What Digital Conversations Reveal About Trust in the Energy Transition

What shapes community sentiment towards renewable energy projects?

New research published in Energy Research & Social Science offers some useful insights for engagement practitioners working in regional communities.

Researchers analysed more than 2,000 digital media posts across three Western Australian communities at different stages of the renewable energy transition: Busselton, Kojonup and Albany. They examined how local conversations and sentiment changed as projects moved from planning through development and completion.

What Practitioners Should Know

Across the communities studied, concerns consistently centred on fairness, local impacts, land use, noise and amenity, infrastructure access and property value risk. These concerns were particularly prominent during the earlier stages of the transition.

Importantly for engagement practitioners, sentiment wasn’t static.

The researchers found greater positivity where consultation was visible, policy was clearer and benefit sharing was emphasised. Local conversations were also influenced by consultation notices, policy announcements, construction milestones and media coverage.

For practitioners, the findings point to several practical considerations:

• Understand concerns early. Issues around fairness and local impacts can emerge well before infrastructure is delivered.
• Make engagement visible. Communities need to see when and how engagement is happening, not simply be invited to provide input.
• Provide clarity as projects evolve. Changes in policy, project milestones and external coverage can all influence the conversation.
• Look beyond your individual project. Community sentiment may reflect the cumulative experience of change across a region, not just attitudes towards one development.

Listen Beyond Formal Engagement Channels

The research also highlights the value of looking beyond surveys, workshops and other formal engagement activities.

Digital conversations can provide another window into emerging concerns, uncertainty and the narratives influencing how projects are understood.

They don’t replace meaningful engagement with communities. But used thoughtfully alongside other sources of community insight, they can help practitioners identify emerging issues, understand the wider context surrounding a project and make better-informed decisions about where engagement may need greater attention.

For energy engagement teams working in rapidly changing regions, that broader view can be particularly valuable. Understanding the conversation happening around a project can help teams engage with the issues communities are actually discussing — not only those captured through formal channels.

READ THE RESEARCH