Analysis and Mapping of Wind-Power Controversies in Lower Austria

Out of Frames is designed to provide the analytical and empirical foundation of the InSituEx research agenda. Within the framework of Multispective Experience Design (MiXeD), the project covers the first two methodological steps: controversy mapping and multispecies ethnography.

Using recent debates about wind power in Lower Austria as its case study, the project will investigate how environmental controversies are constituted through relations between diverse human and nonhuman actors. Rather than treating these debates as polarized exchanges of opinions, Out of Frames approaches them as sociotechnical constellations involving residents, policymakers, entrepreneurs, activists, scientists, energy infrastructures, landscapes, and affected species.

Methodologically, the project combines qualitative, computational, and AI-assisted analysis of public debates with stakeholder interviews, observation, site visits, and material documentation. Nonhuman entities such as birds, forests, soils, turbines, and landscapes are approached through direct observation and mediated evidence, including ecological expertise, technical data, and material traces. The resulting controversy maps will visualize key actors, positions, issues, and relations while remaining open to revision.

In the InSituEx research agenda, Out of Frames provides the empirical and analytical groundwork for MiXeD. The project findings identify the actors and positions shaping the wind-power controversies in Lower Austria and establish the basis for Polyphonic Personas and Dramatic Mediation.