gilbert, Lee-Kelly & Barton, 2003).

The second one, Technophilia, stands in opposition to Topophilia and Technophobia,

describing society’s fascination, addiction and dependence on technological solutions that

enable the current lifestyle. Jameson (1991) used the term ‘technological sublime’ to describe

this phenomenon, not because of technology in itself but because of the new era it has brought

about (in Shaw, 2008). Technophilia involves a very positive mindset towards a technology

18

infused future, expecting technology to allow for enjoyment of life (Osiceanu, 2015). Research

explains this again in evolutionary terms, as humans have always sought to solve problems

creatively with the aid of tools, which to some is what ultimately separates us from other

animals (Peeters et al., 2009). Simple tools that helped humans to survive are the predecessors

of modern technologies that made humans thrive and develop a high living standard. We have,

in a way, ‘domesticated’ technology (Bell, 2005). We are, especially in the Western world, are

unable to live without a high level of technology and thus become dependent on it. In this way,

technology moved beyond providing a means for survival and living and modern technology

became the principal reason for living for many (Thayer, 1994).

Time is a vital aspect of people’s relation to technology as well. Literature points out that there

is a strong temporal aspect in the acceptance of technology, meaning that people need time to

get used to something and then accept it. In general and specifically for wind power, people

need time to get used to the change new technological solutions imply. Wolsink (2007)

describes how the acceptance of wind turbines often follows a U-shape over time, with high

acceptance for wind power in general, sinking tremendously when specific projects are planned

and implemented and rising again after people become inured to the change. Several studies

revealed this U-shape (Braunholtz, 2003; Elliott, 1994; SEI, 2003; Warren & Birnie, 2009).

Pasqualetti focuses his writing about wind power on the perception of the landscape around it

and how this changes (2000, 2001, 2011). One famous US case he studied, the wind park on

San Gorgonio Pass, initially faced major opposition, which turned into support when the park

was used as the backdrop for music videos and advertisements (Pasqualetti, 2000). These

findings were confirmed by Eltham, Harrison and Allen (2008). The way wind turbines are

perceived in Denmark serves as a very good example for the temporal aspect, as wind turbines

are largely perceived as part of the cultural landscape. They are affectionately called ‘the Three

Dancing Ladies’ and some even expect opposition if they were to be removed (Nielsen, 2002

in Warren & Birnie, 2009).

The literature presented on technology points at the two extremes of the human relationship to

technology. Technophilia and Technophobia are two extremes that are opposing, seemingly

irreconcilable (Osiceanu, 2014), mitigated by time. Technology, specifically Technophobia,

and nature as described in the previous subchapter are two aspects at the center stage of

Romantic thinking. The precise roles of these subjects will be explained in the next chapter.

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2.6. Theoretical Framework: Romanticism

Nature.

The comfort of an accepting friend,

The bosom of a lover.

Our therapist, our internal strength.

Room for breath, rejuvenating air.

No human to be found,

No all-seeing eye, judging our every move.

Freedom.

To be the odd one out.

No sinister metal daggers,

Piercing our soothing veil.

No shrill whistling tones,

Urging to get back into a line.

A slithering snake of moving metal,

Freakish sounds, from the inanimate.

Not a single green blade of grass,

Not planted.

Once, this was very different,

We knew each, we knew the scape.

The chirping bird, it would awake us,

Paths of deer, the sun, the stars, used to navigate.

Nowadays, we do know nothing,

But the destruction of it all.

Seeking aid in science and robotics.

Behaving, as if nature will allow it all.

Own poem

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Defining Romanticism is an undertaking that is not as straightforward as it might seem. In a

letter from 1793, Friedrich Schlegel experienced the same trouble when he wrote “I cannot

send you my explanation of the word ‘romantic’ because it would be 125 sheets long” (Ferber,

2010, p. 1).

Often, it is described as a movement or a worldview that stretched over the 18th and

19th century and influenced philosophy, art, literature, music and politics. The word ‘romantic’

comes from the Old French word romanz, originally from Latin. In colloquial use ‘romance’

or ‘romantic’ describes a strong emotional experience, typically connected to love (Heath &

Boreham, 1999).

In the sense of it being a movement, the meaning of Romanticism is somewhat different,

which we aim to carve out in the following. The aspects of the Romantic movement and

underlying motives of the Romantic figures are very complex and we will only refer to aspects

that are relevant to our research, regarding the relation to nature and technology. We accept

Wittgenstein’s notion of ‘family resemblance’ (1968), meaning that we see Romanticism as a

collection of common characteristics that do not all need to be present in a source or case. In

practice, this means that not all sources possess the same (amount of) attributes of

Romanticism, but they all share the same (family) roots. We do not want to evoke the idea that

we can summarize the complexity and are aware of the danger of over-systematizing and

simplifying Romanticism, as Aiden Day (2012) criticizes.

The Romantic era emerged as a response to the Enlightenment period, in which a focus

on scientific reason and logic was prevailing (Heath & Boreham, 1999; Kirchhoff & Vicenzotti,

2014). William Wordsworth, an important poet of the Romanticism, wrote in response to

Enlightenment and the move away from it:

A shock had then been given

To old opinions, and the minds of all men

Had felt it.

(in Honour, 2018, p.20)

The “old opinions” Wordsworth is referring to, and that Romantics were reacting against, were

characterized by objectivity and rationalism (Coeckelbergh, 2017). In that sense a distinction

between Classical, Enlisghtenment themes (perfection, mechanical) and Romantic themes

(desire, organic) developed (Day, 2012). According to Schimelpfenig (2017), Romanticism is

the “subjective counterpart to objectivity” (p. 954). The 17th century was typified by

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mechanistic and rigid thinking which was not enough or appropriate to answer the questions

and struggles of the time (Schimelpfenig, 2017).

The historical background of the time was the Industrial Revolution that changed most

people’s life in the Western world tremendously. What came with the industrialization was a

general uniformity in people’s lives, concerning their work and products (Schimelpfenig,

2017). Additionally, major political events like the French Revolution (1789), the rise of

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and the American War of Independence (1775-1783) took

place. That meant that people had to face enormous changes and uncertainty (Heath &

Boreham, 1999). The Romantics perceived this conformity and the pressure of social

conventions of the 17th century as restricting and they desired to attempt to uncover the

uniqueness of each individual (Schimelpfenig, 2017).

Many strong literary figures of the movement, like Jean-Jacque Rousseau (1712-1778),

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), rejected the way of

life of their times, criticizing the values and practices of the industrial, commercial society

(Day, 2012). These writers had the general thought that “man is corrupted by civilization”

(Mayo, 1954, p. 490; in Day, 2012, p. 35). Alongside this adulteration of society due to the

industrialization an estrangement from nature developed, that especially Rousseau lamented

about (Day, 2012). He was convinced that humans and their natural state could be reconnected

(Coeckelbergh, 2017; Day, 2012). Only in nature, a person can reconnect to their true self and

be authentic and free to express themselves (Coeckelbergh, 2017). Schimelpfenig (2017)

describes that Rousseau was convinced that beneath the “layers of civilized selves” (p. 957),

an unspoiled, virtuous self lies within each person.

The Romantics treated the alienation from nature as the tragic event and looked for a

resolution in the form of reconciliation with nature (Schimelpfenig, 2017). Given this

estrangement from nature and the natural self, Romanticists longed for the “far away and the

long ago” (Day, 2012, p. 2). The long ago refers to a longing for the past, a movement towards

a precedent situation, before the industrialization, that tends to be idealized and glorified (Heath

& Boreham, 1999). The past was also connected to a more simple life (Day, 2012). The far

away, expresses a longing for the natural world, an escape from the modern, industrial world

(Heath & Boreham, 1999). More precisely, nature and an escape was found in the wilderness,

a poetic term, referring to a minimal interference of humans in nature. People in the Romantic

era had “an appreciation for the unreasonableness of aesthetic autonomy and wild nature in all

its irrationality” (Kirchhoff & Vicenzotti, 2014, p. 451). Following Rousseau, spending time

in nature and studying it, brings not only pleasure but leads to more moral goodness and “calms

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the human heart” (Day, 2012, p. 43). Given the Romantic dislike of modern society, the

incorruptedness of nature was celebrated and people could find solace in nature (Day, 2012).

This leads to the wilderness-thinking referring to the notion that nature should stay pure, clear

from human artifacts and offering a place to start over (Day, 2012). Wilderness signifies a

reality that has not yet been shaped or compromised by social conventions (Schimelpfenig,

2017). Evernden (1985, p. 32; in Schimelpfenig, 2017, p. 947) describes exactly this reasoning:

“When you wish to pursue experience unsullied by social convention, it makes sense to look

where those conventions are least plentiful.”

Wilderness is in that sense used by Romantics for its aesthetic quality with the goal to

develop values, behavior and emotions, the true natural self, in an unencumbered environment.

Nature thus serves somewhat as an ‘art gallery’, as Schimelpfenig (2017) puts it. He goes even

as far as to see religious aspects in the way Romantics experienced nature. He describes a

secularization of the spiritual experience in the landscape, which is transformed into a

cathedral, a sacred place. Consequently, nature is “laden with the expectation of the pure and

unchanging” (Cronon, 1998, p. 79 in Schimelpfenig, 2017). The portrayal of unspoilt nature

and wilderness was not only a topic in literature but also in arts, for which we give the example

of the painting ‘The Oxbow’, by Thomas Cole from 1836 (Figure 3), which shows the view

from Mount Holyoke in Massachusetts in the US after a thunderstorm. The fascination with

the untamed forces of nature is the key topic of this portrayal of nature.

Figure 3: The Oxbow, by Thomas Cole, 1836. Source: Skyminds.

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Against the background of uncertainty, change, alienation from nature and skepticism towards

technology, Romanticism entails several themes. We will go through and explain them in the

following paragraphs.

Extraordinary and Sublime

In connection to the untouched wilderness, Romantic authors valued the extraordinary and

exotic that was outside the norm of their daily surroundings (Day, 2012). Landscapes that are

wild, non-human, slightly rough and sublime were preferred (Day, 2012). Schimelpfenig

(2017) gave the example of a camping trip when he experienced the force of nature and “was

struck with awe” (p. 931). This kind of experience of the extraordinary, sublime and wild is

what Romantics were looking for in nature. This was seen as the gateway to a more natural

state of self, sublimation as a way of naturalizing civilized human beings in that sense

(Schimelpfenig, 2017).

Feelings and Emotions

Charles Baudelaire’s (1821-1876) attempt to define Romanticism as “[...] precisely situated

neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling” (Honour, 2018, p. 16)

shows the importance of individual emotions in it. Poetry, what according to Wordsworth is

“the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings” (Day, 2012, p. 2), is an important cornerstone

of the Romantic era. Wordsworth experienced exhilaration, terror, and bewilderment while

climbing the Alps, which inspired him to many writings about the sublimity of nature (Day,

2012).

Individuality and Subjectivity

In Romanticism, there was a general belief that an individual’s capacity is great (Day, 2012).

Transcendentalism, the idea that society and its institutions corrupt the purity of the individual

and that one is at its best when self-reliant and independent, is connected to this (Miller, 1950).

Individualism and strong artistic geniuses who express themself were celebrated because

writers or artists have the ability to bring reconciliation to mankind by enhancing understanding

and imagination (Schneider, 2007; in Schimelpfenig, 2017).

Place and Local

Place, and in particular the local, have become key terms in Romanticism, which comes from

the importance of individuality and subjectivity (Morton, 2007). For Romantics, particular

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places they spend time in take on a special role because they are the means for their experiences

and how they make sense of the world. Morton (2007) calls for considering deeply the idea of

place and the connection to it that people have.

Symbolism and Significance of the Inner

Descriptions of particular places in nature were not made for the sake of them alone but there

was always a motivation to go beyond, to charge objects with a “significance beyond their

physical qualities” (Day, 2012, p. 2). Landscape, nature, flora and fauna were not presented in

poetry for their own sake but for the poet and reader to engage in thinking. They are a way of

turning the internal emotions into external expressions,, instead of simply imitating something.

In that sense, the focus of art shifted from materialism to inner processes. Frye (1963:5, p. 16)

expresses it this way: “... the metaphorical structure of Romantic poetry tends to move inside

and downward instead of outside and upward, hence the creative world is deep within, and so

is heaven or the place of the presence of God” (in Day, 2012, p. 92).

Imagery, symbolism and myth were used in Romantic poetry a lot (Wellek, 1949a, in

Day, 2012). For example, cities symbolize the profane world of production that destroys nature,

wilderness, on the other hand, symbolizes the sacred world (Schimelpfenig, 2017).

Freedom and Hope

Among the important figures of Romanticism, there is a clear rebellious impulse and a longing

for change visible (Day, 2012). They hoped for freedom from the current system with

restricting and repressive moral codes and institutions and the contemporary society (Day,

2012). The Romantic hope is centered around the ideal of a “marriage between [...], mind and

nature” (Frye, 1963, p. 59; in Day, 2012, p. 89).

Technology and Skepticism

The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1797-1851) is an interesting example of the

skepticism society has against modern technology and its implications for humans. Dr.

Frankenstein portrays scientific progress in a destructive and meddling light. It is a reflection

of how the Romantics regarded humans: an alienated life form and no fit for either civilization

nor nature (Schimelpfenig, 2017). So science and, as an extension, technology are seen as

disruptive forces that break our connection to what is truly important (Coeckelbergh, 2017).

Technology is understood as the counterpart of Romanticism, affiliated with Enlightenment.

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This juxtaposition includes many things, cities, order, machines as they represent a cold,

automatic world that prohibits people to live in harmony with nature (Löwy & Sayre, 2002).

It is reasonable to look for these Romantic aspects even in our current times as several

authors have similarly proposed that Romanticism persists to this day and that many of us

unconsciously grew up with it (Coeckelbergh, 2017). For example, many of us were read aloud

the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, who were strongly influenced by the Romantic era in

which they lived. Similarly, many other children books and TV shows show Romantic

characteristics and shape our understanding of the world around us, especially the natural one

(Dos Santos, 2014). The Western culture shows a strong desire for the wilderness, which travel

agencies, TV programs and social media address, use and enhance (Haß et al., 2012 in

Kirchhoff & Vicenzotti, 2014). Buckton-Tucker (2010) interprets this craving for untamed

adventures as an answer to our daily, generally very safe, structured and materialistic lives.

Prentice (2001) calls this New Romanticism, and adds the accentuation of emotions and senses

in connection to tourist destinations. Especially in the United States, Romanticism is, according

to Heath and Boreham (1999), an unfinished chapter, as it is a country with many

contradictions, being in between the pioneering and wild spirit and the love for cities and

consumption.

Nevertheless, Coeckelbergh (2017) complains about a lack of public discourse about

the Romantic heritage and what it means for our lives today. Especially in environmental

thinking, there is a legacy of Romanticism (Morton, 2007). Renewable energies being an

important part of the environmental effort that is taken now (Wind Europe, n.d.), we argue that

Romanticism is a valuable perspective on it. We intend to apply this perspective to the analysis

of Social Acceptance of wind power projects, following Figure 4 which conceptualizes the use

of Romanticism in this study. We perceive Romanticism as ‘umbrella thinking’ that is used

against the negative aspects in people's lives deriving from technology. The background is the

uncertainty and change, the negative effects of humans on nature and the estrangement from it.

In the 18th century the Industrial Revolution laid the ground for Romanticism, today in the 21st

century we see modern technology with its effects and the well-advanced usage of the natural

environment as the background for modern Romanticism. Rationalism, skepticism towards

cities, perfection, orderliness and uniformity rain down from the sky and the Romantic

umbrella is used to protect from it. What is protected and valued under Romantic thinking is

the ‘Far Away & Long Ago’, which expresses a longing for the past and nature as a sanctuary,

and the ‘Emotional, Subjective Individual’ whose strong emotions are triggered in nature. This

26

framework sums up our study of Romanticism and serves as the basis for the analysis of our

empirical data.

In the previous chapters we outlined theoretical and empirical studies explaining the

current state of the wind power acceptance discourse, argued for wind power being a meeting

place of technology and nature, and outlined Romanticism as the theoretical framework we

will further use to assess the Social Acceptance of wind power. In the following section, we

will draft the research design used to explore people’s relationship to nature and technology

and their opinion on wind power with the background of Romanticism.

Figure 4: Conceptualization of Romanticism. Source: Own illustration.

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3. Methodology

3.1. Research Strategy

As we adopt a new angle to the research on wind power resistance, namely people’s relation to

nature and technology, we used an exploratory qualitative research strategy, with a holistic

multiple case study design (Yin, 2014). This enabled us to find non-measurable subjective

perspectives to illuminate the inner thoughts of our interviewees, and go into depth of the

unexplored rationales of Social Acceptance (Yin, 2014). Consequently, we have not found an

‘objective’ view on the topic, rather, we explored the phenomenon through our interviewees

eyes. This is very much in line with Romanticism which values the subjective and renounces

the objective as it causes alienation of reality (Schimelpfenig, 2017). This strategy allowed us

to be open to the notion that “there are ‘truths’ rather than one truth” (Cunliffe, 2011, p. 656).

This means that a certain situation or phenomenon is interpreted in different ways by different

people, commonly named a social constructivist perspective (Cunliffe, 2011; Justesen & Mik-

Meyer, 2012).

An abductive research approach was adopted which implies a combination of deductive

and inductive research, meaning that our research process has not been linear (Suddaby, 2006).

Instead, a constant going back-and-forth between different research activities and most

importantly between theory and empirical data was carried out, giving rise to a good match

between the two, the importance of which is self-evident (Eisenhardt, 1989; Glaser, 1978). This

allowed us to employ the full potential of case research, and give a more comprehensive

understanding of both the theory used, and the empirical data gathered (Dubois and Gadde,

2002). Naturally, we had expectations about our findings, however, by using the abductive

approach, we ensured having an open mindset, susceptible to any type of finding.

3.2. Research Design and Case Selection

Case studies provide a unique opportunity for developing theory by using in-depth and holistic

views of a phenomenon (Yin, 2014). The cases specific to this research are the area of

Kinderdijk in the Netherlands, and a proposed wind park in a small municipality in the

Schwarzwald in the South of Germany, see Figure 5.

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Figure 5: Map of the two case locations, Kinderdijk and Eisenbach, Schwarzwald.

Source: Google Maps, 2020.

Since our aim was to look at Romanticization, we chose to select two areas that are known to

be romanticized. Both are desirable tourist destinations and used for quite similar purposes:

hiking, cycling and enjoying the natural surroundings and landscape (Kinderdijk, n.d.;

Schwarzwald, n.d.). Besides, the areas enjoy a similar Romantic, pastoral image which is

reproduced by tourism agencies and the public. As the aim of this study was to explore the

influence of Romanticism on Social Acceptance of wind power, it was sensible to select these

places that have a connection to the use of wind power. We did not intend to compare the two

cases directly, but gained new insights due to their differences regarding the use of wind in the

past and the present day and similarities in how they are perceived as Romantic settings. Given

our wish to discuss emotions with our interviewees, a topic that is highly important in

Romanticism, it was an advantage that we both have a natural connection to the places, both of

us having roots in either one of the areas.

The Kinderdijk with its historical mills is portrayed as one of the most Romantic

landscapes in the Netherlands, and accordingly is ranked high on many travel blogs (Lonely

Planet, n.d.). It is located in the southwest of the Netherlands in ‘The Green Heart’ (Het Groene

Hart), a sparsely populated polder landscape characterized by its peat meadows, surrounded by

some of the largest Dutch cities (Het Groene Hart, n.d.). The vicinity of Kinderdijk is

specifically typified by dikes, waterways, and 19 historical drainage windmills that were built

in the Middle Ages to keep the below-sea-level lands from flooding (Kinderdijk, n.d.). Figure

6, a picture taken by one of the millers we interviewed gives an impression of the landscape

and the mills. Due to the fact that Romanticism is strongly directed to the past, the historical

29

use of wind in Kinderdijk is interesting to take into consideration. For Romantic painters, this

polder landscape with its mills was oftentimes used as a source of inspiration. This led to this

peaceful image becoming an icon of the Dutch landscape worldwide (de Leeuw, Reynaerts &

Tempel, 2005). Over two decades ago, the dike with its mills was recognized as UNESCO

World Heritage, and has attracted visitors from all over the world to behold this unique

“sustainable blend of nature and technology” (Kinderdijk, n.d.).

In the South of Germany one can find the Schwarzwald, the Black Forest, an area of more than

ten thousand square kilometers consisting of the largest mountain range of Germany, and

stretched out green valleys (Schwarzwald, n.d.), Figure 7 gives an impression. The area was

settled fairly late in the 8th century because its forest was perceived as impenetrable by the

Romans. Big parts of the original forest were cleared in the following centuries in order to gain

farmland for the settlers and to use and sell the wood. As a result of the discovery of attractive

resources in the area, such as silver and iron, and the later developing glassblower and clock

industry, settlement increased tremendously, displacing more and more of the original

landscape. In the 18th and 19th century, the forest was purposefully replanted to restore balance

(Reinbolz & Ludemann, 2015). Today, it is a very popular area to visit for hiking and skiing

Figure 6: Kinderdijk - View from the mill of a miller we interviewed. Source: Riekje [N1], 2020.

30

trips, both for international tourists and Germans alike. Legend says that the Grimm brothers

used this forest as a source of inspiration for their fairy tales written in the Romantic era (Dos

Santos, 2014). The romanticized portrayal of the Schwarzwald, famously reproduced by the

Grimm brothers two centuries ago, is still maintained to this day in different forms of art, which

has led to Waldgesinnung, meaning something like ‘forestmindedness’ (Lekan & Zeller, 2005).

Following the state’s plans to increase the generated amount of wind power, the Schwarzwald

was identified as a suitable area. One of several locations where wind turbines are planned to

be built, is close to the village of Eisenbach, a 2000-resident village in the highlands of the

Schwarzwald. The initial plans were made public in the fall of 2019 and very soon after some

opposing voices were already being heard. Figure 8 shows what the proposed locations with

the potential wind turbines will look like. From personal experience we can say that wind power

in the Schwarzwald is highly debated and that concerning other concrete plans local resistance

mounted to the formation of citizen associations fighting against the building of wind parks,

we expect the debate in Eisenbach to pick up pace in the upcoming months. We see it as a big

advantage that the wind turbines have not yet been built in the specific area we will look at

during the empirical data collection because residents are not as influenced by media or citizens

initiatives and we expect them to speak more from ‘their heart’ (Chapman & Crichton, 2017).

Figure 7: Typical landscape Schwarzwald. Source: Hochschwarzwald Tourismus GmbH (n.d.).

31

Figure 8: Visualization of the proposed wind turbines in Eisenbach. Source: EnBW (n.d.).

We are convinced that the specificities of these two cases, a Romanticized use of wind power

in the form of old windmills in the Netherlands together with the feelings about a planned wind

park in the pastoral landscape of the Schwarzwald, offer great value. Our personal connection

to the cases motivated us to dig deep and explore a perspective of our home areas we otherwise

would not have seen, which strengthens the research.

3.3. Research Methods and Data Collection

Predominantly, data was gathered via long, in-depth conversations that were arranged in

advance and held via online communication tools, Zoom and Skype, and the conventional

phone line. Although this was not our initial method of preference - the COVID-19 pandemic

kept us from conducting face-to-face interviews - it turned out successful, perhaps as the

physical distance created a sense of anonymity that allowed for free sharing of their stories

(Bell, Bryman & Harley, 2019).

Concerning the Schwarzwald, personal connections to the area allowed for purposive

sampling (Yin, 2014), approaching people known to one of the authors and that were assessed

as being open to and interested in having a conversation. People were selected who have no

32

official connection to the wind power project and can be considered ordinary citizens of

Eisenbach. Concerning Kinderdijk, people were found through acquaintances followed by

snowball sampling (Yin, 2014). We worked towards assemble a group made up of a variety of

people of different generations, with different professions, backgrounds and interests and a

balance of gender as we were looking for a variety of stories, opinions and emotions.

Conversations were held with fifteen people from the Schwarzwald and seventeen people from

the Kinderdijk area, lasting between 20 and 70 minutes. More detailed information on the

interviews, and short descriptions of the interviewees are to be found in Appendix C.

The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner, following a list of topics that

we consider vital based on our theoretical framework (for interview guide: see Appendix A).

Semi-structured interviews allowed us to be perceptive to issues and emotions that our

interviewees value, while simultaneously finding data that helped us answer our research

question (Justesen & Mik-Meyer, 2012). The questions devised beforehand differ slightly

between the two cases to align with our interviewees’ knowledge and experience and the form

of wind power in their area (Appendix A). We explored the relationship and feelings our

conversation partners expressed having towards nature, landscape and technology and together

with them related these to wind power. In a debate that tends to be very heated, focused on

black and white arguments and largely ignores individuals and their feelings, we aspired to

look behind the façade and to show human faces and nuance to Social Acceptance of wind

power.

We tried to encourage the interviewees to reflect and think, and together with them explore

their relationship to nature and technology. The interviewees were able to speak freely and

accurately, as all were using their mother tongue. Accordingly, all interviews were conducted

by one of us, since we are both native speakers of either German or Dutch. From our own

experience, conversations in one’s mother language are more comfortable. Additionally, in

communication with our interviewees, we explicitly stated our goal of having a conversation,

whilst not mentioning the term interview, to limit the power distance. Moreover, the reduction

of the power distance and reflexivity was ensured by aiming to present ourselves neutrally

(Yin, 2014).

Naturally, all participants have been clearly informed about the aim and context of this

study. Ethical considerations were ensured by acquiring informed consent before recording the

interviews (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2012). The interviewees remain anonymous, which

allowed them to share their personal feelings without experiencing any repercussions.

33

However, for the sake of portraying a personal story, arbitrary pseudonyms have been assigned

to each respective interviewee. Their real names are not regarded as vital to our analysis.

3.4. Data Analysis

Our data analysis has been an iterative, abductive process. Meaning that we went back and

forth between our theoretical framework on Romanticism and the empirical data we gathered.

The selection of data and theory influenced each other. Using this approach, we ensured using

our data and theory to its full potential. Preliminary analysis already started during the data

collection process, by reflecting and adapting our research approach to our conceptions of the

interviews (Dubois & Gadde, 2002).

After all interviews were conducted, we transcribed and translated the empirical data.

A joint thought process concerning a back-and-forth between the research question, theory and

data led to finding common themes and paradoxes that surfaced during the interviews. With

these themes and paradoxes in mind, we reread and coded the transcripts allowing us to

organize the relevant data accordingly. The coding consisted both of inductive and deductive

coding (Bell et al., 2019; Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The coding framework used is derived from

the theoretical framework on Romanticism and the opposing concept of Technophilia, meaning

it was concept-driven and deductive, used to assess in what manner Romanticism and

Technophilia are present in our empirical data. This was supplemented with inductive coding

on the Romantic opinions on wind power. These main codes were broken down into more

specific categories reflecting the characteristics found in the literature review and theoretical

framework. This process has helped us to understand the Romantic influences on the thinking

of our interviewees and how they affect the Social Acceptance of wind power. The complete

coding framework can be found in Appendix B.

3.5. Data Quality

As much of the established research has shown, societal phenomena are multidimensional and

complex (Creswell, 2007). “[T]here are ‘truths’ rather than one truth” (Cunliffe, 2011, p. 656).

The same is valid for the social phenomenon Social Acceptance of wind power. Qualitative

research allows us to show one or a few truths of reality as perceived by our interviewees. By

taking careful notes, and establishing a logical chain of evidence, applying a constant iterative,

reflective, critical process and conversation among ourselves and supervisors,we built a thick

34

story accurately reflecting a reality. This reality we interpret as Romanticism, which is our

truth.

On top of having interviewees from two different cultures, the circumstances of the

people in Kinderdijk and the Schwarzwald are different. This gives us insights into different

perspectives: people who live in the presence of windmills and people who know that wind

turbines will be built in their surroundings. As a result, we will gain deeper insights into

different realities and thus a broader understanding of the Social Acceptance of wind power.

Through a detailed description of our research methods, and the interview guide we

presented a reliable and transparent study. Construct validity is maximized by doing extensive

research on the themes we have aimed to find, and operationalizing these according to widely

accepted research. Objectivity or generalization is neither claimed, nor aimed for (Yin, 2014).

Replicability is possibly limited as well (Cunliffe, 2011). All due to the interpretative

characteristics of social phenomena, the derived data and conclusions. Numerous conventional,

established researchers have emphasized the weaknesses of case studies, highlighting their lack

of rigor (Yin, 2014). Like Easton (1995), we perceive this case-specificness not as a weakness

but as a possibility to go into depth. The use of qualitative research is very valuable for

acquiring a deeper understanding of, and learning about phenomena. Our aim is just that.

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4. The Tale of Our Empirics

4.1. Places & Stories

The core of our study is the conversations we held with residents from the Schwarzwald and

the Kinderdijk area, in which we talked about their relationship to nature, technology, their

home and their opinion on the use of wind in the respective places. Appendix C gives more

information on the people we talked with, including a short description of themselves and their

opinion on the usage of wind power, using pseudonyms. We were able to get to know the

people and places and hear their stories, which we attempt to convey in a poem about the

residents of the Schwarzwald, the Schwarzwälder, and Kinderdijk, the Kinderdijker. We intend

to follow the example of the Romantic poets which saw poetry as a way to convey feelings for

a place and moving the inside out.

Schwarzwälder

Growing up far away from the buzzing city, not a traffic jam in sight.

I know the place where others long for, like the backside of my hand.

What a pride I take, in these surroundings.

What an honor, to grow up.

Dark lush forests, wavy meadows.

Letting my gaze wander, in the distance, it meets my brother.

He’s called Alps, and with all his glory, he feels to me like coming home.

Kinderdijker

Living in a green oasis, fenced in by a turbid land.

It is the only place to stop and grasp, the miracle that has transpired.

These waltzing structures, I owe all.

They have given us a country, dry feet, a safe haven.

And what a beautiful display, in the pasture, accompanied by some grazing cows.

Wandering into the fertile polder, feels to me like coming home.

United

These sights, forceful and chiseled.

I’m aware that it’s a hoax.

At a slow pace, they crumble down,

And it’s our hands that bear the guilt.

A gulf of worries drowns me, when I merely look around.

I am ready, to carry the burden,

Although it’s laden, although it's tough.

We could entrust these colossal structures.

Yet I’m afraid that these will tear down,

The beauty and the health that has remained

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4.2. Romantic Themes in Interviews

In the following, we analyze the interviews based on the coding frame (Appendix B) which

helps us find out to what extent our interviewees thought and talked in Romantic terms. The

empirical material we show here is drawn from their answers to our questions around their

relation to nature and technology. Our interviewees’ opinion on the usage of wind is presented

in the next chapter. We selected and added the strongest quotes as examples in this part.

Moreover, in the text we indicate in brackets other persons who made similar statements that

strengthen the respective argument. Ordered according to the coding frame, these

substantiating quotes can be found in Appendix D. For better readability we used a letter, G for

Germany and N for the Netherlands, followed by a number indicating the order of interviews

in each location, instead of their pseudonyms.

Concerning the Romantic themes, the selection of quotes in this text generally does not

indicate that a certain thought was more present in one of the cases but is purely based on the

most appealing phrasing. We found strong Romantic thinking in both the Kinderdijk and the

Schwarzwald. Per individual theme, the intensity sometimes varies between the two cases,

which is very well explainable by the notion of ‘family resemblances’ that was proposed by

Wittgenstein (1968). This variety is visible in place attachment and concrete fear of technology

but does not indicate that Romanticism is stronger in one of the places.

Concerning the opinions on modern wind power usage (5.3.), the majority of the data

comes from Germany, since these interviews specifically focused on opinions regarding a

proposed modern wind power project in the Schwarzwald, as opposed to the interviews in

Kinderdijk which predominantly revolved around ‘old’ wind power (Appendix A).

Following the idea behind Figure 4, we first look for parallels between the background

of Romanticism and topics our interviewees deal with today. Next, people’s feelings towards

technology, separated into positive and negative ones, are analyzed. Lastly, the “Far Away &

Long Ago” and the “Emotional, Subjective Individual” which comprise our understanding of

Romantic thinking are looked for in the conversations with our interviewees.

4.2.1. Background of Romanticism

As established in the study of Romanticism, the ground this movement was built on was colored

by the Industrial Revolution which changed people’s lives and steered the way of thinking

away from nature. We look for parallels to our interviewees situation today, trying to discover

whether they also perceive their understanding of the world to be changing accompanied by a

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feeling of confusion. And whether they are possibly looking for support in modern Romantic

thinking, as the people in the 18th century were.

Uncertainty & Change (1.1.)

The feeling of unsettlement and not being in control of the fast changing world around us,

which was the background of Romanticism in the 18th, is something we sensed in our

interviewees as well. For once, there was a general feeling of living in a complex world, in

which it is “difficult to differentiate between what is good and what isn’t” when it comes to

consumption (G11). One respondent (N4) expressed the need to find a balance, which shows

that she feels like mankind lost that in the course of development towards a globalized world.

Many perceive the connectedness of the world leading to high dependence on other countries

(N6) and thus vulnerability and insecurity, shown very well through the outbreak of the Corona

virus and its implications.

“You can see with the Corona virus now that everyone has to sit at home. If people in

China have to go to their factories and make us food. If that came to a standstill, the

supermarkets would be empty, and then... Yeah, we're very dependent on that, of course.”

(N4)

N7 even expresses the fear of an economic crisis leading to high levels of poverty and

eventually violence and war again. This shows how uncertain the way our system is set up is

perceived.

Another relevant finding is that especially older people who have witnessed how

modern technology, for example the internet, altered the way we live and work, perceive the

big changes around them. We generally sensed a strong awareness that times have changed and

that many things are not as they used to be in people’s childhoods (G8, G10). G13 describes

how different working on a farm used to be, compared to today.

"Back then, we did all the work on the farm by hand. Nowadays, everything is done with

machines. As a child on a farm I had to work all the time, I almost did not have any

freetime. Today’s children spend their time completely differently with computers, which

all need electricity.” (G13)

Our interviewees mentioned often how they see the natural world changing and suffering from

human influence on it. What is mentioned, is animals like the mountain cock disappearing

(G8), natural catastrophes like floodings (G6) or the Australian bushfires (G11) happening and

increasing drought (G13, G15) and temperatures rising (N4). We listened to two interesting

stories of people witnessing what human interference in the landscape does to a place:

(1) "Well, one year before, we were in Austria, in Hintertux on the glacier, where one sees

an incredible panorama of the Alps. At that point, what I noticed was that during the trip

with the cable car up there, it was a massive construction site. The entire mountain was

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a construction side to build things for winter sports. There were a lot of changes in

progress, they redid a lot of things, the access, some gondolas. Thinking back, that was

also an image that made us pause for a moment and realize the human impact on the

landscape." (G4)

(2) “For example the straightening of rivers. I still remember in Singen [city in South of

Germany] as a child the Aach was still natural with bends and curves. Later it was

straightened and as a consequence flooding happened. It seems like nature said ‘I had

my natural riverbed, you changed it and that’s why flooding happens’." (G6)

Negative Effects of Humans on Nature (1.2.)

All of the people we talked to were aware that human intervention causes numerous of these

negative consequences on the natural circle. Several ones specifically remarked the general

negative effects humans have on nature (G1, G3, G13, N4, N6, N7, N17).

"I think that we are a huge burden for nature, due to our pure existence and our high

standard of living. Nature would be better off without us. [...] Overall, I am very

concerned about how we humans treat the world, no matter in which area." (G10)

“Do we have a purpose for nature? Actually, we're just tearing it down.” (N9)

“It would be much better for nature if we'd be gone. We ruin everything.” (N16)

The background of these negative effects humans have on nature is often in connection to the

way we humans see ourselves in regards to nature. Several people we talked to expressed that

humans feel like being superior and dominate nature (G13, N2, N8, N10).

"And I view there is a strong disconnection because we have made use of nature so much.

The relationship of humans to nature is often characterized by the image of us being on

top, dominating nature. But more and more, we are shown that we, in fact, can’t control

nature when we experience natural catastrophes or storms more. For years we have

thought that we can just use what we want because we’re on top of the pyramid.” (G6)

A consequence of this arrogance towards the natural world is that the Western society

developed a lifestyle that is based on the exploitation of nature and bad consumption habits.

There were several points raised in connection to consumption, i.e. high consumption (N1).

Very important is also the thought that our consumption should generally be different in terms

of different products and consuming more consciously (G11, N1, N6). G1 states that “The

question whether it’s needed doesn’t arise”. She further expressed that many people always

want “the latest thing” without asking themselves if they really need it. Several specific

consumption habits were criticized: the use of concrete as a building material (N5), the use of

fertilizers and chemicals in agriculture (N10, N14, N15), purchase of dairy products (N2),

outdoor activities like skiing (N7, G13), using a car (N8) or a plane (N1, N16) and our

relationship to single-use products, plastic and garbage in general (G4, G7, N2). Especially

G13 expressed fiercely the need to rethink consumption habits:

39

"We have to ask ourselves constantly whether we really need this or that? For example

we don’t have a dryer or a microwave – we don’t need that. We should renounce some

things we actually don’t need. It works without them. The important thing is positive

thinking and not to let us be raped by consumption. Everyone has to change a little bit…"

(G13)

"That’s something I can pass on to my kids to think more about what we do to our

environment, our surroundings, our landscape. The greed which many people feel, is one

of the worst things. I think about this everyday: How can we change? How can we as a

family change? " (G13)

Given that the critique of how our society treats nature is so strongly apparent in our data, we

see a parallel to the way, for example, Rousseau saw society as being corrupted (Day, 2012).

According to G13, society is greedy and does not care about the consequences for nature of its

striving for more. What strongly surfaced in the conversations was that more and more people

start to rethink their own consumption patterns and their entire thinking around sustainability.

Similarly to the Romantics who wanted to change their industrial lives and move away from

mechanistic thinking, people are increasingly rebelling against over-consumerism, wanting to

move away from the domination over and exploitation of our planet. A strong urge to change

was apparent in several of the conversations (N1, N16).

"However, we need to act fast because otherwise we will one day realize that it’s too

late." (G11)

It seems like sustainable thinking is a rather recent development for many and that they still

have trouble comprehending and incorporating it into their lives (G11, N7, N16).

"[protection of nature] becomes more important. Many things I didn’t think of much in

the past. [...]. There were several ones [documentaries] that really made me think, for

example about the topic of plastic. [pause] I would say that there is a rethinking

happening in my head at the moment.” (G4)

Estrangement From Nature (1.3.)

Besides the change and uncertainty, another big parallel is the estrangement from nature, that

people in the Romantic period felt tremendously because of industrialization. This was also a

big topic in the conversations we had with people about their relation to their surroundings.

The most obvious reason for and aspect of the estrangement is the physical distance many have

to nature. The lives of many take place far away from nature because they work inside like G4:

"I sit inside and I can look outside because I sit at the window. But normally, I don’t get any

fresh air all day, because food is also available in the building." Like buildings that shield us

from the outside, technology, namely TVs and smartphones, keep us from going outside and

make us see the world through a screen instead.

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“Well I say I want to [visit nature] once a week, but yes, very often other things come up

because I’m busy and when I wake up Sunday morning, and there happens to be a nice

show on TV then I stay in bed anyway.” (N4)

“When it’s on TV all of a sudden you admire nature, while in the backyard you also have

nature that you take for granted.” (N4)

This was expressed although the people we interviewed lived in the countryside, already being

a bit closer to a natural environment than people from an urban area. Living in a city or

agglomeration, the physical distance to nature is even greater and several of our interviewees

described how tourists are very estranged from the natural world because it is not part of their

daily surroundings (G6, G15, N17).

"Many people only know the consumption and not the other side in the direction of

nature… For example, for many years we have hosted holiday guests. Among them many

were families living in a big city whose kids have never seen a living cow. I mean of

course, where would they have? Some of them seriously wondered why the cow isn’t

purple and has Milka written over her." (G5)

As expressed by G5, as well as others (G15, N17), an important factor in the estrangement is

little knowledge about nature, animals and the connections of natural circles. In this context,

especially the conversation with G13 is noteworthy. Growing up on a farm and being a hunter,

he has a very close connection to nature. In a very passionate way, G13 expressed his concern

about people’s disconnection from nature. He describes the importance of storms for the

regeneration of forests because they clear up the ecosystem and explains how this is all

connected.

"But people don’t understand this connection. There will be a chain reaction. We humans

dig our own grave. We take away our own water. How stupid are we?" (G13)

"They don’t know anything anymore. They don’t know where and how a deer or a

mountain cock lives. They don’t understand the connections within nature and why

humans should stay on the paths.” (G13)

To him, the basic problem is that humans tend to only think in terms of what is positive for

themselves although “some things we humans just don’t understand, how positive they can be

although they might not be positive for us” (G13). This hints at the humans’ dominating,

arrogant and exploitative relationship with nature nowadays playing a role in the estrangement

from it what was already focused on at the beginning of the paragraph.

Another factor that seemingly moves people away from nature is food that is bought,

processed and wrapped instead of home-grown.

“I also love to drink a cup of tea on the couch, and what has that got to do with nature?

It's tea, it comes from nature, but it's wrapped in plastic, in a little bag, and with a picture.

It's so ... it’s so detached from real nature, in my opinion. We don't bother ourselves

anymore with nature. At least ... I don’t.” (N4)

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This is possibly one of the biggest differences between the past and today. Several people

expressed that they feel like we moved further away from nature over time and that in the past

humans were more part of nature than they are today. A big part of this seems to be that many

of our jobs changed and are not dependent on nature and the weather anymore (G11, N10).

"When we look at past times, humans were indeed part of nature. If one looks into the

past, humans have lived very closely together with nature and were part of the system

that worked as such. When people were still hunters and gatherers, they were part of the

entire system." (G3)

That work plays a role in the connection or estrangement from nature was very obvious in our

interviews. Farmers, forest workers, hunters or millers who need to have high knowledge about

the connections outside because they work with nature, seemed to be more connected to it also

and talked about the value of nature less in terms of what it gives to them but saw it more as an

overarching system. For example, two farmers in the Schwarzwald, G5 and G15, describe it as

follows:

"I mean we are also just living beings, just like a dog, a cat or a cow. The only difference

is that throughout evolution, we developed a bit further or faster. But I would definitely

say that we are part of nature." (G5)

"When the weather is nice, I just have to go outside. It’s an urge to enjoy the sun and the

fresh air, nature, the birds. We have many swallows on our farm, I like to see how they

fly around our house. [...] I pay attention to animals." (G15)

Also the millers at the Kinderdijk who work outside and are directly concerned with the forces

of nature and thus more connected to them.

“Many mills are located in an environment that is in a beautiful nature reserve. You are

very close to the weather. How is the sky going to change? How can I control the mill?

You notice that you are very focused on nature and the weather and how the mill

behaves.” (N3)

Another group of persons that was said to have a closer connection to nature than average

people are those living in other countries, often developing countries. It was mentioned that

many people in poorer countries have less of the dominating vision upon nature that we

described above and thus live closer and more in harmony with it. An interesting statement

connected to this was made by N5:

“My point of view is that especially in the areas of the world where many people live

closer to nature, and are a part of nature, that's what we often call third world countries.

That is interesting. Apparently to have prosperity you need to distance yourself from

nature. If I'd philosophize, apparently we have to destroy nature to have prosperity.

Apparently, that's the way it is.”

The aspects that laid the ground for the development of Romantic thinking, a feeling of

uncertainty, estrangement from nature, rejection of the current society’s lifestyle and thus a

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longing for a change, we recognized in the way our interviewees talked about their situation

and concerns as well. Furthermore, we will explore whether technology, what gave rise to

Romantic thinking centuries ago, also surfaced in our conversations.

4.2.2. Technology

Romanticism pertains to a strong aversion of and intense feelings related to technology,

uniformity and cities. We will illuminate this Technophobia after looking for its counterpart,

Technophilia, a fascination for technology, and a lifestyle emerged in it. We consider

technology to be any mechanical or electronic device that requires complex development.

Technophilia (2.1.)

Technophilia plays a vital role in many of our interviewees lives. This Technophilia presents

itself in a high dependency on, fascination for, and use of technology. Besides, Technophilia

involves a generally positive view on technology pertaining, for example, the advantages it

brings. The vast majority of our interviewees felt as if they are dependent on technology, that

they cannot imagine living in a world without it, “without a car, without central heating, without

electricity, running water, a computer” (G10). They foresee many impossibilities in that world

without technology, it would drastically disrupt their lives (N3, N15).

“It's almost impossible without technology. Then we'd be cavemen again.” (N10)

"We could not cultivate our farm without machines.” (G15)

Oftentimes, they refer to the discomfort recent power outages have caused, or to how a general

lack of electricity would cause major discomfort (G1, G5, G11, G14, N1), illustrating their

dependence on technology.

"When one has a power outage, everyone complains a lot. Half a day without electricity is

already very difficult – even in the kitchen we need electricity and are in a fix without it. That’s

how it is.” (G8)

“If you notice that one thing like electricity is missing, your life is disrupted. That is also

something that applies to almost everyone.” (N3)

This dependence is associated with a common high usage of technology. Many admit to using

technology all day long, in both their private and professional life (G3, G11, N16).

“Technology, as in, my phone? I use it all-the-time [laughs].” (N12)

This realization of not being able to live without technology, they oftentimes connect to a

certain pressure felt from society. A pressure to follow and make use of technological

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developments, as otherwise they might not be able to keep their business afloat (N2, N2), they

might be shut off from society (G6, G7, N7) or excluded (G11).

"But some technical inventions, one can denounce from. Those are luxury things that are not

important in fact. But there is also always the feeling of losing out on a trend and losing

touch with the rest if you don’t go with it." (G3)

Another reason that they use technology so much, is because it has provided them with many

advantages, most of all ease. It has significantly facilitated their current lifestyles (G4, G11,

N6, N12, N15, N16, N17).

“We have so many advantages due to technology, one of the advantages we enjoy right at

this moment [video calling]. Twenty years ago, this wouldn’t have worked this well. That’s

great and makes a lot of things way easier. [...] not following it and distancing oneself from

it, is also no solution. One follows the development because of its numerous advantages."

(G11)

“It makes it a lot easier. If you look at health care, it [technology] makes your job physique-

wise, much lighter.” (N12)

“Technology also helps, because we can already see what the weather is going to be like,

for example, due to the weather forecast.” (N15)

Some even go as far as to say that they owe technology a lot of things (N1, N2, N4). In an

abstract example, N3 argues for how much further technology has brought us in society, being

able to create more and bigger structures, allowing us to step up from the simpler way of life

humankind once had. Others argue for the appreciation of all the good things that technology

has brought us (N6).

A common positive attitude towards technology, and hopes for the future seems very much

present. Expecting technological innovation and developments to be some of the vital solutions

to the environmental problems we are facing today (N7).

“Well, it just so happens that at work I've been doing a little research on companies that also

generate green energy and create new energy in different ways. A lot of innovative plans have

come to fruition, […]. And I think that could be the solution in the future.” (N8)

“It's a wonderful thing. The technology can also support and help nature.” (N16)

These great expectations involve a certain fascination for the newest and complex technologies

by some (G5, N4).

"I am a technophile. If there is something new which I think I can handle, I like to give it a

try." (G14)

“It's nice to see how that develops. I'm always very curious about that and I always like it

when people can think so innovatively.” (N7)

Many highlight their dependency on, their thankfulness to, and hopes for technology and

technological development. Overall, Technophilia seemed strongly present.

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Technophobia (2.2.)

Technophobic characteristics are represented by a skeptic attitude towards technology, fear,

shame and regret, a general aversion of uniformity and cities.

Many negative aspects surfaced during the interviews, overwhelmingly related to the

excessive technology use and the effects that has. The mobile phone is often mentioned as an

example, as the symbol of evil technology. It is perceived as exhausting (G1, G10), and

alienating (N9, N11, N13) among others. Another interviewee mentions the relief of not using

farm machines once in a while (G15). All of these statements are perfect examples of a skeptic,

negative attitude towards technology.

"After a long day at the office and at home also using the phone or computer, one lies in bed

and can’t sleep.” (G4)

“It's also always a discussion between me and my children about how often they use their

phones.” (N9)

For many, their high usage of technology is accompanied by a certain feeling of shame or regret

(G12, G15, N11). Occasionally questioning, or criticizing their own technology use, or that of

others.

"But we also lose ourselves in this sometimes. Thinking of how much time we spend in front of

our screens, computers and smartphones and TV in the evening – the most amount of my time

I spend with that. Especially if you deal with that also for work, it’s quite extreme." (G11)

“When I look at how often I use my phone ... my screen time per week on average is six hours

a day. Yeah, I think that's quite a lot. Why is that? [...]. Why can't I just go to the supermarket

without a phone?” (N4)

For some, these negative feelings go even further. Fear is portrayed as a dominant theme, many

referring to scenarios that could easily be characterized as apocalyptic, predicting something

very disastrous for the world (N2, N16) related to technology. They explicitly state their

worries, their fear (N4, N16) about our vulnerability as humans (N8, N17) to the effects of

technology, or the ways it can be misused by powerful parties.

“If you look at world powers that can use or abuse a certain technique then this is a certain

risk for humans.” (N3)

There also seems to be an aversion to uniformity and orderliness, that often involves technology

as well as our modern society. A uniform, unnatural way of building stands out as something

that many do not like (G3, G9, G15, N2, N5, N8). Often this is accompanied by a description

of a ‘modern’ way of building, involving cement and efficient building styles, often described

negatively.

"[I]f I saw a lot of concrete or high-rise buildings, I would not like it because it doesn’t fit.”

(G12)

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“But I don't think it's a real house. It's just a terraced house, it's just a block, a square. Very

efficient. It doesn’t give me a certain feeling, I don't think it's a nice house. It's just a very

practical place to live in.” (N7)

This dislike of uniformity and orderliness also presents itself in the dislike of this phenomenon

in our society, involving time-pressure and unnatural rules (N3).

"I catch myself being dragged into the fast pace, into the hastiness and the hurry, having time

pressure. Outside, that shouldn’t be the case." (G14)

“Because everything can be faster, everything can be better. We have to perform more in a

shorter time. I think that people can get burn-out in a very short period of time because of

that.” (N2)

Cities suffered quite some critique as well. Many interviewees pointed towards a general

unease of visiting cities (G1, G9, G12, N1, N11), or highlight certain troubles they experience,

i.e. with regard to the lack of natural elements around them such as greenery and fresh air (G15,

N15).

"I am absolutely not a city person, I feel very comfortable in the area without red lights or

traffic jams and with fresh air." (G4)

“I'm very much a Rotterdammer, um, I like it when I get to the city, but only because I know

I'll be leaving soon. The amount of people I'm not used to anymore, the anti-social behavior,

the lack of green.” (N10)

Fear, shame, regret. Aversion of technology and concepts that technology represents, such as

uniformity and perfections. It is all present. These quotes describe an overall technophobic

group of people.

4.2.3. Far Away & Long Ago Given the background of uncertainty, change and estrangement from nature, and the skepticism

towards technology, cities and humanity in general, Romantic thinking heads into the direction

of the past, the long ago, and nature, the far away. We found both tendencies in the interviews.

Longing for Past (3.1.)

Several interviewees talked about the past in a melancholic and nostalgic way, we refer to it as

the ‘good old times’. How people grew up close to nature (G7) and animals (G8). G14 describes

how nice it was to work with his father in times of less time pressure, a long lunch break, just

leaning against a tree. N1 depicts a longing to live on an old farm like this:

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do, but I've got that [feeling] in any countryside and every

old farm. So I'm nostalgic because I think it was all better back then. And I've always had

a kind of emotion of wanting to live on a farm, and I never succeeded, but I've always

had the desire. Because of the smells, the manure, the green grass, and the hay, and the

wind.” (N1)

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Another point that came up was the appreciation of what former generations have done, what

was achieved in the past with simple means. G12, a forest owner, expresses appreciation of the

care former generations have given the trees, as well as G13 who says that he cares a lot about

his home, which is “shaped for centuries by our ancestors who built this up as a cultural

landscape.” N15 expresses his fascination with the manual work that went into old buildings,

several others describe being fascinated by the past and how people used to live in general

(G15, N11, N14).

“Can't we just go back to a simpler life?” - N4 expressed very directly. The longing for

a simpler life is something several people mentioned. Many have the urge to consume less or

more purposefully (G1, G4, N6, G13, N13). G15 says: “On the one side, it was nicer than

nowadays. They had a slower, cozier life, their lives were quieter”. In the Schwarzwald G5 and

G11 described how they enjoyed being forced to spend some time without technology and

electricity in the case of a power outage.

Nevertheless, besides this longing and fascination for the past, we found several

contradictions to this. Several persons acknowledged that life in the past was much tougher

because the level of comfort was not as high as it is today and people had to physically work

very hard and long hours (G15, G10, G13, N1). Moreover, some people we talked to said they

would not want to give up today’s living standard with cars and electricity (G1, G7, N8). Also,

many others went as far as to describe that they do not think it would even be feasible to go

back because we are used to a certain material standard. Due to globalization and digitalization

going back in the electricity and technology consumption would be unrealistic. N8 describes

the last two points strikingly:

“That other alternative [going back] might be some kind of Utopia, but it might not work.

[…]. I don't think I could do that myself. I think that's a nice picture, but I don't think it's

very feasible in this day and age because I'm too dependent, too attached to materialism

and technology.”

Uncorrupted, Unspoilt Nature (3.2.)

Besides the longing for the past, Romantic thinking is characterized by a longing for the far

away. G2 describes the natural sounds in the forest poetically, depicting the appreciation and

longing for uncorrupted and unspoilt nature: "The quietness in the forest and the rustling of

trees, the chirping of birds - it is so beautiful in the forest here.”

The longing for the far away being also a longing for getting away from civilization

and society, which are as described in the background of Romanticism sometimes seen as

corrupted, means that people were mentioned to be sometimes unwelcome in nature (G6, G7,

N8, N9).

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"[What would destroy a beautiful landscape is] many people. There are simply too many

people. Especially at the beaches during the summer vacation, there are so many people.

That bothers me and keeps me from going back to these places." (G7)

“I prefer to meet as few people as possible. As few people, buildings, and other things

that don't belong in nature as possible. They are a bit disturbing.” (N9)

How N9 describes it, it is not only people but the artificial artifacts that humans bring wherever

they go, that are unwelcome in a natural environment. Human artifacts like nuclear power

plants (G3, G15) buildings (G3, G9, N8) or industry (G6, G11, N7), technological devices like

a smartphone (G6, G13), power lines (G3, G10), cars (N2), hiking signs (N4) or trash are

described as impairing a beautiful landscape. N10 states that a beautiful landscape is one “with

as little influence as possible from the human hand”, G11 “would not want anything artificial

in view.” Because both locations are frequently visited by tourists, tourism being one of the

main sources of income, several people named the importance of unspoilt nature for tourism.

G9 described it in economic terms: "Untouched nature is our asset in the tourist industry".

Yet, it was admitted that most of these artificial artifacts are in fact acceptable if they

are condensed in one place, like in a city (G11). There is a feeling that man-made things fit

better in a man-made environment (G15) and concrete, high buildings or industrial buildings

are even perceived as fascinating and interesting there (N7, G5). This confirms the assumption

that people have a very clear understanding of where things belong: artificial things belong in

the city, natural things belong in nature.

Denial of Cultivation (3.3.)

What this appreciation of the wilderness leads to is to actively look for it in our surroundings,

even in cities.

“Although, I think the city is nature as well. In Rotterdam there’s an office that is called

office city nature [bureau stadsnatuur], there is also a lot of nature between the tiles in

terms of ferns.” (N10)

Yet, even in the countryside in the Netherlands or in the Schwarzwald, the landscape has

actually already been influenced tremendously by humans due to cultivation. Nevertheless,

they are perceived as natural because people seem to long so badly for naturalness. In the

Schwarzwald, the landscape of green meadows, which were artificially cleared from the

original, virgin forest, and the pine forest that was mostly planted for commercial purposes, is

described several times as beautiful (G9, G2). Tourists and locals alike, seem to perceive the

Schwarzwald as untouched nature though.

"Untouched nature is our asset in the tourist industry." (G9)

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In the Kinderdijk area, the windmills, polders and dikes are seen as a piece of nature (N9),

although the way the area looks today is due to the work of former generations who kept the

area from flooding. Even though windmills are a type of technology too and we saw that

technology and nature do not go together for many humans, the fact that they are old appears

to change their image. N3 compares this to lighthouses which are also appreciated because they

are old. For N6 windmills are not even seen as technology anymore. This can be obviously

connected to the longing and fascination for the past described earlier.

Nevertheless, there were also several people who were aware of the cultivation part of

the two areas and do not romanticize its appearance. N14 for example is very much aware that

humans made a lot of changes in the landscape, G10, G12 and G3 mention similar things.

“I just don't think that civilians realize that the landscape we're looking at is that way

because there's been a lot of intervention.” (N14)

Nature as a Sanctuary (3.4.)

Without exception, all of our interviewees drew numerous positive aspects from nature and see

its recreational value as a sanctuary from everyday life. The aspects that were mentioned most

are finding peace, calmness and optimism when spending time in nature and thus relaxing and

recovering (G2, G10, N2, N11, N12, N16, N17). G13 described the effects of being in the

forest when hunting like this:

"I am a lot in nature because of hunting. For me that is a contemplative time to sit outside

on a high seat, sometimes I see something and often I have a book with me. It regenerates

you, you can calm down and relax, you possibly hear a bird singing. I would never take

my smartphone with me, I have quietness and fresh air. The forest has such amazing

smells. [...] So being in the fresh air, also to cut firewood, is a way to completely wind

down. Sometimes it’s just about sitting somewhere for an hour and simply enjoying. "

(G13)

Often the effect of relaxing was mentioned in combination with exterminating work stress and

the time in nature as a counterbalance to it (G1, G9, G11, G6). The part-time farmer G5

expressed what effect the work with his animals has on him before and after his work.

"For me personally, the farm is a huge counterbalance to my industrial job. In winter, I

get up in the morning and the first thing I do is go to the barn, see my animals. Animals,

compared to humans, are always in the same mood. The work in the morning in the barn

is an amazing start for the day, it doesn’t matter for me that I have to get up early for

that. Having done that before work, I arrive at work warm and awake. [...]. And equally

after a stressful day at work when I got upset about employees, I go home to the animals.

[...] because they send out such a calmness. For me that is a big counterbalance in order

to be able to handle my job, it grounds me."

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4.2.4. Emotional, Subjective Individual

There is a second comprehensive Romantic theme we identified in the interviews: Nature is

used as a means to trigger emotions and become a strong individual.

Sublime Nature (4.1.)

Often, nature is perceived as sublime, an important Romantic trait that points out nature’s force

and gloriousness. The sublimeness of nature was either perceived in natural phenomena (such

as thunderstorms – N7) or in the description of a landscape. Our interviewees generally

describe a beautiful landscape as being very impressive or even breathtaking. It shows an “ideal

world of harmony” (G6). Predominantly mountains and water play an important role for many

of the interviewees. They are considered extraordinary, beautiful and impressive (G1, G3, G7,

G11, G12, G14, G15, N3, N7, N8, N9, N16), important to their lives (G1, G2, G5, N12), and

evoke many emotions such as a feeling of overwhelming, joy, or comfort (G3, G4, N7, N16).

Mountains are by many, predominantly Schwarzwälder, seen as the epitome of a wild

landscape.

"What always speaks to me the most are the Alps. As soon as I see these high mountains, my

heart opens. The most beautiful for me are mountains. " (G4)

"In the lowland I could not live." (G1)

“I drove into the pass, into the mountains. At some point I actually got emotional in the car.”

(N7)

A dominant element in the Netherlands, Kinderdijk in specific, is the narrative of ‘the battle

against the water’. Water is seen as a powerful element of nature (N3, N6, N9, N10).

“When I stand on the edge of the forest and see the sea, the big and the wide. I always think

it's a little linked to strength.” (N9)

Many of the descriptions of beautiful landscapes are accompanied by typifying nature as

healthy, alive, green (G1, G3, G7, G12, G15, N1, N6, N11). These landscapes, the extreme

beauty, health, ruthlessness or exquisiteness, evoke feelings of happiness, fear, of being struck

with awe and fascination (G2, G5, G6, G7, G8, N10, N15, N16).

"I always found it fascinating to see how fauna and flora develops and how I each time

discover new things." (G6)

“It's such a supernatural feeling to see how beautiful the world is.” (N16)

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Significance of Nature Beyond the Physical (4.2.)

Aside from being a place in which you experience that fascination or impressiveness, many

experience nature as a place that has value beyond its physical characteristics. It affects their

inner state, it starts a contemplative process (G13). It provides the opportunity for deep

relaxation and recovery (G1, G3, G5, G12, G13, G7, N8, N12, N13), a state of “zen” even

(N4). Many mention the ability to clear their minds, from issues at work or in their daily lives,

that it provides a balance (G4, G6, G9, N8, N9). They even attribute health to spending time in

nature, referring to the inexplicable way nature helps in recovery in illnesses (N1, N10, N13).

“I don't think that people go into nature for no reason. […]. I think that without us all

realizing it, nature has a great value to us.” (N2)

Individualism (4.3.)

Strong value is also placed on spending time alone in nature. It allows the interviewees to feel

a connection (N7), to satisfy a need (G1, G7, G10). Spending time alone in nature allows one

to “reach Nirvana” to grow, and satisfy your individual spiritual processes (N14). It also gives

a feeling of freedom, people go into nature purposefully to seek that freedom, “we can go

anywhere”(G2). Having the possibility to choose where you want to go, or where you want to

live (G1) is very much appreciated. Nature is seen as a place of freedom as there are not many

rules or pressures which people do experience in society (N3, N17).

“Yeah, even as a kid I thought it was really special. Then I also enjoyed going into the fields

and, um, just being in nature, building tree houses, you name it. And actually, I still find that

very interesting.” (N17)

During our conversations, ecological issues came up often. Many of our interviewees came to

the conclusion that they themselves should and want to take action, even if it is small, or

seemingly insignificant, to combat climate change. They feel a certain responsibility, and

experience a drive, a power even, to take action themselves. Taking the car less (N1, N8), not

littering (N10, N17), finding more sustainable solutions (N5, N15) are some of the examples

given that they already perform, or aim to.

"I think that everybody has to do his part and pull himself together. Possibly one has to do

without one or the other thing.[...]. I find it right to do something, that everyone does

something." (G9)

This individual power is also shown in an appreciation of creativity (G6), of craftsmanship. As

being a miller is an old, famous craft in Kinderdijk, this was mentioned many times (N3, N5,

N11).

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“I'm very, very much into craftsmanship. This is all made, by real craftsmen, such a mill

as well. It's still maintained by people. Yeah, I like that. I find that fascinating. It fascinates

me.” (N7)

Significance of the Place and Local (4.4.)

Lastly, the individual puts strong focus on their connection to places, often either the

Schwarzwald or Kinderdijk, sometimes other particular places as well.

Mostly in the Schwarzwald, the people we interviewed felt very much connected to

their particular area. Many referred to themselves as ‘Schwarzwälder’ (G3, G10, G12, G13). It

is their home (G1, G2, G13, G6) and they are not able to imagine living anywhere else (G9,

G12). Besides, they show in other ways a very strong appreciation for the surroundings. That

is represented in the admiration for the plants, animals, or the beautiful landscape (G1, G2, G3,

G5, G7, G9, G14).

"The Schwarzwald is everything to me.” (G2)

A smaller number of the people from Kinderdijk had such a strong connection to the area,

possibly because not everyone had grown up there.

Out of a few people who had lived in Kinderdijk their entire lives, or were in another

way very involved with the area, one identifies herself as “someone from the polder” (N11),

another cannot imagine living in any other place than the polder landscape (N15), a miller was

told by colleagues “you are Kinderdijk”, and a twentysomething year-old explains that she

suddenly became aware of her deep connection to the area and the mills when she showed

colleagues around (N17). To a large extent, many of the others do feel a strong appreciation of

their local surroundings, whether it is the beauty of the landscape, the nostalgia (N7), or with

regards to the historical importance that this area has.

4.3. Wind Power Opinions

Having asked the residents of Eisenbach in the Schwarzwald about their opinion about the

potential wind turbines in their hometown (see Appendix A) and the people living close to the

Kinderdijk more generally about the usage of wind back then and now, we received a wide

range of answers and concerns, that we classified in 1) conventional concerns, 2) new concerns,

3) aversion of the industrial, 4) relational reasoning and 5) time aspects (see Appendix B). A

selection of (more) quotes illustrating these opinions can be found in Appendix D.

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Conventional Concerns (5.1.)

Many of the common reasons for rejecting the wind power development that have been

established in the literature and that we illustrated in Figure 2 were confirmed by our

interviewees. The main concerns were living too close to a turbine and being impaired by noise,

shadow and ultrasound (G4, G9, G13, G14, G15), leading to a feeling of wanting wind turbines

to be further away, classical NIMBY, (N2, N7, G3, G11), the negative effects on the ecosystem

and the animals (G5, G7, G9, G13, N2) and the impairment of the aesthetics of the landscape.

Landscape is of specific importance, because the way in which wind power affects the

landscape aesthetics seems to be the biggest reason for the opposition to wind power

development as nearly everyone we talked to named that as something problematic or

disturbing. They simply call wind turbines ugly (G11, N4, N6, N12, N17), sometimes horizon

pollution (N7), or use other negative phrases (G1, G3, G6, G9). It also seemed like the more

wind turbines there are and the closer they are, the more negative they are perceived.

“Yeah, those wind turbines [would ruin the landscape] [laughs]! On the one hand, I get

it. On the other hand, I think they’re a horror, those things. But yes, you learn to deal

with it, but I think it's real horizon pollution, absolutely.” (N7)

"[...] the further away they are the less intensely they stick out of the landscape. They are

less horrible to look at when they are far away." (G9)

There were also concerns about technical shortcomings which thus made the wind turbines a

symbol for that as several interviewees connected a negative image to it (G3, G6, G15). Place

attachment was found to play a big role as well, perceiving the machines to interrupt what the

residents are used to and how they perceive their Schwarzwald to look like (see Significance

of Place and Local 4.4.). Figure 2, is adapted to Figure 9 from the literature review and shows

in grey which aspects of it were found again in our empirical material.

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Figure 9: (Figure 2, adapted). Established factors of Social Acceptance of wind power & factors in

empirics.

New Concerns (5.2.)

Besides these established factors of Social Acceptance of wind power, some less prevalent

reasons for opposition were named that go beyond what we read in the literature. To start with

doubts about the technical side of it being sufficiently developed, many naming accurate

measuring and energy storage and transmission as their biggest concerns (G1, G4, G6).

Another aspect we uncovered was a certain lack of trust in the parties involved in the

development and the concern that there is mainly financial motivation behind it (G1, G5, G13,

G14, G15). Interesting was also that some mentioned the unsustainability of the materials used

in a wind turbine, as well as the problem of the dismantling and renaturation of its fundament

(G1, G9, G13, N5).

Aversion of the Industrial (5.3.)

A big part of the opinions on wind power went into the direction of a general aversion to the

industrial. This industrial look of it is explicitly named as something negative (N6, N7) and

both reflects the dislike of uniformity and the notion that wind turbines are “foreign bodies”

(G10). Phrases that are used to illustrate wind turbines as “monsters” (G14, N12), “robots”

(N10). N5 pointed to the fact that it might have to do with the seeming lack of human effort

and energy that goes into building a turbine, they seem rather anonymous as opposed to the old

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mills that are so much appreciated for their craftsmanship. This juxtaposition surfaced in other

interviews as well.

“I also said to him, ‘it’s a monstrosity’. It's an anonymous thing, doesn't involve anyone. I

always told the listeners in my tours: these are mills, it takes millers. The other things we

call wind turbines, they're not mills. They're devices.” (N10)

Uniformity seems to be a factor that makes the perception of wind turbines worse. Many

interviewees pointed to the fact that the more wind turbines they saw in a certain area, on a

certain hill, the worse their perception is of that landscape (G4, G7, N2). An overall

consideration was that they “should be placed carefully” (G8), not “extensively on every hill”

(G1).

“It was very nice weather when we were up there. There one has a 360-degree view on the

Swiss Alps, the French Vosges, in every direction. And up there was the first time that I

was a bit shocked by wind turbines. Because, for a fact, anywhere you looked, on each little

hill, there was a wind turbine. And at that point that bothered me a lot. This beautiful

surrounding, the view in the distance without end [Weitsicht] and then everywhere a couple

of wind turbines." (G4)

Making a Decision (5.4.)

For us, there seemed to be three things their final verdict on wind power came down to. First,

some expressed an ideological opposition against wind turbines, as it is a technology and thus

not appropriate in nature whatsoever (N7, N12). N9 expresses very clearly that she has a clear

understanding of where technology belongs, which seems not to be reconcilable with the

development of wind power in any way.

“I think that's something your brain … that is programmed in my head; this should be

there and this should not.” (N9)

Second, time seemed to play a major role in the final acceptance of wind power usage. On the

one hand, we heard a very positive opinion on the old windmills in the Kinderdijk being “cozy

and homey” and “cute” (N12). Often this was explained as being used to the old windmills

(N2, N4, N7, N8). N1, N3 and N15 describe that people back then were confused by this new

artifact just as we are today by modern wind turbines:

“Those people, farmers and outsiders, came together here in 1800 to get the polder dry.

That was started here in 1838. At that time there may have been people who thought ‘what

kind of weird thing is that?! Turning and turnin!.’ Now we're glad that thing started

spinning because now we have dry feet!” (N15)

On the other hand, the modern wind turbines were perceived as an interruption in the landscape

of the Schwarzwald, that one would get used to though over time (G5, G6, G15). Several people

described that acceptance will probably rise in time and that they will “become part of the

landscape” (G15).

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“They [wind turbines] change the landscape, they seem almost like a foreign body.

Possibly, that’s because it’s all still kind of new. Maybe in 30 years, when children grow

up with it and don’t know it differently, they would not perceive it negatively at all. But for

us it’s something new, something foreign." (G10)

Third, what stood out the most when looking at people’s final reasoning for accepting or

rejecting wind power is the presence of reason. We sensed a strong logical reasoning that “our

electricity needs to come from somewhere” (G8) and many recognized the purpose of and need

for wind power (G5, G11, N16).

“I always think it’s not about what stands there but why. And we are able to use the wind

or water that is there to get away from nuclear energy or coal-fired power plants, I find it

is something useful that sits in nature." (G5)

Like G5, many compared the usage of wind as an energy source to other options, such as fossil

fuels (N11, N15) and nuclear power (G5, G10, G11, G15). What it comes down to is a

hypothetical cost-benefit analysis where interviewees rationally weigh up the advantage of

green energy compared to its negative implications, taking into consideration the effects on

nature (G5, G9, G12, N2), obtrusiveness in the landscape (G4, G5) and efficiency (G5, G11,

G12, G13).

"Where wind energy makes sense, I'm welcoming it. [In the Schwarzwald], in my opinion

it does not make sense [...]. We are one of the areas with the lowest levels of wind in

Germany." (G9)

"I sometimes feel as if I have to choose between the lesser of two evils: on the one side we

have less emissions because of wind energy, on the other side we have to put cables and

wires everywhere in the soil and erect monuments. It’s difficult to know what is actually

good.” (G14)

Many phrased it more positively than G14, stating that one should choose the most

appropriate option in each place (G9, G10, G11, G12, G13) and “cut a piece from each

cake and then put together a nice new cake” (G13).

To summarize our previous two chapters on the method of our empirical study in

the Schwarzwald and the Kinderdijk and the data we were able to extract from it, we can

overall state three things: 1) We sensed that the interviewees felt a strong discomfort around

wind power, as well as the relationship to nature and technology in almost every individual

interviewee. 2) We recognized strong parallels between the Romantic era and our

interviewees’ current perceptions of the world. 3) We perceived strong technophobic,

technophilic and topohilic tendencies that we will further look into in the next chapter,

phrasing it as the nature and technology paradox.

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5. Discussion

As stated in the problem formulation, we see that the acceptance of wind power touches upon

individual assumptions about one’s relation to nature and technology. The study of

Romanticism and our empirical data show that Romanticism influences the way we look at the

world, including nature, technology and wind power. We found several contradictions in how

people relate to nature and technology. We interpret these contradictions in terms of a nature

and a technology paradox, which we will describe in the following by bringing together theory

and empirics. In the next step, we will apply this to the specific case of wind power to be able

to answer our research question: How does the Romanticization of our surroundings influence

the acceptance of wind power?

5.1. Nature Paradox

Estrangement. Fascination. Affection. Longing. These are some of the equivocal feelings

people have towards the natural world. Based on the theoretical study of people’s relation to

nature and how our interviewees talked about their connection to nature, we can work out three

major tendencies that seem to compete with and partially contradict each other.

First, as also studied in the literature, people in the modern world seem to have lost a

deeper connection with nature. This is an aspect of and a trigger for Romantic thinking (Day,

2012) that we clearly uncovered in the conversations. It classifies as an estrangement from

nature, both physically by living in cities, and mentally, because we are nescient about natural

processes. The most striking interview finding on this is that modern work that is disconnected

from the natural world reinforces the estrangement, whereas working outside with nature or

having a strong interest such as hunting weakens the estrangement. Another major aspect of

the disjointed relationship to nature seems to be the fact that our lifestyles build more on a

domination of instead of cooperation with nature. This leads to a feeling of guilt about human

impact on nature and the inclination to reduce consumption and restore balance.

Second, the literature vastly established the concept of Topophilia, “the affective bond

between people and place or setting” (Thayer, 1994, p. 4), which we definitely found in the

interviews. In the Romantic perspective, we could highlight the notions of longing for the far

away and rejection of artificialness, which seems to reinforce Topophilia even. Many people

described a strong appreciation of nature and a wish to find solace, relaxation and peace in

nature. That shows that there is more to it than the aesthetic appreciation, again a way of

thinking that can be explained by Romanticism. In Romantic thinking, the landscape is valued

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for being aesthetically pleasing but it is actually about the inner processes that are triggered

(Day, 2012). Thayer (1994) also argues that Topophilia goes beyond aesthetic appreciation of

nature and describes it as an emotional bond humans have with land. We sensed very strong

emotions in the conversations as well, from fascination and being in awe of wilderness, to

freeing oneself from stress and constraints, to a strong attachment to and identification with the

specific landscape the people grew up in.

Third, we found that people partially have an utopical image of what nature is. This is

in connection to the expectation of getting away from the negativeness of society and into the

pure and innocent wilderness when being in nature. Our interviews displayed how people

sometimes romanticize their surroundings in order to meet that longing for the wilderness that

is seemingly untouched by civilization and human artifacts. This is similar to what Kellert

(1996) found about people who romanticize wild nature by emphasizing heroic qualities they

connect with it, although they merely came in touch with it in recreational settings. Despite the

fact that both the area of Kinderdijk and the Schwarzwald are immensely cultivated, they are

by many still regarded as pristine, original pieces of nature. Except for people involved in the

area or topics through their jobs, not many people were aware that these areas were very much

influenced by human action.

These three aspects of people’s relation to nature are not easily compatible. The

estrangement from nature stands opposed to one’s longing for a connection to it. Finding a

deeper connection to nature is hindered by a falsified image of what nature actually is. Having

a falsified understanding distances people even more from the reality of nature. Having seen

these paradoxes in most of our interviewees, we see it as something that is present in all people

to a certain degree. The genetic attributes to the value of nature (described in 2.4 Relation to

Nature), and the fact that we grew up in a world that appears to have disconnected our lives

from nature, is a possible explanation for that.

5.2. Technology Paradox

Fascination. Fear. Dependence. Shame. These are some of the ambiguities found concerning

the attitudes of people regarding their use of, interest in and dependence on technology in their

daily lives: Technophilia versus Technophobia (Thayer, 1994). In many ways, the people we

talked to seem like a product of our current times, with technology seeped into all crevices of

society and lives. Simultaneously, people seem to experience a certain Technophobia, as

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Thayer (1994) described, a certain “suspicion, fear and aversion” (p. 50) to technology. These

two are inherently opposing attitudes, very much present in our empirics.

On the one hand, as our empirical material illuminates, technology plays a big role in

everybody’s life, privately and professionally. For many, it is even hard to imagine a life

without technology as their lives are thoroughly immersed in it, describing a few hour power

cut as very disruptive and causing a feeling of helplessness. Technology is used throughout the

entire day and to a large extent. Similar to what has been written in the literature, our

interviewees felt a certain level of thankfulness to technology, it has given us so much ease, it

has been the tool that has allowed us to develop ourselves, and foreseeably will allow us to

develop more sustainably in the future (Thayer, 1994). Many declare great expectations of

technological innovation, which points at strong technophilic tendencies.

On the other hand, we sensed an unease which we interpret as Technophobia. The

Romantic era was, in fact, a response to technology and science (Kirchoff & Vicenzotti, 2014).

Technophobia was at the core of the movement. Nowadays, more than three centuries later,

technology plays an increasingly big role in society (Murphie & Potts, 2017). Therefore, this

Technophobia, the skepticism, aversion even, is quite apparent. It was presented in the

following ways. Overall, a rather skeptical attitude is present, many people highlighted several

negative aspects of their own (high) use of technology, or that of society as a whole. This goes

hand in hand with shame and regret, questioning or even criticizing their use. Moreover, there

seems to be fear present, fear of what technology can do to us, and how others might misuse it.

An overall aversion of the city, and everything that it includes, is mentioned several times. The

people, the lack of nature, and the amount of technologies such as cars provide a source of

discomfort. Interesting is that a few interviewees, when being asked about the role of

technology in their lives, abruptly answered: ‘Zero’. This was then followed by a full account

of their daily activities, every last one of them immersed in technology. Were they trying to

fool themselves? Were they trying to convince themselves of a Romantic world image?

The Romantic remnants regarding the dislike of technology are still present to this day

and cause an internal conflict, as there is also a common Technophilia present in society. A

Technophilia that is hard to step away from, since technology has given us many advantages

and facilitated the establishment of our current world. This Technophilia challenges our

Romantic thinking, which explains the unease, the dichotomous thinking regarding technology

and the presence of technology in nature.

59

5.3. Explaining the Wind Power Malaise

We have shown parallels between the Romantic era and our thinking today, and reflected on

how this Romantic thinking affects our relation to nature and technology in general. The next

step is to analyze the effects on the Social Acceptance of wind power projects and to answer

our research question: How does a Romantic worldview influence the Social Acceptance of

wind power?

The starting point of our research process was a sense of a feeling of unease around the

development of wind power projects among people. In what the people confided to us in the

interviews, this initial feeling was substantiated as many showed an inner turmoil, having

trouble to make up their minds about whether and under which circumstances they are

accepting or rejecting wind turbines. G12 is clearly torn between two things, the negative

implications of the ‘now’ and for his home and the positive consequences for the ‘later’ that

wind turbines would bring in the long run. He expressed his indecisiveness and malaise like

this:

“I have not made up my mind fully. If there were to be a referendum, I would not know

what to choose at the moment. I am definitely torn between expecting renewable energy

to be pushed but to vote against it at home.”

We recognized the factors that other research on the acceptance has established, like NIMBY,

participation, justice, landscape impairment and increased danger for animals, in the

conversations about the acceptance of a potential wind power project in the Schwarzwald as

well. Having the background knowledge on Romanticism, we can peek behind the façade of

these concerns, seeing that they are partially influenced by a Romantic world view. Looking

back to the opinions, concerns and thoughts about wind power in our interviews, we identify

several ones that can be interpreted as being either caused or enforced by Romantic thinking.

The first one is the impairment of the landscape through wind turbines that was the

concern that was raised the most often. We see the reason for the force and frequency of this

argument in people’s longing for finding solace in nature that seems untouched. As shown,

people seem to long for the far away from civilization and thus prefer nature that evokes the

idea of wilderness and being untamed and unordered. A wind turbine in the landscape, an

artifact of our society, goes against this longing for uncorrupted nature.

The second main concern, the potentially negative impact wind turbines have on the

ecosystem is connected to the wish for uncorrupted nature. People were very concerned about

the death of animals due to the blades of the turbines as this signifies a negative human

intervention into nature. The concern of the natural rhythm getting out of tune due to our

60

interference, speaks of course firstly for an altruistic wish for nature to stay healthy but might

be strengthened by Romantic longing for harmony and being close to nature again.

Third, we found a strong general aversion to the industrial connected to wind power.

People seemed to have a basic skepticism against industrial artifacts that evoked the feeling of

formal rules and orderliness, as in many wind turbines on one spot or them being ‘everywhere

and on every hill’. As Romanticism places a focus on freedom and the subjective individual,

the uniformity of industrial artifacts is rejected. The concerns about artificial noises, shadow

and ultrasound can also be explained by the rejection of the industrial as it reminds of it even

when one does not actually see the turbines.

Fourth, we found that people generally have a strong place attachment that makes the

acceptance of changes in what one is used to and values more difficult. This we see as being

possibly enforced by Romantic thinking that places a strong value on the local.

Lastly, we see a connection between the time aspect and Romanticism. People seem to

clearly prefer old technologies as in the windmills, which are not even perceived as technology

anymore, over new technology as in the wind turbines. This is partly explicable by the

Romantic longing for the past and nostalgia towards a simple life.

After this more specific review of the opinions, we will now take Topophilia, Technophilia and

Technophobia that describe our relation to nature and technology, and how they are influenced

by Romanticism into consideration again. Following that, we will argue for these three Ts being

particularly visible in connection to wind power and a meeting place of the conflict between

them as we are explicitly confronted with it. Figure 10 intends to make the relation between

the three Ts that we will look at more closely in the following more visible.

61

Figure 10: Conflict between Topophilia, Technophobia and Technophilia. Source: Own illustration.

Topophilia, as in the nature paradox described as being one main arm of people’s relationship

to nature, is the love and longing for nature. Romantic tendencies developing out of a feeling

of estrangement from nature, reinforces Topophilia. Technophobia, the aversion of technology,

complements and reinforces Topophilia. Romanticism can be seen as growing out of this

repudiation of technology. These two Ts are well in harmony with each other in a Romantic

world perspective. Yet, there is a third force at play: Technophilia. The third T complicates our

relation to nature and technology and challenges a fully Romantic world perspective. The

dependence on and love for technology and our current high standard of life makes it

impossible to go back to nature and away from technology. As humans, always having been

tool makers, being drawn to technology seems to be a very dominant force (Peeters et al., 2009).

This we see as the main cause of trouble because it makes a purely Romantic view on the world

impossible. Everyone would so badly love to be free from the constraints of society and

reconnect with their natural self but also has to recognize that when leading a ‘normal’ life,

that is an illusion. We cannot go back and away from technology, because our lives are so

dominated by it. This tension seems to be in every individual and thus leads us to the realization

that this is something we collectively experience as a group and as a society. This relates to the

big role that Romanticism occupies in our culture, leading to the modern Romanticism we

looked at before.

Wind power is a very powerful and relatable example of this conflict between the three

Ts. Wind turbines are a very visible representation of our dependence on technology to sustain

62

our lifestyle, as they remind us of our energy consumption and power source (Hirsh and

Sovacool, 2013; Pasqualetti, 2000, 2001). The tension between Topophilia, wanting to see and

experience untouched nature, Technophobia, actually disliking and fearing technology, and

Technophilia, nevertheless needing technology, is epitomized in the wind power debate. Wind

turbines are being perceived as an especially intrusive form of technology because they need a

lot of room due to their size. Also, the fact that they are placed in natural areas, not in industrial

areas or cities makes them more striking. Following Topophilia, we actually want to use the

natural areas turbines are placed in for recreational purposes and the experience of finding

solace away from civilization. Wind turbines make it impossible to keep the image of

untouched and pristine landscapes and wilderness. They make us realize that we lost the inner

fight to keep nature and technology separated. Being built with non-organic materials and

always looking the same, they stand for uniformity, artificialness and our industrialized lives,

reminding us of the fact that we are dependent on technology. Wind turbines are a very visible

example of Technophobia that triggers skepticism and is therefore sometimes categorically and

automatically rejected. Simultaneously, we appreciate that this new technology allows us to

satisfy our need for energy and to keep our high lifestyle level in a sustainable way, classical

Technophilia.

Having shown which wind power concerns we see in connection to Romantic thinking

and how wind power is the prime example of the conflict of the three Ts, we will now answer

our research question: we can say that Romanticism definitely influences how we feel about

nature and technology and thus what we think about wind power. However, this is only valid

up until the point of actually prioritizing Technophilia. Romantic thinking only goes so far as

to lead to this discomfort. People are aware of its limitations and are often realistic about wind

power, also because of Technophilia. Everyone we talked to was very much aware of and

worried about the tremendous effect humanity has on the earth and the climate and thus the

advantages wind power brings. When confronted with a concrete project, a rational weighing

of options and pros and cons took over. Most of the opinions came down to efficiency, logic

and making a rational decision. Thinking back to what Romanticism rejected, this is exactly

the Enlightenment thinking that was initially rejected by the Romantic thinkers. This

competition between Romantic and Enlightenment thinking is a battle that people seem to

constantly carry out within themselves. We highlight here the case of wind power also as an

external conflict but it actually applies to many aspects of our modern lives where we feel inner

conflicts regarding nature and technology.

63

6. Conclusion

“There are ‘truths’ rather than one truth.” - The quote by Cunliffe (2011, p. 656) resurfaces

when looking back on our study. The debate about the Social Acceptance of wind power seems

to revolve around a very limited amount of truths, which are not enough to entirely overcome

the social gap, as various articles and our reading of the literature conclude. We proposed that

one of the ‘truths’ that could explain this social gap further is Romanticism. Alongside a few

other authors (Coeckelbergh, 2017; Day, 2012), we found that Romanticism pertains, among

others, the love for unspoilt nature, and aversion to technology. These two aspects oftentimes

clash, particularly in the development of wind power projects. By conducting interviews in two

Romanticized natural areas in which wind power plays a role, the Schwarzwald and Kinderdijk,

we have shown Romantic tendencies in people’s perception of nature and technology.

Nevertheless, another ‘truth’ that we found was that rational Enlightenment thinking is

still strong as well and suppresses Romantic thinking when it comes down to making a decision

about a wind power project. There are many ‘truths’ at work and competing with each other,

creating paradoxes in how we relate to nature and technology. The first paradox presents itself

in the human relation to nature. Many of our interviewees expressed a feeling of estrangement

from nature, mostly due to aspects of our modern society, and had the longing to become more

connected to it (Topophilia), which is very much in line with Romanticism. The second paradox

found with regards to our empirical data, is the dichotomy between Technophobia, similar to

Romantic thought, and Technophilia, which is strongly associated with rational Enlightenment

thought. These opposing value systems that create tension seemed to occur in all of our

interviews and we recognize ourselves in them as well.

To us, wind power is the ultimate meeting place for the paradoxes, as Topophilia and

Technophobia result in a very negative perspective on wind power, but Technophilia involving

rational, Enlightenment thinking is positive towards it. Part of understanding the social gap in

the Social Acceptance of wind power, is understanding the conflict between Enlightenment

and Romanticism. The Romantic worldview that remains in our minds today makes the society

torn between this and Enlightenment, between Topophilia, Technophobia and Technophilia.

The very nature of Romanticism makes social acceptance of wind power uncomfortable and

complex. It makes people doubt themself and their priorities.

We propose that the only way to move forward, in both the wind power debate, and life

in general, is by acknowledging and embracing this complex paradox in our minds. We need

to become aware of, and try to find a balance between Romantic thoughts and rational,

64

Enlightenment thoughts to learn how to deal with the malaise. We live in a world of contrasts

and conflicting perceptions and truly need to accept that to feel at ease. Acknowledging that

we see our world through predetermined perceptions, Romanticism being one of them, is the

way to move forward. This involves a process of learning about ourselves as individuals and

society as a whole. This might enable us to reconnect with ourselves and discover our true

selves, as well as reconnect with nature as Rousseau preached for (Schimelpfenig, 2017). At

the same time, it would involve being acceptant, not ashamed, of the modern and technological

lives we live. It involves becoming aware of the struggle of time, experiencing a longing for

the past, and a fear of the future, while actually having to focus on living in the present. It

means getting into tune again. Looking at nuances, behind the façade of something and where

a certain thinking comes from, as we did with the study of Romanticism, teaches us to deal

with inner conflicts like this. If every individual attempted to strive towards this, we could have

more efficient, interesting and truthful conversations, which are much needed in these uncertain

times.

6.1. Future Research and Limitations

Specifically for the case of wind power, researchers could build on this paper to conduct

quantitative research, to attain generalizability and should investigate how the malaise found

can be decreased and a more sustainable blend of technology and nature can be achieved. These

could be with regards to practical implications, for planners and developers, or individual

implications, related to psychology and cognitive dissonance theory.

In general, we call for more research on looking behind the façade of arguments and

factors in the wind power debate and to not be satisfied with the established reasons for

concern, as they are not exhaustive. We found an additional explanation for the social gap, the

low acceptance of wind power on the local level, but expect there to be many more that are

worth exploring in future research (religion being one of them). As this research has proven to

be an interesting and unique perspective on the Social Acceptance of wind power, it would be

interesting to conduct similar research in different countries and cultures that have no history

of Romanticism, but do have a history of other philosophical schools of thought. This type of

study could start a stream of research into factors beyond established factors of Social

Acceptance, and thereby could contribute significantly to the enrichment of the wind power

debate.

65

Moreover, this type of research, that delves deeper into complex issues, could be

extended to other topics in the sustainability debate, that endure a high level of skepticism, or

stagnating Social Acceptance and research. Whether that is with regards to the Social

Acceptance of particular political decisions and regulations (i.e. migration, privacy, protests)

or the position of religion in a country.

Our study indispensably contains several limitations. We are aware that as our research is

qualitative and the sample not proven to be representative, there is no value in generalizing our

results to a larger population (Bell et al., 2019). Accordingly, we did not prove Romanticism

and its effects on the Social Acceptance of wind power. We merely provided a new perspective,

a new reality, which can be used to philosophize about the topic and gain a deeper

understanding. Plus, as each interview was only conducted, transcribed and coded by either

one of the authors, the coding of our empirical data might not be entirely consistent and reliable

(Schreier, 2012). Additionally, we predominantly talked to people who grew up on the

countryside or consciously moved there. Talking about this topic with people living in the city,

would be an interesting path to take, as they might have different conceptions. Moreover, since

the topics did touch personal, possibly sensitive issues, there is no way to be entirely sure that

the statements made by our interviewees were fully truthful. Despite our efforts to lower the

threshold to confide in us, they could have felt unsafe to share their personal opinions and

thoughts. Besides, they could have figured out what we expected to find, and answered

accordingly. Also, we undeniably acknowledge that we were not completely unbiased in the

study, having engaged in personal conversations with our interviewees and being personally

connected to the areas, it is rather difficult for one not to be emphatic. This study and view on

the topic can be seen as our ‘truth’ among many others.

6.2. Personal Reflection

We have experienced a quick-start in the process of getting into tune again, by diving into these

topics and listening to valuable and familiar considerations of our interviewees. It has started a

reflective process, overarching many aspects of our lives. When starting this project we felt

like living in a paradox. And we still do. But the reasons for this paradox have become more

comprehensible, more untangled. We have started to analyze our own opinion and feelings

towards wind power, and have been able to form a more in-depth, nuanced opinion on the topic,

and we hope to have enabled our readers to do so as well.

66

We will use this skill not only with regards to the debate on wind power, but will try to

convey this takeaway to our personal lives as well as our involvement in the sustainability

debate.

It is well worth the time to look beyond the commonly accepted reasons for wind power,

or any other topic for that matter. To do your own research, whether that is academic research,

or an internal reflective process. Go on your own journey, to find your own truth.

We need to find acceptance

of the complexity, the jigsaw that is life.

Own poem

67

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72

Appendix

Appendix A: Interview Protocols

Instructions to Ourselves

● Be careful of leading questions.

● Be careful not to show judgement.

● Establish mutual understanding of concepts.

● Ask for clarification where needed.

● Start with broad open questions, ask for more detail as we go along.

● Listen well, let the interviewees finish their stories.

Before Each Interview

Thanks so much for talking to us. In short, we are very curious about different opinions

concerning the wind power debate, people’s relation to nature and to technology so we decided

to do research about it for our study program. We are very curious about your opinion,

experiences and feelings regarding the topic, feel free to share these. With your permission I

would like to record our conversation, so that I can listen to it again. It will remain anonymous

and confidential. Would this be okay?

73

Interview Questions - English Version

Introduction

● Can you tell us something about your life path?

● How would you describe your connection to the area?

Relation to Nature

● If you imagine a “beautiful, scenic” view, a landscape that you like very much, how

would you describe it?

○ What belongs in such a landscape?

○ What would harm this image?

● How important is it for you to have such a natural landscape in your daily life?

○ How much time do you spend in nature?

○ What kind of activities do you do in nature?

○ Does nature also play a role in your professional life, or only in your private

life?

○ Would you like to spend more time in nature?

● What does the time spent in nature give you?

● Is it important for you to protect nature? Why?

● How would you describe the value of nature?

○ Does nature have an intrinsic value?

○ Would you say humans are part of nature?

● Do you feel a connection to the natural world?

○ To your specific area?

○ Would you say it is part of your identity?

Relation to Technology

● What role does technology play in your life?

○ To what extent do you use technological devices in your daily life?

● Do you rely on technology?

● Are you someone who loves to own the latest technological developments?

● Do you think that technological developments will save the world?

Technology in Nature

● Do human traces in nature decrease how you value it?

○ Are there differences among human traces?

○ Does that change over time?

74

Connection between Nature and Technology

Two ways we can reach sustainability can be described as follows:

1. Technological developments make our ways of lives and levels of consumption

sustainable.

2. We need to make structural changes to how we live our lives (f.ex. lower consumption).

● Where would you put yourself on this scale?

● Renewable energy is one part of the technological solution - How important do you

think renewables are?

Wind Power – Schwarzwald

● What is your opinion about renewable energies?

○ What do you think about wind power specifically?

● Do you think the Schwarzwald is a suitable location? Eisenbach in particular?

○ Does it play a role for you where the wind turbines stand?

● How do the turbines affect your perception of the landscape?

○ (How) does it change your ability to enjoy the surroundings?

○ What feelings/associations does this give you?

Wind Power – Kinderdijk

● What do you think and feel about windmills in general?

● How do the windmills influence your conception of the landscape?

● Do they give rise to certain emotions? Which ones?

● Do you feel a connection with Kinderdijk, the polder, and its windmills?

○ Would you say this landscape is part of your identity?

End

● Is there anything else you would like to add, that we have not talked about yet?

● Do you have any questions for me?

● Would you possibly be willing to have a second interview, which builds on this one?

● Specifically for Kinderdijk

○ Do you know anyone else from Kinderdijk that might be open to talking to me?

75

Interview Questions - German

Einleitung

● Kannst du einfach bisschen von deinem Leben erzählen?

○ Wie und wo genau bist du aufgewachsen?

● Wie ist deine Bindung zum Schwarzwald bzw. Eisenbach im Speziellen?

Verhältnis zur Natur

● Wenn du dir eine schöne Landschaft vorstellst, wie würdest du diese beschreiben?

○ Was gehört in so eine Landschaft?

○ Was würde dieses Bild verschlechtern?

● Wie wichtig ist es für dich, diese natürliche Umgebung im Alltag zu haben?

○ Wie viel Zeit verbringst du in der Natur?

○ Welche Aktivitäten unternimmst du in der Nature?

○ Spielt Natur auch in deinem beruflichen Alltag eine Rolle oder nur privat?

○ Würdest du gerne mehr Zeit in der Natur verbringen?

● Was gibt dir die Zeit, die du in der Natur verbringst?

● Wie würdest du den Wert der Natur beschreiben?

○ Haben auch Elemente der Natur, deren Wert für uns Menschen nicht direkt

gemessen werden kann, einen Wert für dich?

○ Würdest du sagen, Menschen sind Teil der Natur?

● Wie verbunden fühlst du dich mit der natürlichen Welt?

○ Speziell zur Umgebung des Schwarzwalds?

○ Würdest du sogar sagen, sie ist ein Teil von dir, deiner Identität?

Verhältnis zu Technik

● Welche Rolle spielt Technik in deinem Leben?

○ Inwieweit nutzt du technische Geräte im Alltag?

● Verlässt du dich stark auf Technik oder könntest du darauf verzichten?

● Hast du gerne die neuesten technischen Entwicklungen, oder tauschst du technische

Geräte erst aus wenn sie kaputt sind?

○ Verbindung zu Wachstum und Fortschritt

● Glaubst du, dass technische Lösungen die Welt retten können? Z.B. Klima Krise

Technik in der Natur

● Verringern menschliche Spuren in der Nature den Wert den du dieser Natur gibst?

○ Gibt es Unterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Spuren?

○ Verändert sich das mit der Zeit?

76

Verbindung zwischen Natur und Technik

Für uns gibt es zwei Möglichkeiten unser Leben nachhaltig zu gestalten

1. Technische Entwicklungen, die unseren Lebensstil und unser Konsumniveau

nachhaltig machen.

2. Strukturelle Veränderungen unserer Art zu leben, z.B. Konsum verringern.

● Wo würdest du dich auf dieser Skala einordnen

● Erneuerbare Energie ist ein Teil der technischen Lösung - Für wie wichtig hälst du

erneuerbare Energien im Allgemeinen? Zu Win

Windenergie Projekt

● Wie ist deine Meinung zu Windenergie im Speziellen? Auch im Vergleich zu anderen

erneuerbaren Energien wie Solar oder Wasserkraft

● Hältst du den Schwarzwald, speziell Eisenbach, auf dem Sommerberg und Kolmen, für

passende Standorte für Windenergie?

○ Spielt es eine Rolle, wo Turbinen stehen?

● Wie beeinflussen Turbinen deine Wahrnehmung der Landschaft?

○ Würdest du die Umgebung noch genauso/weniger/mehr genießen?

○ Welche Gefühle/Assoziationen rufen Turbinen hervor?

Ende

● Gibt es noch etwas, das du gerne hinzufügen würdest, über das wir noch nicht

gesprochen haben?

● Hast du Fragen an mich?

● Wärst du möglicherweise für ein zweites Interview bereit, das auf diesem aufbaut?

77

Interview Questions - Dutch

Introductie

● Kan je me iets over jezelf vertellen?

● Wat is jouw connectie tot Kinderdijk?

Relatie tot natuur

1. Hoe omschrijf jij, in het algemeen, een natuurlijk landschap?

a. Wat hoort wel in zo’n landschap?

b. Wat juist niet?

2. Hoe belangrijk is het voor jou om een natuurlijke omgeving in je dagelijks leven om je

heen te hebben?

a. Hoeveel tijd breng jij over het algemeen door in de natuur?

b. Wat doe je dan zoal?

c. Speelt de natuur ook een rol in jouw professionele leven? Of alleen in je

privéleven?

d. Zou je meer tijd willen doorbrengen in de natuur?

3. Wat brengt de natuur jou?

4. Is het belangrijk voor jou om de natuur te beschermen? Waarom?

5. Hoe zou jij de waarde van natuur beschrijven?

a. Hebben natuurlijke elementen een waarde onafhankelijk van wat het voor ons

als mensheid betekent?

b. Zijn mensen een onderdeel van de natuur?

6. Voel je je verbonden met de natuur?

Relatie tot technologie

● Wat voor rol speelt technologie in jouw leven?

○ In welke mate gebruik jij technologische apparaten in jouw dagelijks leven?

● In welke mate voel jij je ervan afhankelijk?

● Ben jij iemand die altijd de laatste technologische snufjes heeft?

● Denk je dat technologische vooruitgang de wereld gaat redden?

Het zien van technologie in de natuur

● Wanneer je dingen in de natuur ziet die zijn gemaakt door mensen, wat gebeurt er dan

met jouw opvatting over dat landschap?

○ Zijn er verschillen tussen het soort menselijke sporen?

○ Is dit iets waar je aan gewend raakt?

78

Connectie technologie en natuur

Twee perspectieven mensen hebben met betrekking tot duurzaamheid zijn als volgt:

1. Technologische ontwikkelingen zullen onze manier van leven en ons consumptieniveau

duurzaam maken.

2. Structurele veranderingen hebben we nodig om duurzaam te kunnen leven (bv. lagere

consumptie).

● Waar zou jij jezelf op deze schaal plaatsen?

● Duurzame energie is een onderdeel van deze technologische oplossingen, hoe

belangrijk is duurzame energie voor jou?

Kinderdijk

● Wat vind je in het algemeen van windmolens?

● Hoe beïnvloeden de windmolens jouw opvatting over het landschap?

● Roepen ze bepaalde gevoelens op?

● Hoe diep is jouw connectie met de Kinderdijk, de polder, de molens?

○ Zou je zeggen dat het onderdeel is van je identiteit?

Einde

● Is er nog iets wat jij zou willen noemen dat wij nog niet hebben besproken?

● Heb je nog vragen voor mij?

● Zou je open zijn om een tweede gesprek te hebben, hierop volgend?

● Ken je misschien nog iemand anders uit Kinderdijk en omgeving die zin, tijd zou

hebben om hierover te praten?

79

Appendix B: Coding Frame

1. Background of Romanticism

1.1. Uncertainty & Change 1.1.1. Complexity of the world increased

1.1.2. Change of how people live nowadays

1.1.5. Visible changes in nature

1.2. Negative Effects of Humans on

Nature

1.2.1. General negative human impact on earth

1.2.2. Human domination and arrogance

1.2.3. Bad consumption habits

1.2.4. Urge to change consumption

1.3. Estrangement from Nature 1.3.1. Physical distance to and knowledge about nature

1.3.3. Estrangement compared to past

2. Technology

2.1. Technophilia 2.1.1. Dependency

2.1.2. High usage

2.1.3. Perceiving advantages, in the past and for the

future

2.1.4. Fascination

2.2. Technophobia 2.2.1. Skepticism

2.2.2. Shame, regret

2.2.3. Fear

2.2.4. Against uniformity, orderliness

2.2.5. Aversion from cities

3. Far Away & Long Ago

3.1. Longing for Past 3.1.1. “Good old times”

3.1.2. Valuing what former generations achieved

3.1.3. Longing for simplicity

3.1.4. Contradiction to ‘Longing for Past’

3.1.4.1. Seeing past as tough

3.1.4.2. Not wanting to give up living standard

3.1.4.3. Realism

3.2. Uncorrupted, Unspoilt Nature 3.2.1. No human artifacts in nature

3.2.2. Away from civilization

3.2.3. Wilderness

3.3. Denial of Cultivation 3.3.1. Perceiving landscape to be natural

3.3.2. Perceiving old technology as not negative

3.3.3. Contradiction to this!

80

3.4. Nature as a Sanctuary 3.4.1. Finding peace, calmness, relaxation

3.4.2. Counterbalance to work

4. Emotional, Subjective Individual

4.1. Sublime Nature 4.1.1. Glorification of landscapes and natural

phenomena

4.1.2. Being struck with awe and emotions

4.2. Significance of Nature Beyond the

Physical

4.2.1. Inner contemplative process

4.2.2. Inexplicable effects of nature

4.3. Individualism 4.3.1. Facilitating personal growth

4.3.2. Freedom

4.3.3. Power

4.3.4. Craftsmanship

4.4. Significance of the Place and

Local

4.4.1. Place attachment

4.4.2. Appreciation for the local

5. Wind Power Opinions

5.1. Conventional Concerns 5.1.1. Noise, shadow, ultrasound

5.1.2. NIMBY

5.1.3. Impact on ecosystem

5.1.4. Landscape aesthetic impairment

5.1.5. Symbolism / image problem

5.1.6. Place attachment

5.2. New Concerns 5.2.1. Technical concerns

5.2.2. Financial motivation

5.2.3. Concerns about material and fundament

5.3. Aversion of the Industrial 5.3.1. Industrial look

5.3.2. Anonymity

5.3.3. Uniformity

5.4. Making a Decision 5.4.1. Ideological opposition

5.4.2. Time aspect

5.4.3. Rational reason

81

Appendix C: Description of Interviewees

Name Date Length Description of Person Opinion on Wind Power

Interview Location 1: Eisenbach, Schwarzwald, Germany

G1

Sylvia

30.03.20 31m I lived in the Schwarzwald my

entire life and couldn’t imagine

living far away from nature and

not spending time outside for

myself to let my thoughts roam

freely.

We should make use of the wind if

it’s there and makes sense to use.

But all the factors should be taken

into account, instead of building

wind turbines everywhere come

hell or high water.

G2

Gertrud

31.03.20 8m I am a retiree and the

Schwarzwald is everything to

me. I enjoy walking in our

beautiful landscape of forests

and lakes and watching the

animals and plants.

I don’t mind wind turbines as long

as they don’t do any harm and are

not in view where I take walks.

G3

Lara

01.04.20 29m I studied business with a focus

on tourism and also because of

working for the Schwarzwald-

tourism company

(Hochschwarzwald GmbH) I

think a lot about the value of

our landscape and what it offers

not only to me but our guests

who come here for recreation.

I wouldn’t want to live close to

wind turbines and prefer them to

be far away because I think they

impair the scenery – I also connect

doubts about inefficiency and

technical shortcomings with them,

I think they have image problems.

G4

Peter

02.04.20 33m Since my kids are out of the

house, I enjoy biking up and

down mountains with my wife

and using our campervan for

weekend trips a lot. Full days of

fresh air and movement is a

balance to my job that takes

place purely indoors. I am

getting increasingly concerned

about what we humans do to

our earth.

I had an experience last year when

I was really shocked standing on a

mountain and seeing wind turbines

everywhere no matter in which

direction I looked. Also, I have

concerns about their effects on

close residents’ health and if they

are technologically ready to be

built on such a large scale.

82

G5

Jakob

02.04.20 43m I grew up on our family farm in

a valley outside of the actual

village, surrounded only by

other old farms, meadows and

nature. As my main time job in

the metal industry is dominated

by dealing with machines and

people, running the farm part-

time and the work with the

animals before and after going

to the factory, is my balance.

For me, nothings speaks against

using wind power in the

Schwarzwald if it is proven to be

efficient and in the end helps

nature because through it we can

renounce on fossil fuels and

nuclear power – for me it is about

why something is there and not

how it looks.

G6

Günter

03.04.20 38m Working in the tourist industry,

I have two hearts beating in my

chest: nature as a value for

tourists to use and explore but

also wanting to protect and

conserve it, I feel like I

sometimes fight with these

oppositions.

Building more wind turbines in the

Schwarzwald would affect the

landscape negatively but I think we

will also get used to it given that

technical questions are solved and

that they produce clean energy

efficiently.

G7

Hilde

04.04.20 28m Growing up in Berlin and

Kario, Egypt, I moved

consciously to the Schwarzwald

because I wanted to offer my

children a possibility to grow

up close to a forest, which many

people envy us for today. I still

enjoy living so close to animals

and plants and being able to

learn from nature.

I am absolutely against wind

power because it destroys nature

and hurts especially animals living

in the forest, which is too high of a

price to pay. I don’t think we

should sacrifice nature to satisfy

our hunger for electricity.

G8

Egon

04.04.20 17m I am a retiree but I still bike

about 60 km per day because

from an early age I was outside

all day, either helping out on

our small family farm or doing

sports.

I think we have to use wind power

because our other options are

limited and we need a lot of

energy. But we should also be

careful not to overload our

landscapes and have too many that

are too big.

83

G9

Dieter

06.04.20 31m I make my money with tourist

accommodation and a café, so

untouched nature is our asset.

Nevertheless, I am used to

cultivate nature and making use

of it as I grew up on a small

farm and we still take car of a

commercial forest.

Generally, I am fascinated by the

technical possibility to make power

out of wind but in the Schwarzwald

it simply does not make sense

because the negative consequences

of intervening in the forest

outweigh the positive effects as the

winds are not strong enough here.

G10

Claudia

07.04.20 21m I love to spend time in nature

and do sports there, especially

in the mountains, because it

relaxes me. I am very concerned

about how we humans treat

nature.

Wind turbines hurt me a little in

the landscape but given the other

ways of feeding the rising power

demand, this is still the most

acceptable option.

G11

Klaus

07.04.20 23m Working in a demanding job in

the metal industry, I spend most

of my time in front of a screen.

After work I specifically look

for relaxation and being away

from technology in nature.

I think we should use all options of

producing energy we have and that

includes wind power usage in the

Schwarzwald if it is done in an

efficient way.

G12

Michael

07.04.20 25m My family owns a farm and a

forest that has been cared for

for several generations but the

value of nature goes way

beyond the financial one as it is

also an important recreation for

me – I spend most of my time

outside and in the forest.

If wind power makes sense and

contributes to a green future, I

support it but the interference in

nature needs to be worthwhile.

G13

Rudolf

13.04.20 63m Because of my big hobby,

hunting , I know our forest with

its incredible ecosystem of small

and larger animals and plants

very well – I see its value and

interconnectedness, something

many people don’t understand

anymore today.

The problem I have with wind

power is that we have too big of a

focus on it and bet on it even if the

efficiency isn’t there like in the

Schwarzwald, instead of cutting a

piece from each cake of renewable

energies.

84

G14

Fritz

14.04.20 34m I live outside the village on a

little farm and work in the

forest. Working in and with

nature is something I value a

lot, although time pressure,

always having to look at the

clock and following a schedule

stresses me makes me enjoy

nature less.

I feel like when it comes to energy

production, I can only choose

between the lesser of two evils,

between putting a lot of technology

in nature and emitting emissions or

nuclear power with its high risk

and waste. I also have a feeling

that money plays a large role in

wind power.

G15

Kerstin

15.04.20 32m I grew up on a farm and still

run it now with my husband in

the 16th generation. I notice a

lot of changes in our nature

which worries me as lot as it

also affects our farm and forest

tremendously.

I think that the concern about

optics will disappear because we

will simply get used to it and, given

they proof to be efficient, accept

them as a symbol of helping nature

in the long run.

Interview Location 2: Kinderdijk, Netherlands

N1

Riekje

21.3.20 78m Years ago I found a job as a

guide of Kinderdijk, and later

as a miller. I love my job

because I have always wanted

to move to nature. I have never

been a city person - I actually

try to avoid the city.

I think the problem is in our

behavior, we first have to adapt

and change that. Very different

ideas about what we need, because

of course we don't need a lot of

things at all, and then you can

make due with windmills and solar

power, of course I don't think there

is much wrong with that.

N2

Marleen

1.4.20 51m I moved to Kinderdijk a few

years ago, and now teach at a

elementary school overlooking

the mills. I love to go hiking off

the beaten track, unfortunately

due to my job and our farm I

have to give that up.

It is good to have wind turbines or

other clean energy. But if you see a

picture with a lot of windmills

together, or of those solar panels

in meadows, I find that very ugly.

The old mills on the other hand, I

think they are very nice! It gives a

beautiful picture.

N3

Maxim

1.4.20 65m I am a miller and landscape

architect, so Kinderdijk is very

close to my heart. I love to

design buildings made from

natural materials, preferably

from the area. That is why these

windmills fit so well in the

landscape.

In some landscapes I find wind

turbines disturbing, in others, such

as a rugged, open coastline, I find

them actually quite fitting. Perhaps

in a few years from now, we'll see

these structures as valuable

memory, a memory of an uncertain

time that we have overcome.

85

N4

Susanna

2.4.20 46m I am in my twenties.

Occasionally, I am a bit

ashamed of my generation and

the way treat nature, although

… we have also started to

become a bit more conscious. I

hope that we can keep some

nature untouched, so that we all

have a chance to retreat.

I typically do not like modern,

sleek, industrial buildings, but

prefer older characteristic

structures such as the windmills.

However, not everything has to be

beautiful. I do not want to die

within ten years as a result of our

wish to look at a beautiful

landscape.

N5

Herman

23.4.20 69m I hope that over time we will

move more and more in the

direction of nature. And less

towards the technology side.

For now, we should work

towards developing techniques

inspired by, and building with

nature.

The most beautiful step you can

take is to not fight against nature,

but to work with nature. Ideally

wind turbines would be made from

local, circular products, like the

old windmills… Anyhow, I

indirectly own part of wind

turbine, through my energy

provider which I am very happy

about ... although my position

might be a little different if it were

closer to my home.

N6

Jan

3.4.20 51m I am very much into

technological developments,

although … if they would build

wind turbines in the area’s I

visit on holiday or for leisure …

there is no chance I’ll go there

anymore.

The polder, the wind mills, I don't

perceive them as technology. They

depict the Netherlands in the

seventeenth century, it’s almost

like a museum. Wind turbines on

the other hand, I would avoid a

natural landscape that includes

turbines at all cost...

N7

Remco

4.4.20 56m Nature is very special to me. It

can make me feel overwhelmed,

emotional, nostalgic sometimes.

My biggest wish is to live in an

old, characteristic, imperfect

house someday. The house I live

in now … is practical … not a

real home.

Those wind turbines… On the one

hand, I get it. On the other hand I

think they're a horror. You learn to

deal with them, but it's real

horizon pollution, absolutely.

Nature has to be nature, a wind

farm, or anything else industrial,

may exist too, but don't put it in a

nature reserve or close to my

home.

86

N8

Margriet

5.4.20 30m I am very much into older

buildings. Industry? That

always looks awful.

Every now and then I think wind

turbines actually look quite nice in

a natural landscape. This is also

related to the fact that they are

there 'for the greater good', an oil

refinery would always be horrible

in a landscape.

N9

Lenneke

6.4.20 34m Nature provides me peace and

quiet. It forces me to slow down

and seek the silence. Sometimes

it gives me a feeling of strength,

a positive feeling.

An old-fashioned windmill fits my

picture of nature, to me they

actually belong to the landscape.

The newly placed things such as

wind turbines don't fit in that

picture. That's something your

brain … it is programmed in my

head; this should be there, and this

should not.

N10

Wouter

7.4.20 68m I use and handle old

technologies, modern ones not

so much. I see a certain

danger… We need to be careful

with who gets their hands on

specific technologies.

They're monstrosities. Anonymous

things. They don't involve anyone.

I always told the listeners during

my tours: these are mills, it takes

millers. Those other things we call

wind turbines, they're not mills.

They're devices.

N11

Corinne

7.4.20 43m I love to go cycling in nature.

The best part is to see those

villages with an old church

tower, that just makes your

heart melt right?!

I am fine with wind power

development. It may be a

horrendous sight, but it's better

than all those power stations. You

can't close your eyes to

technological development.

N12

Sanne

7.4.20 35m Technology brings me a lot of

things, in my job, my personal

life. But WOW, we are spoiled,

aren’t we?! We can’t do a day

without!

In my head old windmills fit better

in nature than wind turbines.

We've known them for a long time.

Wind turbines are those colossal

monsters. And they look awful.

They have nothing cute to them.

But they do have a function, in the

end I'm glad that they exist.

87

N13

Gerda

8.4.20 20m I am in my seventies, and every

now and then I long for the

past. Nowadays, my grandkids,

and everyone young in a

restaurant are using their

phones all the time… Why?!

Well, I'm not so worried about

seeing technology in nature.

There's nothing you can do about

it. I don't really care, I'll just cycle

to an uncorrupted part.

N14

Maarten

8.4.20 46m I am very much a fan of old

things. I like a landscape better

when there is an old, run-down

wall or farm shed somewhere.

But it absolutely can‘t be new!

My job used to be to figure out how

to promote wind power as quickly

as possible. Nowadays, I look at

the spatial integration into the

landscape. A nice change of

perspective, but now it's much

more about integral considerations

in my current work.

N15

Klaas

8.4.20 62m

I think it is very very important

to treat your land and animals

right, as we are stewards of

nature. That is how God meant

it to be. That is why I am an

organic farmer. If you’d ask my

cows about me, they’d say I

treat them well.

I'm working to set up a few wind

turbines. I am sure that in the past

people had the same negative

opinions about the old mills too,

and now we are super happy with

them! If you'd want to protest

against wind turbines, there's

plenty more technology you should

protest against.

N16

Nel

14.4.20 67m Sometimes when I am in the

polder, on an early Sunday

morning and look around … it

is such a supernatural feeling!

Those high, enormous windmills…

I don't really have a problem with

them. Let's just let them do their

jobs. It's the best alternative. It

sure is horizon pollution, but we'll

just have to get used to it.

N17

Mila

14.4.20 33m I truly recognized how

connected I actually am to

Kinderdijk, was when I showed

my colleagues around and they

were absolutely stunned. I am

lucky right?

Those wind turbines, that's ugly

stuff, isn't it? The old mills really

belong in the area, they came here

with a purpose; to keep us dry.

Turbines don't belong here. They

pollute the view. It's fine that

they're building them, but build

them somewhere where they don't

bother people.

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Appendix D: Selection of Quotes

1. Background of Romanticism

1.1. Uncertainty & Change

1.1.1. Complexity of the

World

“But yeah, I think it's important that we think about the fact that

there needs to be a certain balance, even though mankind is

growing. We have to be aware of what we do with nature.” (N4)

“But there are certainly disadvantages to it, to the technological

greed. I heard that we have become very dependent, for our iPhones

and other technology, we have become very dependent on China

and other low-wage countries.” (N6)

“Eventually we will destroy ourselves again when there are too

many people. Imagine you have an economic crisis, poverty, there

will be war again, people will be slaughtered again.” (N7)

1.1.2. Change of Lifes "We were a lot in nature, in good and bad weather. Today,

everything is different. Let alone, our need for electricity, [...]"

(G8)

"I have to say we travelled very naively but had a very good time,

unthinkable today without mobile-phone connection or any contact

to home who had no idea where we were. That was very different

back then." (G10)

"What I did as a child, playing alone in the forest, it’s something

most mothers nowadays would start to be panicked about, that’s

unthinkable. But back then, no one asked about it.” (G10)

1.1.3. Visible Changes in

Nature

"Back then we had a lot of mountain cocks but nowadays it’s very

rare to see one. In my youth, when you went into the forest in the

morning it was normal to see or hear a mountain cock." (G8)

"And I view there is a strong disconnection because we have made

use of nature so much. The relationship of humans to nature is

often characterized by the image of us being on top, dominating

nature. But more and more, we are shown that we in fact cannot

control nature when we experience nature catastrophes or storms

more. For years we have thought that we can just use what we

want because we’re on top of the pyramid. For example the

straightening of rivers. I still remember in Singen as a child the

Aach was still natural with bends and curves. Later it was

straightened and as a consequence flooding happened. It seems

like nature said “I had my natural riverbed, you changed it and

that’s why flooding happens”." (G6)

"It is very important, specifically the last view years this became

more important for me personally. I started to inform myself more

about it. One sees the changes and negative developments in the

world more and more, it is dramatic. I think of the fires in Australia

this year. It’s crazy for me to think that I have been there but that

so much is destroyed there now. These are things that made the

topic more important to me. I think one should pro-actively do

something against that but often that’s easier said than done. [...] I

find it highly concerning how our generation takes advantage of the

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planet and that’s why I think the protection of nature is extremely

important." (G11)

"And what I noticed the last few years is that we don’t have enough

water anymore. That’s a problem for example for small birds who

would drink from small trickles of water. There used to be so much

water, coming down the hills. Another problem I see is that we build

more and more roads also for the commercial cutting of trees.

That’s also a very negative example of how we use nature, because

we destroy so much with this. [...] I worry about that a lot." (G13)

"What I also notice around us is the big draught there is in the

forests and also the bark beetles that attacks the forest because of

that. Also, we have more frequent storms. [...] Of course, there are

always changes. To a certain extent that is also okay. But I feel like

now, it goes very fast and I think a lot about the future." (G15)

“Or, you have to assume the worst, and something like corona, but

related to global warming, happens every year and we all die in the

end, because it is so hot. […] Well, if you see it that way, and um,

yes, maybe it's also the future, that more and more viruses like this

are spreading. Eventually a whole part of the world population may

be exterminated […].” (N4)

1.2. Negative Effects of Humans on Nature

1.2.1. General Negative

Human Impact

"It is very clear that we take a lot from nature, [...]" (G1)

"Of course, humans influence nature negatively..." (G3)

“What horrible things we human do to our environment, you

wouldn’t believe it. We are worse than predators." (G13)

“That’s also a very negative example of how we use nature, because

we destroy so much with this. [...] I worry about that a lot." (G13)

“...would it be worth it if we fucked up the whole nature? Maybe

I'm ashamed of my generation [20-25].” (N4)

“But man is also a threat to nature.” (N6)

“I'm also very aware that we are destroying nature.” (N7)

“You just really notice that people visit the nature, and that it can

get disturbed by that. [...]. I think we're an enemy of nature in a

way.” (N17)

1.2.2. Human Domination

and Arrogance

“And greenhouses and uhm economic things are chosen above

nature, they are valued higher, the economic interest and the human

interest. Above nature. And therein you see that it is out of

balance.” (N8)

“People think they can do whatever they want: be loud, also ski off

the designated areas. They don’t have a connection to nature and

their surroundings. [...] What horrible things we human do to our

environment, you wouldn’t believe it. We are worse than

predators." (G13)

“I think we do the same for our children, we're as much a part of

nature as a heron. We're one of the creatures walking around on

earth only we have far too much power. Everything is subordinated

to us.” (N10)

“We humans think we have a right to everything, and we think we

all know better.” (N2)

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1.2.3. Bad Consumption

Habits

“I think that the problem lies just in our behavior, and that we first

have to adapt and change that, and indeed have to consume less

and come up with other products.” (N1)

But I do think it's a silly idea that everyone flies all over the world

for fun, for holidays and so on. From to Nepal and to Thailand and

everywhere else, I think that is really, really bad and it is very weird

actually. Let's go cycling to the Ardennes or something…” (N1)

"Yes there are people who always need the latest thing. [...] We for

sure have outdated machines, but as long as they work, they work.

That’s also a part of sustainability. [...] But generally, one not

always thinks about everything as much. The question if it’s needed

doesn’t arise. A lot is habit and a lot one just continues to use… [...]

a lot of what we consume we don't even need." (G1)

"Often we are stuck in a rod, in which it is not easy to proactively

work against. Sometimes one doesn’t even realize how bad our

consumption habits are and that we could actually move

something." (G11)

"What I think of spontaneously is the habit of our society to throw

things away [Wegwerfgesellschaft]. I find it incredible how many

products are thrown away." (G4)

"And what is horrible is the amount of plastic and that our plastic

is delivered to Africa and China and pollutes the oceans. Something

is going horribly wrong…" (G7)

“I think that the problem lies just in our behavior, and that we first

have to adapt and change that, and indeed have to consume less

and come up with other products.” (N1)

“But I do think it's a silly idea that everyone flies all over the world

for fun, for holidays and so on. From to Nepal and to Thailand and

everywhere else, I think that is really, really bad and it is very weird

actually. Let's go cycling to the Ardennes or something…” (N1)

1.2.4. Contradiction: Urge

to Change Consumption

“Well, I guess we're playing catch up, constantly coming up with

technology to keep living the way we're living now. And I think that

this has to change, so I think we have to change…” (N1)

“We should try to drive less cars, fly less. I don't think it should be

more.” (N16)

"It is very important, specifically the last view years this became

more important for me personally. I started to inform myself more

about it. One sees the changes and negative developments in the

world more and more, it is dramatic." (G11)

“That we're going to have to deal with drought. We even have to be

careful with drinking water. Those are things that make the

problems seem closer and closer to us. People are becoming more

and more aware of it. That creates awareness ‘hey guys, what are

we actually doing?!’” (N7)

“I think nature is something very special that we are not treating

well right now and that's something I may not have been aware of

in recent years.” (N16)

1.3. Estrangement from Nature

1.3.1. Physical Distance &

Little Knowledge

“As an example: We also have guests on our farm and many only

want to have nice weather. They don’t think about the importance

of rain and what happens when it’s dry for a long time. To them,

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it’s only nice to have good weather. But that nature needs the rain,

they don’t even know. Because they are not directly affected, they

are not aware of the consequences. Many don’t care about where

the things they consume come from." (G15)

"I believe that it is difficult for people living in a city [to be still part

of nature]." (G15)

“Well, I can see that, and I think it's a difference if you live in the

city or in a village. You sometimes see in the city that people have

no knowledge of certain animals, or of certain areas. And you also

just see that um ... people know so little about nature, and I also

think that some people don't know that um nature, that you have to

be careful with that.” (N17)

"Due to my job in tourism, I visited many fairs in Hamburg for

example. I realized that people there simply don’t know this. When

I then describe this: we have lakes, we have forests where you can

walk without meeting anyone, there are many different hiking trails,

also long-distance ones, there are gorges, one can do mountain

biking – you can do everything here." (G6)

"A problem I view is that so many people don’t know what is around

them anymore. People living in a city don’t know the animals or the

plants. That’s sad." (G13)

1.3.2. Estrangement

Compared to Past

"... we are definitively further away from it than two or three

hundred years ago. A lot of basic things have changed since then,

there was a big conversion of everything. Sometimes, we might be

too far away from nature" (G11)

“People don't have to look outside at the sky. The miller used to

know everything about nature because he had to. There was also

much more respect, the farmer was much closer to it. Man is getting

further and further away from nature and that has an effect on

nature.” (N10)

2. Technology

2.1. Technophilia

2.1.1. Dependency "One always needs some sort of technical equipment. One senses it

extremely what it means when there is no electricity. Then one

senses how dependent we are on technical equipment." (G1)

"In those situations [power outage] one realizes how dependent we

became on electricity. [...] For example, one cannot even pay the

bills, because I changed everything to online banking or even in

agriculture, I need the internet to register a calf that is born." (G5)

"But we are so helpless without electricity. It’s the same with the

internet, it’s is deeply rooted in us nowadays." (G11)

"Yes, definitely! We are absolutely dependent [on electricity]. Name

me something that works without electricity?! There’s almost

nothing that works without it." (G14)

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“But, yeah. I also notice that as I get older I'm more and more

aware of the fact that I should be happy to have gas and light in my

house. […]. So in that sense I am happy with technology, because

it seems quite difficult to do without it.” (N1)

“Suppose you didn't have this dependency then you would actually

go back to a very basic way of life in which we live in nature and

nothing else. I think it has brought us much further as a society. It

does make us dependent in a certain way.” (N3)

“You need traffic lights or it would be chaos at an intersection! And

horses in the streets, it used to be possible but not anymore. There

are many advantages!” (N15)

2.1.2. High Usage "Of course, technical devices are a big part of my private and

professional life." (G3)

"But we also lose ourselves in this sometimes. Thinking of how

much time we spend in front of our screens, computers and

smartphones and TV in the evening – the most amount of my time I

spend with that. Especially if you deal with that also for work, it’s

quite extreme." (G11)

“[What role does technology play in your life?] Zero. If my

computer does something I don't know about, I don't know

anything about it. […]. It's a wonderful thing. [...]. This isn't

really my thing. Yeah, sure. I think that's great tools [TV and

phones], too. […]. It has a lot of positive effects on our lives. It's

not a condition of life, but it's something that makes it a lot more

fun. It's not something I do all day but you can look things up so

quickly. That's very nice in this day and age. I certainly use it.”

(N16)

2.1.3. Perceiving

Advantages

2.1.3.1. Now

"On the other side, these technical developments made our lives so

much easier. We don’t necessarily need a camera anymore, no

navigation system, it’s all in one on the phone. As long as it’s

charged, one has everything and so many possibilities with the

smartphone.” (G4)

"But the advantages are so big, privately as well as at work, I

wouldn’t want to miss it [technology].” (G11)

“I don't care that much for technology. […]. Look, it all has to be

easy, so that I don't get too frustrated by a process, I often want to

solve things with a technological solution. But I don't like the

luxury or the gadgets. Although I also have an iPhone 10, and I

also have the latest AirPods. [...]. Well, I'm very much into

technological developments. I certainly don't want to stop these or

anything. But it has to be um ... it has to be serving somehow,

that's important to me. [...]. So if it's better for mankind, and better

for the environment, then I applaud it wholeheartedly. Then it

can't be crazy enough as far as I'm concerned. But if it's used for

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nonsense, as something prestigious, such as trips to the moon, I

think that's not okay.” (N6)

2.1.3.2. We Owe Technology (past)

“Yeah, that's right, I think we're all giving too little credit to those

mills, because we owe them a lot, a lot more than we realize. And

they're actually simple machines.” (N1)

“Yeah I think it's made us a lot stronger because you can see there

are a lot more and bigger structures. Suppose you didn't have this

dependency then you would actually go back to a very basic way

of life in which we live in nature and nothing else. I think it has

brought us much further as a society.” (N3)

“Simplicity, what my mother might have meant, I appreciate that

in a way. Um, I mean, conscious living, let me put it that way.

[…]. But it shouldn’t have to be so simple that you actually close

your eyes to all the good that technology gives us. But it does have

to be serving in a way.” (N6)

2.1.3.3. Future Expectations

“Sure, wind turbines, electric cars, that technology is only good.

Those coal-fired power stations are disastrous. I'm realistic, you

don't change that overnight. The technology has to help make it

the least polluting.” (N16)

3.1.4. Fascination "I’ve been talking about buying a drone for two or three years

now. I am very interested in that.” (G5)

“I just wonder what that will look like in a couple of years, when

we are even more advanced in the field of technology, and we

might even be able to do more than we already can.” (N4)

2.2. Technophobia

2.2.1. Scepticism "[...] for me the interconnectedness would be enough now, one

does not need to have it all." (G1)

"But I don’t need to have the newest smartphone. Quite the

opposite – sometimes the new things are exhausting for me."

(G10)

"I enjoy not using these machines [farm machines] once in a

while." (G15)

“Um, yeah, because I you consider phones, you pick them up

thirty times a day. It's very annoying. It's also always a discussion

between me and my children about how often they use their

phones. For us as a family, but also for mankind as a whole. I

work a lot with young people, their lives mainly take place

through social media. I certainly see a downside to that.” (N9)

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“I don't think we can escape that [technology]. That's just ... I

can't even compare it to the old days, it's increased so much. I

sometimes think we've gone overboard, you know. […]. And, I

have to say, now that we're talking about public transport, what

also bothers me is that you hardly see anybody without a phone in

your hand. They don't see what's going on around them, and I hate

to see that. Yeah, I don't think people pay that much attention to

each other anymore.” (N11)

“And if you ever sit in a restaurant and everyone sits at dinner

with an iPhone in front of them, I don't like that. […].Yeah, well,

especially the younger generation [depends on technology]. When

I talk about something, they are already searching on their iPad

or iPhone, nobody can do without it anymore. (N13)

2.2.2. Shame & Regret "I have a smartphone I unfortunately use way too much. I am

definitely dependent on that. [...] I am to a certain degree

dependent on technical devices to live my life like I do.” (G12)

“But things like using the smartphone or the internet, we could all

do that a little less. We do not need to be available all the time.

Everyone could do a little bit for that. Using these devices also

needs time: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening…"

(G15)

“I don't think we can escape that [technology]. That's just ... I

can't even compare it to the old days, it's increased so much. I

sometimes think we've gone overboard, you know. […]. And, I

have to say, now that we're talking about public transport, what

also bothers me is that you hardly see anybody without a phone in

your hand. They don't see what's going on around them, and I hate

to see that. Yeah, I don't think people pay that much attention to

each other anymore.” (N11)

2.2.3. Fear “Well, sometimes I think ... um at some point there will be

something very disastrous for the world. […]. Um ... you know on

the one hand I think the developments are very good, on the other

hand I think ... we can do more and more through technology, but

because of that we also have to do more and more, and I think that

makes us all much more agitated. Because everything can be

faster, everything can be better. We have to perform more in a

shorter time. I think that people can get burn-out in a very short

period of time because of that.” (N2)

“On the one hand I'm curious what that will be like, on the other

hand I think it's a bit scary or something. Since I have the idea,

we're gonna discover so many things ... and learn so many things

about this life ... should we even want that?” (N4)

“Partly there is a bad side to that, because if, worst-case scenario

that something really happens, that technology is no longer

available, or that there is something wrong with the internet, I

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would not know how I could save myself completely. I can’t think

of anything I do for which I don’t use technology.” (N8)

“I do think it's a problem that we're dependent, it's something

frightening. […].Disasters can happen because we are all so

dependent on technology. We are a bit vulnerable.” (N16)

“You're a bit more dependent on it, and a bit more vulnerable. If it

all works out well, it's very nice, but if there's a problem, it's a bit

less nice.” (N17)

2.2.4. Against Uniformity,

Orderliness

2.2.4.1. Materials and Planning

"when one looks at bigger factories with many concrete walls, that

is sometimes bothersome." (G3)

"I would say a landscape with few changes to it. Not necessarily

concrete buildings. [...] Our guests come here because of it,

because we live more beautifully than they do in their cities, in

their concrete buildings. " (G9)

"I also wouldn’t like to see concrete buildings or higher

buildings." (G15)

“For example, I think a bench belongs more to nature, because

people can just enjoy nature and sit there for a while. But a really

big, ugly thing, I would regret that.” (N2)

“When we go back to building with nature, we say: the beautiful

step you can make is not fighting against nature, as happens with

concrete. It's, so to speak, the same as putting up a wall to stop the

water. […]. Everybody thought they were safe behind that wall.

It's much smarter to be adaptive and give nature more space.”

(N5)

“I think it's mainly because - I think the building style from the

nineties - industrial construction is often uglier. If you go to a lot

older, ehm old buildings from 1800 like in Delft and Amsterdam, I

think it's also a beautiful landscape. But it does differ a bit in

architectural style and, erm, also in industry, because industry is

always a bit uglier.” (N8)

2.2.4.2. Society

“I also notice that I speak to people who have started to do this

[being involved with the mills in this area] in order to relax. For

example, they had been doctors and there was too much

administrative pressure on the job, and that's why people start

looking for freedom.” (N3)

2.2.5. Aversion from Cities "I don't like to spend time in a city either.” (G1)

"I couldn't live in a city." (G9)

"But I couldn’t imagine living in a city." (G12)

"I am definitely not a city-person. Nature is important to me,

that’s where I feel comfortable.” (G15)

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“I've just never been much of a city person. I've never liked it that

much.” (N1)

“I don't long for the city.” (N11)

“Just like I live here in the country and don't want to feel at home

in the city. That's a completely different culture for me, almost a

world of change if you've always walked outside, in this area.”

(N15)

3. Far Away & Long Ago

3.1. Longing for Past

3.1.1. Nostalgia, “Good Old

Times”

"[We wanted our children to grow up close to nature and the

forest] for them to experience a bit of nature, like we did as

children." (G7)

"Back then we had a lot of mountain cocks but nowadays it’s very

rare to see one. In my youth, when you went into the forest in the

morning it was normal to see or hear a mountain cock.” (G8)

"I still remember how, at the age of 15 or 16, I accompanied my

father. We went to work at a reasonable time, not at ten but maybe

at seven, half past eight in summer and we didn’t return before

five in the afternoon. But we had at least a break of an hour for

lunch and another half an hour for a snack. And we sat outside,

leaned against a tree, really enjoying our food. That’s not

happening today anymore. We barely have half an hour of lunch

break.” (G14)

“Let's go back to the 50's and 60's where you didn't have those

things and where we were just as happy and maybe even more

happy. Then we knew much less about the misery of the world.

[…].” (N16)

3.1.2. Valuing Former

Generations’ Work

“For me it is very important that our family has been taking care

of the forest for several generations. Because of that its value goes

far beyond the material one. We live from what generations before

me took care of, that makes it very valuable.” (G12)

“Many say they don’t care. But I care. This is our home, this was

shaped for centuries by our ancestors who built this up as a

cultural landscape.” (G13)

“They used to get that windmill up by hand. The churches and

cathedrals that are very beautiful in North Brabant. Those

churches were built and then the top ridge and pole had to finish

in exactly the right spot. From that point of view I just think it's

very beautiful because I admire the manual labor. I admire the

generations before us.” (N15)

3.1.3. Fascination for Past "No, they [older buildings that belong to the cultural landscape]

wouldn’t bother me, not at all. I find that rather exciting. I am

interested in the people’s history who lived there, how they

previously lived. I like to go to a museum [Vogtsbauernhöfe] that

exhibits how people lived on farms before the industrialization. I

97

find it nice to see how they used to live. It’s important to

remember that." (G15)

“I like seeing old things.” (N11)

“And um ... for me, the moment I see old traces of old buildings,

when there is a crumbling wall somewhere, my appreciation

increases rather than decreases. I think that's pretty authentic or

something. So a half collapsed farmer's shed is actually more

beautiful than when there is nothing there.” (N14)

3.1.4. Longing for

Simplicity

"And because of [what nature gives] one needs to take care of

what one does and also to back a little." (G1)

"No, I could imagine indeed to renounce on a lot of things. As I

said, going away camping, one renounces also on a lot of things

automatically. And I cannot imagine ever really missing some of

those things." (G4)

“We have to ask us constantly if we really need this or that? For

example we don’t have a dryer or a microwave – we don’t need

that. We should renounce on some things we actually don’t need.

It works without them. The important thing is positive thinking and

not to let us be raped by consumption. Everyone has to change a

little bit…” (G13)

“On the one side, it was nicer than nowadays. They had a slower,

cozier life, their lives were quieter.” (G15)

“Can't we just go back to a simpler life? I happened to read a

book the other day by ... um ... the Dalai Lama and that bishop

from Africa, Desmond Tutu. And they also said the purpose of life

is just to be happy. And becoming happy is what you get by

appreciating what you have now. Do we have to constantly search

for this and that? When I look at how often I use my phone ... my

screen time per week on average is six hours a day. Yeah, I think

that's quite a lot. Why is that? I get that that's more during these

times... But yeah, why can't I just go to the supermarket without a

phone?” (N4)

“Why do we have to eat chicory all year around, or eat spinach

all year? We used to eat spinach in the summer and chicory in the

winter, well that's a very simple example of course. Nowadays you

can get everything all year round, why do we need that?” (N13)

Enjoying having no power for a while

"The first week or two it [power outage] is kind of relaxed,

because for once one doesn’t have a smartphone, a computer, ..."

(G5)

"Yes, a couple of weeks back during the storm, we didn’t have

power for a few hours in the evenings. It was also kind of nice, we

lit an open fire and could enjoy not being able to do anything and

just relax.” (G11)

3.1.5. Contradiction to

Longing for Past

3.1.5.1. Seeing Past as Tough

“On the other side, their lives were also harder. The cold and long

winters we used to have, were for sure not as comfortable. Things

like that were for sure also difficult. It was not easy all the time.

There is both.” (G15)

“I wouldn’t want to live like the people a hundred years ago in

their old Black Forest houses. It looks romantic from the outside

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but it was a very hard life with little comfort. Compared to that,

we lead a very happy life but that’s at the expense of nature.”

(G10)

"You know, I grew up in times when we didn’t lead such a

comfortable life. We didn’t get everything we wanted." (G13)

"Back then, we did all the work on the farm by hand. Nowadays,

everything is done with machines. As a child on farm I had to

work all the time, I almost did not have any free-time." (G13)

“Because a hundred, three hundred years ago, people thought

Kinderdijk and the windmills were anything but romantic, because

it was a hard life, it was a very hard life.” (N1)

“It was a lot of hard work in the rainy season, days and nights in

a row. To keep the polders dry. And you wouldn’t have any free

days. Even on Sundays you had to grind on.” (N1)

3.1.5.2. Not Wanting to Give Up Living Standard

“That other alternative [2] might be some kind of Utopia, but it

might not work. […]. I don't think I could do that myself. I think

that's a nice picture, but I don't think it's very feasible in this day

and age. Um, because I'm too dependent, too attached to

materialism and technology.” (N8)

"We would need to go back to nature and eliminate all cars and

electricity but then we’d be in the stone age." (G7)

“What I could not renounce from, actually not want to (because

we could do a lot if we wanted) is the car." (G1)

3.1.5.3. Realism

"I could not imagine a way back [usage of technology] I have to

say clearly. This development cannot be turned backwards.[...]

But the way back, I consider impossible." (G1)

"No, thinking about smartphones etc. no that [going back with

technological development] would not be possible. In general, the

digitalization would make that impossible. The entire

connectedness of the world would make it impossible to do without

phones or the internet. Especially, if one knew how it could be.

Thinking for example about electrical mixers, no one would think

of doing it by hand with a whisk because one knows that with an

electrical one it’s easier. That’s the same everywhere, especially if

one knows how it is to have these things." (G3)

"But I don’t think the electrical use and the increasing

interconnectedness of the world, could be stopped." (G4)

"I think reducing the demand of energy, the hunger for it and to

renounce on things, doesn’t work anymore." (G11)

3.2. Uncorrupted, Unspoilt Nature

3.2.1. Away from

Civilization

"I would be bothered by many other people, who’d also be there

with their parking cars. [...] Then parking spots and other

infrastructure was built for the summer. That is something that

would bother me. It is also disruptive factor if there is an industrial

area close by. That doesn’t go together for me: recovery and

industry." (G6)

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"[What would destroy a beautiful landscape are] many people.

There are simply too many people. Especially at the beaches during

the summer vacation, there are so many people. That bothers me

and keeps me from going back to these places." (G7)

“Um ... I think [I like to go into nature for] just taking a leisurely

stroll around, and just having a few less people around you

compared to the city.” (N8)

“I prefer to meet as few people as possible. As few people,

buildings, and other things that don't belong in nature as possible.

They are a bit disturbing.” (N9)

“Um ... I think [I like to go into nature for] just taking a leisurely

stroll around, and just having a few less people around you

compared to the city.” (N8)

3.2.2. No Human Artifacts

in Nature

"[Something that would influence a beautiful landscape negatively

is to see] nuclear power plants or industry that sends out some sort

of smoke. [...] Otherwise, I often find power lines quite annoying

and of course also houses. Sometimes there are houses that destroy

the image of the landscape and are disturbing." (G3)

"[...] when I am spending time in nature, I leave all the devices at

home. Because then it bothers me in this natural surrounding. I am

more connected to nature without it. [...] Personally, I like to

separate it [nature and technology]." (G6)

"I would never take my smartphone with me, I have quietness and

fresh air." (G13)

"It [beautiful landscape] would need to be a natural landscape, I’m

not interested to view industry or exhaust gases of any kind. How

one imagines a picture-perfect view… I would not want anything

artificial, human-made in view. (G11)

"[A beautiful landscape for me are] Mountains, forest, unspoilt

landscape… although what means unspoilt: I would say a

landscape with few changes to it. Not necessarily concrete

buildings. How it looks here [Black Forest] is actually also what I

would have in mind.” (G9)

"I find it nice if a view is natural, without houses or power lines and

such things." (G10)

“Um ... ... I liked that on the Veluwe for example, you could walk

endlessly without hearing the road, without hearing cars. I could

enjoy that, that you really felt like you were in nature. And um ...

you don't have that in many places in the Netherlands, that you don't

hear cars at all. For me that's nature.” (N2)

“I studied in Australia for a while and then I went to New Zealand

to backpack. We thought that we're going to do cool hikes through

nature, but that's all man-made too. Every step you take, there’s a

sign that says that something is dangerous. That takes a bit of the

fun out of it, or something like that. It is a lot less adventurous.”

(N4)

“That ruins it a bit, you've got the pretty picture in front of you and

suddenly there's something industrial or technological. I think a

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good example of that, I used to live close to the Maasvlakte, there's

such a beautiful stretch of beach where it's just empty. And then

look to the left and there's a sick industrial estate. That does spoil

the beautiful, quiet picture of the sea and the beach.” (N8)

Acceptance of Human Artefacts in City

" I also wouldn’t like to see concrete buildings or higher

buildings. In the city that’s okay but here I don’t like that much.

Also, a factory wouldn’t fit here. But if all of this is located

centrally, I find it okay.” (G15)

“Yeah, well, everything that's industrial I think [could ruin that

natural landscape] ... in the city it sometimes can be very nice,

industrial. I can also like an oil refinery, if it's in an area you

expect it to be in. Then you think 'wow, it's such a complicated

structure' then you even have respect for that, but yes, I'd rather

have it all together in one place, and not scattered.” (N7)

“Sometimes I also like to be in cities and there human-made

things don’t bother me of course.” (G11)

“But of course, if you think of a skyline in New York or anywhere

it’s also a nice landscape…” (G5)

3.2.3. Wilderness “Yeah, I really like the rough and the inhospitable.” (N6)

“The same goes for thunderstorms, I love thunderstorms, I really

enjoy them, but you know how dangerous they can be. I was also

almost hit by lightning once, and I just flew almost two meters

through the air, because of the impact. Then you also realize that it

can be very dangerous.” (N7)

“Yes, that brings me some peace and quiet, and I also find the

animals and plants very interesting.” (N17)

3.3. Denial of Unnaturalness

3.3.1. Looking for

Naturalness

“Although, I think the city is nature as well. In Rotterdam you

there’s an office that is called office city nature [bureau

stadsnatuur], there is also a lot of nature between the tiles in terms

of ferns.” (N10)

“There's nature there [in Amsterdam] too, for example the

Vondelpark.” (N16)

"[A beautiful landscape for me are] Mountains, forest, unspoilt

landscape… although what means unspoilt: I would say a

landscape with few changes to it. Not necessarily concrete

buildings. How it looks here [Black Forest] is actually also what I

would have in mind.” (G9)

"The quietness in the forest and the rustling of trees, the chirping of

birds - it is so beautiful in the forest here. We have such pretty paths

in the woods to take walks." (G2)

"Untouched nature is our asset in the tourist industry." (G9)

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3.3.2. Perceiving Old

Technology as Positive

“... ... no, because if I were to imagine Kinderdijk without

windmills, I would want to have them there. It's a piece of the

nature.” (N9)

“A windmill is of course a piece of old technique but also a very

natural one.” (N3)

“Lighthouses, for example, are beautiful even though they are

separate from the landscape. It is an element you appreciate. […].

I think we find a power pylon ugly and lighthouses not. I think this

is because lighthouses are also pretty old and are a landmark of

what they once did. This does the same thing as the windmills do, I

think.” (N3)

“The culture and tradition of those mills I find important. I don't

see them as technology either. In those days they were, of course,

technological gadgets in the sixteenth century. But now it's not

technology anymore, it might be technology to maintain those mills,

that costs a lot of money. But to me, it’s more like an open-air

museum. […].” (N6)

3.3.3. Contradiction: Being

Aware of Human Influence

“Um ... well, for me, I think in general, uh ... one likes unspoilt

countryside better than touched landscape. Um ... I just don't think

that civilians realize that the landscape we're looking at is that way

because there's been a lot of intervention.” (N14)

"...humans influence the landscape a lot. Nature is also not as

beautiful if it weren’t for humans. For example, when one thinks of

the clearing of forests for grazing of cows." (G3)

"There is a lot of nature, although that is a little exaggerated… [...]

I wanted to say that the Black Forest is in fact not a natural forest.

It was entirely cleared and built up again as a plantation in the 18th

century with pine trees, because they grow the fastest and the need

for wood was immense back then. So I am aware that it is not an

original, a true forest because it was planted by humans for

commercial purposes. That’s something you can tell…" (G10)

“In my opinion nature is also formed by humans, there are only

very few places in Germany that are really untouched by humans.

There is always a reason for fields or forests to look how they look.

[...] Protection of nature also means to continue altering things in

nature. Our nature looks the way it does because of humans

cultivating fields and forests." (G12)

“So when people no longer were hunters and gatherers, but went to

live on a mound, in a group with families, then we already started

to change the landscape, were already intervening in nature.” (N1)

3.4. Nature as a Sanctuary

3.4.1. Finding Peace,

Calmness, Optimism

"I like to go into the forest, [...], it is extremely good for me. Nature

gives me such peace and optimism." (G2)

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“Yeah, yeah, I love it. I just love it, and it gives peace. And the best

part is that you see those villages with a church tower and stuff in

the distance. Yeah. That's all you can wish for, isn't it?” (N11)

“But I do like nature, especially in the weekends, if you want some

peace and quiet and want to go for a nice walk of course. […]. I

really like to go out into nature at the weekend and just relax. Not

all those technologies like phones and TV's. [...] just empty our

head.” (N12)

“Yes, that brings me some peace and quiet, and I also find the

animals and plants very interesting.” (N17)

“It [nature] makes you feel wonderful, relaxed.” (N16)

"I like to spend a lot of time in the forest, that’s where I recover and

relax. I like to move there, go running, biking or just take a walk.

The forest does have a big quality of regeneration.” (G10)

“Well, it gives me some rest, relaxation. And just, erm ... just to get

away?” (N2)

3.4.2. Counterbalance to

Work and Stress

"[In nature] one can relax easily, get rid of stress… " (G1)

"Imagine having been in the office with many discussions or a

conflict and being kind of pissed of, you come to the animals on the

field. Ten cows come running towards you, being happy that you

come, next to them runs a small calf each. That’s the harmonious

ideal of the world [heile Welt] right in front of you. After half an

hour, I am completely relaxed.” (G5)

"[Spending time in nature] is a balance to my normal work. [...]

When I go to the forest to work, I can think about everything and

have some peace and quietness." (G9)

"I like to go running or take walks. Especially now in spring I like

to spend a lot of time outside. It is a counter-balance to my work.

After looking at a screen for ten hours, it is good for me to at least

see something different in the evening and move outside. [...] I am

actively searching for it because it relaxes me and is a

compensation for work.” (G11)

"For me that is a counterbalance to work where one is often tensed,

working on projects, sitting at the computer, being part of meetings.

I can very well think about work and its problems in nature, my best

ideas came to me when I was in nature. […] I think it’s the clear air

in nature that washes your brain and lets ideas spring." (G6)

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4. Emotional, Individual Subject

4.1. Sublime Nature

4.1.1. Glorification of

Landscapes and Natural

Phenomena

4.1.1.1. Mountains

"[M]ountains, lakes, green meadows [are a beautiful landscape

for me]." (G1)

"We can hike on the Feldberg [highest mountain], we can walk at

the Kirnbergsee, we can walk at the Titisee, we can go anywhere.

[...] Lakes and mountains are important for me." (G2)

"A beautiful landscape for me has many colours, with green

meadows and forests, but for me personally I find it pretty if there

is also water -lakes or the sea. Also, hilly landscapes are nice, for

example here in the Schwarzwald or at the Ligurian coast where

there are many beautiful mountains and foothills of the Alps. And

there, I started to appreciate and notice, how nice it is to have an

impressive view on the landscape. Because many areas are also

pretty, but flat landscapes are also a bit boring. [...] To be able to

look into the distance is what makes a landscape beautiful to me."

(G3)

"I feel even better in the mountains. My wife and I have always

been into hiking. I mean, I like the surroundings here but I

sometimes miss the really high mountains here." (G5)

"[A beautiful landscape:] the view of the Alps from here..." (G7)

“It could not be a flat landscape, there need to be mountains and

a lot of green, meaning meadows and green woods. Possibly also

a high mountain with its top covered in snow. Also I like a body of

water, like a lake or a river. That’s how I picture a beautiful

landscape.” (G12)

"A nice silhouette, outlines of something, mountains, forest,

meadows, sun. That’s just beautiful. Also the quietness." (G14)

"It gives a view on a valley and a lake. Often there is fog further

down, which I find pretty. Nice, lush meadows I want to see."

(G15)

“A couple of years ago, I drove from Bologna to the mountains,

and, um, at one point, I drove into the pass, into the mountains. At

some point I actually got emotional in the car. You see all those

mountain peaks in front of you, those passes, then you just think

'oooh wow!', it's not too busy on the road, the sun is shining. Then

you're really overwhelmed by nature, so to speak. Like with the

coronavirus, we're so vulnerable and so small compared to

nature. It reminds me very often of the power that once created it.

Once again, the nullity of yourself, that there have been forces like

this that have made this happen. That was of course millions of

years ago, but that these things came into being ... if you had lived

back then, and the earth began to move in such a way, that these

kinds of things arose, huh, here we shudder when there is a small

earthquake. Then the earth was a big eruption, with shifting plates

and so on ... then you realize that we're just very insignificant.”

(N7)

“When I get up in the morning, or go to bed in the evening and

look outside and I see the sun go down, and you see the cloudy

sky, that's really... It's a view like the mountains in Austria, when

you see those clouds. We live on the fourth floor, so you look out

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over the trees, at the sky. My husband takes pictures very often,

yes it's really beautiful.” (N13)

“Walking through Peru, that is very different. There you see

mountains, that's very overwhelming again. Then I think wow

what a beautiful world.” (N16)

4.1.1.2. Water

"A beautiful landscape for me has many colours, with green

meadows and forests, but for me personally I find it pretty if there

is also water -lakes or the sea. Also, hilly landscapes are nice, for

example here in the Schwarzwald or at the Ligurian coast where

there are many beautiful mountains and foothills of the Alps. And

there, I started to appreciate and notice, how nice it is to have an

impressive view on the landscape. Because many areas are also

pretty, but flat landscapes are also a bit boring. [...] To be able to

look into the distance is what makes a landscape beautiful to me."

(G3)

"We can hike on the Feldberg [highest mountain], we can walk at

the Kirnbergsee, we can walk at the Titisee, we can go anywhere.

[...] Lakes and mountains are important for me." (G2)

"What is important to me is to have water, [..]. Also flowing water,

like a river or small stream is very nice to sit. So perfect would be

if a stream flows into a lake, having an area to lie down on close

by in summer. Some trees should be there also, and in the

background definitely mountains. They don’t necessarily need to

be huge. If I’d then see a few water birds, this is a ideal world of

harmony for me. That is how I imagine the landscape I enjoy to

get some quietness." (G6)

“I like an open landscape very much, so you can look far. That

you can see a kind of hilly landscape, forests or water in the

distance.” (N3)

“I really enjoy skiing, you glide down the hill, I am very much

aware that we are destroying nature, and uhm … if you get caught

underneath an avalanche, or if you are participating in

watersports, you’re aware that you’re taking risks, you should not

underestimate the power of nature.” (N7)

“Actually, what I think is the most important difference is that you

have a lot of water here. And some nice boat trips.” (N12)

4.1.1.3. Green and Alive

"I am personally bothered if the landscape were not alive. If there

were burned down forests or withered fields or if any other form

of natural a catastrophe would be visible.” (G12)

"mountains, lakes, green meadows [are a beautiful landscape for

me]." (G1)

"A beautiful landscape for me has many colours, with green

meadows and forests, [...].” (G3)

“It could not be a flat landscape, there need to be mountains and

a lot of green, meaning meadows and green woods. Possibly also

a high mountain with its top covered in snow. Also I like a body of

water, like a lake or a river. That’s how I picture a beautiful

landscape.” (G12)

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"It gives a view on a valley and a lake. Often there is fog further

down, which I find pretty. Nice, lush meadows I want to see."

(G15)

"[Elements of a beautiful landscape are for me] beach, nature,

countless trees, […], many flowers." (G7)

“[...] but what is nature? If it’s green it’s more natural, at least I

think.” (N1)

“I think a green environment, whether it should necessarily be

nature according to my definition, I don't know, but a green

environment is important to me. I also cycle to Rotterdam every

day, to work, I have to admit it’s an electrical bike... I always

choose the route through erm ... through 'nature', so through the

bike paths that go through the green, and not the bike paths that

run along major roads.” (N6)

“So I guess this will stay green. That’s what attracts me.” (N11)

4.1.2. Being Struck with

Awe and Emotion

"I mean, a landscape itself is impressive because it was created

naturally. It doesn’t matter where that is, on which continent or

whether it is volcanoes, steppe, the ocean. The beautiful thing is

the nature. [...] For me, it is fascinating how mountains were

created. Thinking about how it looked millions of years back and

what nature created out of it…" (G5)

"I always found it fascinating to see how fauna and flora develops

and how I each time discover new things." (G6)

"What always fascinated me are trees. For natural medicine

[Naturheilkunde] one can use a lot from trees, in case of the fir its

needles and bark. For example the resin [Harz] of a fir helps

against a wart [Warze]. Also I am interested in blossoms that can

be used for tea. I like to use the situation in nature.” (G6)

"Otherwise we love the forest – the green, the air, that’s is simply

wonderful. [...] In summer you can find berries and mushrooms. In

winter, the snow is also pretty. [...] Plants are of course important

– from blackberries to different kinds of bushes. I am also

interested in flowers and we try to find out and learn what their

name is." (G7)

"I am fascinated by the animals in the forest.” (G8)

“Last week, in the middle of all the dark stuff of Corona I got a

determination card from someone about bees and bumblebees in

the garden of the butterfly foundation. I sat down in the garden

and every time I heard something I went to see all those animals.

Then you take a good look at them and they are actually just

miracles. I can be very happy about that.” (N10)

“I'd feel very poor [if I wouldn’t spend as much time in nature].”

(N15)

“Especially on Sunday morning […]. It's such a supernatural

feeling of ‘wow what a beautiful world the world is’. I'm also

curious to see what it looks like now, because of course nothing is

happening but you see those beautiful mills from 1700, you see

those birds, beautiful skies and then I think ‘what a beautiful

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world this is’. That gives me a lot of pleasure. Even when it

rains.” (N16)

“I experience that personally, nature can be overwhelming with

beauty. […].We have to be aware that we have something really

special here.” (N16)

4.2. Significance of Nature Beyond the Physical

4.2.1. Inner Contemplative

Process

"I like to go into the forest, [...], it is extremely good for me.

Nature gives me such peace and optimism." (G2)

"[Spending time outdoors] is good for my health, the fresh air, one

can clear his head. One has more new energy to continue working.

And also to relax and let go..." (G3)

"One can empty one’s mind. After a long day at the office and at

home also using the phone or computer, one lies in bed and

cannot sleep.” (G4)

"Imagine having been in the office with many discussions or a

conflict and being kind of pissed off, you come to the animals on

the field. Ten cows come running towards you, being happy that

you come, next to them runs a small calf each. That’s the

harmonious ideal of the world [heile Welt] right in front of you.

After half an hour, I am completely relaxed." (G5)

"I am a lot in nature because of the hunting. For me that is a

contemplative time to sit outside on a high seat, sometimes I see

something and often I have a book with me. It regenerates you,

you can calm down and relax, you possibly hear a bird singing. I

would never take my smartphone with me, I have quietness and

fresh air. The forest has such amazing smells. [...] So being in

fresh air, also to cut firewood, is a way to completely wind down.

Sometimes it’s just about sitting somewhere for an hour and

simply enjoying.” (G13)

“My husband also cuts firewood to relax. He has time for himself,

gets some fresh air and physical exercise.” (G7)

“Yes just to clear my head, and think about things, um, be thankful

that we have so much beautiful nature here in the Netherlands,

although it's pretty flat. Yeah, just a moment for myself or

something. Well, or at least, if you're going with someone else, just

come back to ... zen.” (N4)

“But for example abroad, if there are really large areas of forest

then you just feel a bit smaller.” (N8)

“Um ... yeah. As a matter of fact, yeah [I would like to spend more

time in nature]. Because it's quite soothing.” (N8)

“Just rest, just relax, have some calmness in your head.” (N12)

4.2.2. Inexplicable Fffects

of Nature

“And the children are sick less often. I think that's a sign.” (N1)

“People who are sick recover faster with a view on nature than

without.” (N10)

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“Relaxation, rest, well, it's good for your body, too.” (N13)

4.3. Individualism

4.3.1. Facilitating Personal

Growth

"The older I get, the more I get the feeling that I need these free

spaces [in nature] for me." (G1)

"My husband also cuts firewood to relax. He has time for himself,

gets some fresh air and physical exercise.” (G7)

“When I'm sailing, especially when I'm alone, I feel that

connection. Not when I have people around me, very often when

you're alone you experience that silence and that peace and that

connection.” (N7)

“Yeah, kind of like reaching Nirvana. Yeah, and it just starts with

body preservation, it just starts with food to keep your body intact.

And ultimately it's about satisfying your spiritual and spiritual

needs. And somewhere in that higher step there is also a pleasant

living environment, and also the ability to connect it to a

landscape.” (N14)

4.3.2. Freedom "But today we have the possibility to choose where we want to live

and how we live – previously that was not possible but now it is."

(G1)

"We can hike on the Feldberg [highest mountain], we can walk at

the Kirnbergsee, we can walk at the Titisee, we can go anywhere."

(G2)

“I lived in the city when I was a student. I noticed that when I

went running, for example, I liked walking in a park or on the

outskirts of town. I always noticed that when I drove out of town I

felt more free. I do think that if you grew up in the city you

experience this differently.” (N3)

“I think that's pretty much determined by where you grow up [he

grew up by the sea]. I like an open landscape very much, so you

can look far. That you can see a kind of hilly landscape, forests or

water in the distance. Especially the open structure. In the city I

miss that very much. A landscape gives me a feeling of freedom,

for example when you go cycling and you see a polder

landscape.” (N3)

:I've always been interested in nature myself, and I've also thought

about how nice it is to be a miller and to live on a windmill.

Because they're all in the countryside, of course, that's where you

live freely.” (N6)

4.3.3. Power "There is surely room for improvement for everyone. But I think

it’s a process that needs to be triggered for each individual and

start thinking “stop – do I even need that?” (G1)

"The only thing we do is start with us on a small scale. We have to

ask us constantly if we really need this or that?" (G13)

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“Well i personally also still take my car to the supermarket … but

yeah … i think that the problem is our behavior. We have to adapt

and change it, and consume less and come up with different

products.” (N1)

4.3.4. Craftsmanship "I can very well think about work and its problems in nature, my

best ideas came to me when I was in nature. […] I think it’s the

clear air in nature that washes your brain and lets ideas spring."

(G6)

“On the other hand, they would never do anything else either. It

really is a passion that was passed on from father to son through

many generations. They were proud of that. Kind of like farmers,

you notice that too. They don't want to let it go.” (N3)

“I think people would enjoy their surroundings a lot more at a

time when you have contributed to them. Because if you're a

craftsman yourself, and you know how much work has been put

into something, rather than a laser machine simply producing

something.” (N5)

“And there are a lot of farmers in the area who make their own

cheese and so on. Of course that's not as much as it used to be, but

it has always been like that here. The Gouda cheese, right!” (N11)

4.4. Significance of Place and Local

4.4.1. Place Attachment "I have a very strong bond. For me it’s home – sense of home."

(G1)

"I have a big connection to the area. I have a strong sense of

home, I want to stay here, I wouldn't want to go anywhere else."

(G9)

"I would say I consider myself a Schwarzwälder." (G10)

"I’m a typical Schwarzwälder. Contrary to many other young

people in Germany, I am extremely connected to my home region.

I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Many young people are

drawn to cities or areas where there is more going on." (G12)

"Many say they don’t care. But I care. This is our home, this was

shaped for centuries by our ancestors who built this up as a

cultural landscape." (G13)

“When I left the Kinderdijk windmills, people told me that was

impossible, you are Kinderdijk. I am intensely connected with

Kinderdijk.” (N10)

“Well, I'm one from the polder landscape. […]. So I feel at home

in it, in the polder landscape. […]. And I’d say I also have the

character from behind the dikes.” (N11)

“It's all become a bit more developed, but still. I'm still a polder

woman. And I always say 'I am from behind the dikes'.” (N11)

“No, I've thought about moving to Rotterdam because it's closer to

my work, but so far it hasn't taken off because I really like it at

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home and I also like the peace and quiet in Kinderdijk. Yeah,

that's certainly got something to do with the environment, just

being in nature.” (N17)

When you see how those women [from the city] experience that,

you realize what a special place you live in. Then that feeling, and

your connection with the mills and Kinderdijk really becomes

apparent. Yeah I think so, I think where you live determines how

you think about things and how you look at things ehm ... what you

think of people ... I think that's a part of what you make and form

as a human being. (N17)

4.4.2 Appreciation for the

Local

"Now that one cannot undertake as much motorically [due to

Corona], I find that people get to reflect and to start appreciate

the surroundings, what one has around himself." (G1)

"I am attached to home and also attached to nature. One goes

outdoors a lot and perceives the area to be very beautiful and

appreciates how much once can do outdoors.[...] But in general, it

is a unique landscape that is different to other places." (G3)

"Otherwise we love the forest – the green, the air, that’s is simply

wonderful. [...] In summer you can find berries and mushrooms. In

winter, the snow is also pretty. [...] Plants are of course important

– from blackberries to different kinds of bushes. I am also

interested in flowers and we try to find out and learn what their

name is." (G7)

"I know a lot about my trees and about the domestic flora and

fauna in general." (G9)

“One does not have to drive far and all the way to the Alps. We

have such great possibility here. It is a paradox that often one

knows better some crossroad in the Alps than a place closer than

50km where one has never been. That’s a bit crazy, given that this

is such a beautiful region. People should make use of this more…”

(G14)

“I think that's pretty much determined by where you grow up [he

grew up by the sea]. I like an open landscape very much, so you

can look far. That you can see a kind of hilly landscape, forests or

water in the distance. Especially the open structure. In the city I

miss that very much. A landscape gives me a feeling of freedom,

for example when you go cycling and you see a polder

landscape.” (N3)

“I tell people things for an hour and a half. Those people think it's

all very special. Then I feel really special and I feel very special

that I can be a part of this and continue to tell it to others.” (N16)

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5. Wind Power Opinions

5.1. Conventional Concerns

5.1.1. Noise, Shadow,

Ultrasound

"I am not sure, but I could imagine that it has negative effects on

the health to live close to them. I don’t know why, but I just cannot

imagine that that is good for people. Therefore, it should be

locations where people don’t live. [...] I think also about the noise

and the movement of the shadows it sends out and don’t think that

that is entirely safe." (G4)

“[Wind turbines] cause noise and probably ultrasounds. If on a

windy day you ever walk by these industrial machines, it becomes

clear how loud they are. And no one can tell me that the vibrations

and everything else they send out, does not have an effect on the

surrounding nature.” (G9)

"Another problem is the ultrasound, which is harmful to our health.

Also the shadows and the noise they produce…" (G13)

"I have to say that being close to a wind turbine, one hears wind,

the shadow is weird. So there is something to the doubts around its

effects on people’s health." (G14)

"What I am also a bit concerned about is the ultra sound and the

radiation they possibly emit." (G15)

5.1.2. NIMBY “Yeah, well, wind energy is also an ideal thing, a lot of

developments are just fine. [...]. But of course I would regret it if a

wind turbine were to be erected here in my area. I would rather not

have it near me.” (N2)

“I don't want to think about looking out of my window right now

and seeing a wind turbine. But that would be the case for anything

[industrial] of course.” (N7)

"Wind turbines impair the landscape tremendously [...] but from

far away I don't mind them. [...] I don't want to have them in my

backyard." (G3)

"The wind turbines that already exist in the area, that we can also

see in the distance from Eisenbach, don’t bother me. Also driving

by some more closely, they don’t bother me. But one might think of

it a little differently having them in the backyard." (G11)

5.1.3. Impact on Ecosystem “Thinking about wind energy, this starts for example with birds of

prey who might be impaired by the wind turbines.” (G5)

"We love nature of course and are absolutely against the wind

turbines. That is because, when birds and bats that fly by the

turbines, due to the blades’ rotations, their lungs burst. Around

wind turbines lie a large number of dead animals. [...] Apart from

that, nature is being destroyed..." (G7)

"Another problem is the danger for the birds. Here we have the

Milan, a rare predator. Many birds collide with the turbines, not

only the Milan but many other bird species, like the mountain cock

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and bats. So the destruction of the bird life here would be a

consequence. [...] The problem for the birds is really big. One finds

so many dead animals besides wind turbines. Often they are not

even there anymore because foxes and martens know already and

eat it." (G13)

"Building a wind turbine in a forest includes cutting huge roads

into the forest, a lot of trees would have to go. That means that

mountain ranges would be destroyed. The forest would be further

weakened and in case of strong rain, soil erosions would occur.

Our forest, especially its soil, is an ecosystem of thousands of years.

There are roots and mosses, which normally are supposed to collect

water. Roads would destroy that entire system. What would happen

is that sources will dry up, while we already had a lot of problems

with that in the past because of few rain." (G13)

“And if you put those big windmills in the sea, I think that is also

bad for life in the sea.” (N2)

“One has to imagine a hill in the Black Forest with three wind

turbines, the path to even get there has to be built for the machines

to get through which needs about 6 meters in width. That is a huge

intervention in nature that is not justified by its output.” (G9)

5.1.4. Landscape Aesthetic

Impairment

"I will put it like this: if they are everywhere then the picture suffers.

I can accept certain views with some wind turbines here and there

but extensively on every hill, I would have a problem with. I would

not find that pretty anymore." (G1)

"Wind turbines impair the landscape tremendously [...] but from

far away I don't mind them. [...] I don't want to have them in my

backyard." (G3)

"In case of wind energy there is also always the question of the

landscape being affected negatively. The tall turbines possibly

don’t fit into the image of the Black Forest." (G6)

"...the further away they are the less intensely the stick out of the

landscape. They are less horrible to look at when they are far

away." (G9)

"It is not a destruction of the landscape but an immense

impairment. It looks very different afterwards but it is not

destroyed." (G11)

“Of course it makes the image a bit uglier but um ... I don't know

if that really helps [improve the landscape] in some cases. Of

course in terms of use it does, but it does make it uglier in most

cases.” (N4)

“Wind turbines on the Veluwe, for example, on the Hoge Veluwe

[natural reserve], that would of course be horrible, you just

shouldn't do that. You also have to be very careful around the

Wadden Islands. […]. And I'm very much into aesthetics, so if I

think something is ugly and I'm in control of it, then I don't do it.”

(N6)

“But that's more because I ... you're actually never thinking about

what it does, produces or brings. You see such a big colossus, I'm

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talking about a wind turbine. Then I think ‘gee how ugly is that

here, in nature’.” (N12)

“And the new ones pollute the view, so to speak.” (N17)

5.1.5. Symbolism / Image

Problems

"But if there were to be a big technological step and the energy

wind turbines produce can be stored effectively and efficiently, the

way we look upon wind energy would be completely different.

Maybe that the feeling when one looks at a wind turbine would be

different. Sometimes one has stereotypes in mind when looking at

them, like “they just turn because they have to turn” etc. I believe

that if technology made more progress, the image of wind turbines

would improve.” (G3)

"I think tourism is not yet able to deal with it. A few weeks ago, my

wife and I booked a wellness weekend in Freiamt. The wind turbine

that stands on the hill behind the hotel was not shown in the

prospect of the hotel. That shows that there is definitely hesitance

to display wind energy." (G6)

“There needs to be some communication about the fact that it just

makes sense and that we help nature in the long run. Or that the

turbines enable us to turn off nuclear plants in the long run, I think

that would help. Everybody wants the production of energy to be

far away. Maybe we don’t see a direct link between nuclear energy

and wind energy because nuclear power plants are further away.

But we wouldn’t want to live next to that either…” (G15)

5.1.7. Place Attachment see 4.4.1.

5.2. New Concerns

5.2.1. Technical Concerns "It seems like it’s not yet clear where the right locations are. There

are limited spots that are really suitable, even in the highlands of

the Black Forest, and because of that I believe that there is backlog

concerning accurate measuring." (G1)

"My problem with wind energy is the missing storage technology.

Often when there is wind, there is an overproduction of energy. In

Freiburg, when you know it’s windy it’s sometimes surprising that

some of the turbines there don’t run. That is something I am

concerned about and I want to weigh out whether it makes sense or

not." (G6)

"Wind energy I see the biggest problem to transport the energy it

produces to where it is actually needed, because it cannot save the

energy. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, I’ve seen wind turbines who

didn’t run because they cannot transport all the energy they would

produce." (G4)

5.2.2. Financial Motivation "At the moment, one also has the impression that there are forest-

owners, who want to jump on the running train and are paid well."

(G1)

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"What I find horrible is that it seems like planners pick areas whose

landlord/owner is very willing to give it away. And if people, in our

case the Fürst of Fürstenberg [a nobleman who owns the forest

closeby that the turbins would be placed on], only see a chance to

make profit in this.” (G5)

“I felt like the people involved in the project often lied. There was

a report on the danger for birds, which was not even done in the

location that was talked about. I know for a fact that what the report

said, was not true because I hunt in the area and know it very well.

There is such a big lobby behind the building of wind turbines,

everything is about making money.” (G13)

"I think it’s important to make sure that there is certain distance to

residents. I’m sure there are locations where no one is bothered.

But many of those are ruled out because it’s not profitable to build

the roads and cables to access them. Then I feel like the financial

motivation is bigger than the one to work against climate change. I

think it shouldn’t only be the big energy companies who build them

but a private person who wants to build one with a hub height of 10

meters, should be permitted to do so without a huge administration

procedure. The economy is the problem I think…” (G14)

"What I also have a bit of a weird feeling about is that the sites that

are part of the planning are all on the ground of the Fürst von

Fürstenberg [a royal who owns big part of the area]. That smells

like money to me [laughs]. That’s what I have trouble with. I don’t

think that we learned or will learn about the full story.” (G15)

5.2.3. Concerns About

Material and Fundament

“[...] the topic that non-sustainable resources are used to build the

turbines, cement for example." (G1)

"The blades of the turbines are impossible to fully dispose of

because they’re coated with a specific resin. Also the batteries that

everyone talks about are a big problem once they have to be

disposed of." (G13)

“If you look at a wind turbine made of steel, you can't make it from

local products, unless you happen to be near IJmuiden, because

there's a blast furnace there, but it's not a circular product, such a

wind turbine.” (N5)

"Yet alone the fundament they have to drill in the ground for the

entire thing to stay stable is immense. And that will stay in the

ground forever, no one will ever dig. " (G9)

"Another problem when wind turbines are built is that they need

very big fundaments, with a diameter of 15 m and a depth of 10

meters. So much concrete and steel is used for that. I am asking

myself who is responsible for the dismantling later. There is no

concept on how they are built back and how the area would be

renaturalized.” (G13)

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5.3. Aversion of the Industrial

5.3.1. Industrial Look “And if all of Terschelling would be covered in turbines … I think

it would be quite profitable to build some wind turbines there. But

if they fill up half of Terschelling [low inhabited island] with wind

turbines, I won’t visit anymore, because I would feel like I'm in an

industrial environment.” (N6)

“I don't want to think about looking out of my window right now

and seeing a wind turbine. But that would be the case for anything

[industrial] of course.” (N7)

5.3.2. Anonymity "For me it is not understandable how one can justify building

these huge machines, with the blades they would be over 300m

high, higher than the Cologne Cathedral." (G9)

"They [wind turbines] change the landscape, they seem almost

like a foreign body. Possibly, that’s because it’s all still kind of

new. Maybe in 30 years, when children grow up with it and don’t

know it differently, they would not perceive it negatively at all. But

for us it’s something new, something foreign." (G10)

“As I work in the forest, I often come across wind turbines. When

I stand at their bottom, I have to say that their size overwhelms me

– they are really monsters." [...] "But I have to say that they are

really big, they are monumental structures which look beyond the

forest a lot." (G14)

“Look, as a miller I'm often addressed about the ugliness of the

wind turbines but they used to say the same about the old mills.

[…]. The conversation often revolves around the wind turbines

which don't look good. On the other hand, it's good, wind energy.

When you come to Groningen you often see smaller mills and they

have wooden blades. It's actually very funny that you don't

experience them as threatening, but those big things of 150 meters

high do. It looks like a kind of robot, it's a bit more impersonal.”

(N10)

“In my head it [old windmill] also fits better in nature than for

example a wind turbine. Well, a mill's a bit lower, of course. And

it looks a little more cozy and home-y. We've known them for a

long time. And wind turbines are those huge monsters. And it

looks awful. They have nothing cute to them. And do still think

windmills are cute.” (N12)

“If you think about the acceptance of wind turbines and the

windmills in Kinderdijk. The windmills in Kinderdijk had a much

more direct, personal role. If the windmill wasn't there, they

wouldn’t be able to live there. This makes you look at things very

differently.” (N5)

5.3.3. Uniformity "I will put it like this: if they are everywhere then the picture

suffers. I can accept certain views with some wind turbines here

and there but extensively on every hill, I would have a problem

with. I would not find that pretty anymore." (G1)

I had an experience last year. [...] We drove from Ihringen onto

the Belchen [second largest mountain of the Black Forest]. It was

very nice weather when we were up there. There one has a 360

degree view on the Swiss Alps, the French Vosges, in every

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direction. And up there was the first time that I was a bit shocked

of wind turbines. Because, for a fact, anywhere you looked, on

each little hill, there was a wind turbine. And at that point that

bothered me a lot. This beautiful surrounding, the view in the

distance without end [Weitsicht] and then everywhere a couple of

wind turbines." (G4)

"And thinking about the landscape, not every hill should be

cluttered with them." (G4)

"I am not against wind energy but only to a certain degree. I don’t

want the turbines to be everywhere. They should be placed

carefully…” (G8)

"When I think of the off-shore wind parcs in the North of Germany

– I don’t think it’s good to have too many on one spot." (G8)

"I am not an opponent [of wind energy] but with a limit – we

shouldn’t overload our landscape." (G8)

“But if you see a picture with a lot of windmills together, or of

those solar panels in meadows, I find that very ugly.” (N2)

5.4. Making a Decision

5.4.1. Ideological

Opposition

But if these new technological developments push nature away, or

damage nature, or don't do it justice, then I often regret it.” (N6)

“Nature has to be nature, a wind farm may exist too, but don't put

that in a nature reserve.” (N7)

“But I think a wind turbine, for example, is awfully ugly, but well,

of course they have a function. Just like a street lantern, I don't

like it either. But I am happy that they’re there in the evening

when I have to go outside with the dog. I think it's fine in

residential areas, but in nature you have to keep as much as

possible and not have to build or put down a lot of things that

aren't natural.” (N12)

4.4.3. Time Aspect Old Windmills

“About three centuries ago, the mills were far from romantic, it was

a hard life, it was a very hard life. [...]. People said, what an ugly

things, everywhere you look there are mills. What an

abominations.” (N1)

“You’re used to it, and it’s great because there are so many close

together. [...]. I think that the old mills also give a nostalgic image

[...].” (N2)

“My belief has always been that when they were built in 1738 there

were lots of protest as well, because it had lot’s of impact.” (N3)

“I think we appreciate what has become rare and what reminds us

of a past that has been left closed off.” (N3)

“I like the characteristics buildings in a landscape [...].” (N4)

“All those people that are swinging over the canals there, that is

fantastic. It gives such an old, authentic Dutch feeling.” (N7)

“I can see the beauty in that [the old mills], and the old culture.”

(N8)

“In my head it [old windmill] also fits better in nature than for

example a wind turbine. Well, a mill's a bit lower, of course. And it

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looks a little more cozy and homey. We've known them for a long

time. And wind turbines are those huge monsters. And it looks

awful. They have nothing cute to them. And do still think a

windmills are cute.” (N12)

New Wind Turbines

"But, one gets used to everything but that will take time. And I

would say, if it brings the energy we need, we can definitely deal

with its looks. [...] At first glance, I was surprised to see the turbines

but on the second day I didn’t even think of it anymore. I think it’s

like with everything: we need to learn to deal with it." (G6)

“But I also think that we will get used to it more. Probably, it’s still

new to us and we have to accept it because our energy needs to

come from somewhere." (G8)

"I just think in a few years, we will not notice them anymore. I think

of the big power lines that are also not pretty, but no one complains

about them. I think it will be similar. Only because they turn… I

don’t see the problem.” (G15)

5.4.3. Rational Reason Seeing the Purpose/Need for Wind Energy

"There are many who say that we are a health resort [Luftkurort]

and tourist magnet with the Titisee closeby. And now we place these

man-made structures into nature. On the one side, they are right.

On the other side, I also say that if the turbines are efficient and to

what they are supposed to do and other things which harm nature

and the environment can be abolished, why not? " (G5)

“But those high, enormous windmills. My sister-in-law has a

cottage in Zeeland and that's where those things are. It's not

really beautiful but I don't have any trouble with it. Let it do its

job. I prefer that to having earthquakes in Groningen. It's horizon

pollution, that's what they call it, but we have to get used to it.”

(N16)

“On the other side, we have to get our electricity from somewhere

and given that no one wants to renounce on things, we need to use

what is available to us.” (G11)

Comparison to Fossil Fuels

“But you can't close your eyes to the technology. And I'm fine with

wind turbines coming, too. It may be a horrendous sight, but it's

better than all those power stations.” (N11)

“Of course we can oppose the wind turbines but the alternative

would be to burn coal which causes CO2 emissions, or do we

have to do everything with gas? In fact, the wind turbine is even

more nature-friendly than solar panels.” (N15)

Comparison to Nuclear Power

“I personally worry about a smoke column of a nuclear power plant

more than a wind turbine in the forest.” (G5)

"On the other side, I have to say that I more than prefer ten wind

turbines over a nuclear power station. Because no matter what

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happens, they could be built back. Compared to nuclear energy, I

find wind energy to be more acceptable even though it hurts me a

little.” (G10)

"There’s always a reason against everything but I prefer to have

six wind turbines on the Sommerberg over a nuclear power station

on the French boarder. I think we have to find compromises or

decrease our energy consumption and that I don’t think will be

possible to achieve." (G11)

“We know that we need energy and I prefer that over nuclear power

plants. The consequences of an accident ther, would be so much

more severe. Compared to that, wind energy is much better." (G15)

Effects on Nature

"But in principle, I don’t find human made things bad if it serves a

purpose. Especially, it is not only for us humans but also for nature.

[...] But of course, with every advantage comes a disadvantage.

There we need to discuss about which things have more advantages

for people or disadvantages for nature or the other way around."

(G5)

"One has to become aware that one wind turbine clears out one

hectare of forest. That equation does not work for me given this is

an area with low levels of wind. [...] That is a huge intervention in

nature that is not justified by its output." (G9)

"For me it is most important that the investment of money and also

the interference with nature that is always connected with it, is in

relation to what it does. It must be worthwhile.” (G12)

“And if you put those big windmills in the sea, I think that is also

bad for life in the sea.” (N2)

Obtrusiveness

"What I find most pleasant is solar energy because aesthetically it’s

the most unobtrusive. Also, hydro-energy…" (G4)

"Like I said earlier, at first glance wind turbines are kind of

crushing, also because they have to be very high in order to be

efficient. Hydropower is often more hidden locally so that not

everyone sees it." (G5)

"Of course, water-wheel or water pump is not as present in the

landscape as wind turbines." (G5)

Efficiency

"For me it’s the most important thing to see them turning and see

that they do produce electricity. Then no one would complain

anymore – that would be the same for the ones proposed here

close to Eisenbach. If they really turn all the time and deliver the

power one hopes for, it will maybe take five years until everyone

accepts them anyway." (G5)

“However, it needs to be efficient. I’ve also heard of wind

turbines that were placed in locations that are not profitable and

needed to be powered in order to turn and evoke the image of

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being profitable. That would of course be non-sense!” (G11)

"For me the most important thing is that the strength of the wind

is high enough to ensure its rentability. […] So for me the most

important thing is that the interference in nature would not be

done for nothing but that the wind turbine actually contributes to

a greener future." (G12)

“What it is about is the efficiency. I don’t have anything against

wind energy per sé, we need everything. The problem at the moment

is that the government counts fully on wind energy and invests so

much money only in this. We have alternatives though: water, sun,

biogas. We have so many things we could use way more. But it’s

not good to put everything into the expansion of wind energy…”

(G13)

"As I said, I am not against using wind energy, but it needs to be

efficient. And it is not efficient in the Schwarzwald." (G13)

Choosing the Best Option

"Where wind energy makes sense, I'm welcoming it. [In the Black

Forest], in my opinion it does not make sense [...]. We are one of

the areas with the lowest levels of wind in Germany." (G9)

"I think that we should use the technique that is most suitable for

each place. In north Africa it makes sense to count on photovoltaic

stations or on wind energy in the north sea. But that does not mean

that every community shouldn’t make sure it is independent energy

wise, that can be with a biogas station or a small wind turbine."

(G10)

“I wouldn’t differentiate between them [renewable energies], I

think all of them are good if they are used efficiently. They should

be used in a healthy relation to each other. I think we should make

use of all the possibilities we have." (G11)

"I don’t have a preference. I think in each place you should use the

technology that is most sensible. Meaning, in the Sahara it would

be solar energy, at the North Sea it would be wind energy, and here

in the Black Forest it would be hydropower.” (G12)