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Thematic Article
The role of public involvement in achieving net-zero goals
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Abstract
Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level (Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration of 1992). Public participation is essential to sustainable development and good governance. Access to environmental information, empowered by legislation, involves citizens in decision-making. Legislation on public participation for the protection of the environment plays a crucial role in ensuring that communities, stakeholders, and individuals have a say in environmental decision-making processes to achieve net-zero goals. Translating legal frameworks into community engagement remains challenging. Using The Green Planet AR Experience as a case study, this research applies a community engagement model to assess the role of augmented reality in encouraging participation. The findings suggest that embodied multisensory engagement enables participants to become co-creators of environmental experiences, potentially deepening their brand connections. This research demonstrates how immersive technologies can inform environmental governance through community co-creation. This article is published in the Thematic Collection ‘Participatory Engagement and Game Playing for Achieving Sustainable Net-Zero Transition’, edited by Jing Zhao, Eirini Gallou, and Ievgeniia Kopytsia.
Keywords
participationcitizensenvironmentlegislationdecision-makingnet zeroaugmented realityimmersive technologycommunity engagementembodied cognitionIntroduction to transparency and participation
Transparency has paramount importance for evaluating how effectively and efficiently public interest outcomes have been achieved to fight corruption (Carloni 2017) and to improve efficiency and accountability. Democracy, balance of powers, checks and balances (Aravantinou 2018), and supervision of delegated powers are connected to transparency. Transparency has gained momentum in the last forty years, especially in the public sector. Public access to administrative documents (Vacca 2012) is of paramount importance in guaranteeing transparency in the workings of institutions and, consequently, in improving democracy and good governance, which means performing public services expertly for the benefit of the citizens (House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee 2008; UNESCAP 2009).
Access to relevant environmental information, empowered by the legislation, involves citizens in decision-making, ensuring that these processes rely on genuine and accurate evidence. Legislation on public participation for the protection of the environment plays a crucial role in ensuring that communities, stakeholders, and individuals have a say in environmental decision-making processes. Environmental protection is linked to government accountability. A plethora of scholars have underlined the importance of public participation.1
Legislation on participation in environmental matters has been adopted all over the world (right to information, public consultation, access to justice) and very often aligns with international principles and treaties, aiming to enhance transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in environmental governance (Gardner et al. 2018; Gupta et al. 2020).
Deficiencies in effective participation arise from systemic, institutional, and socio-economic factors that create barriers rendering the participatory process tokenistic where decisions are already predetermined, rather than genuinely inclusive and empowering (Morrison & Dearden 2013; Jánová et al. 2025). Community engagement can play a crucial role in environmental decision-making processes related to net-zero initiatives. By empowering citizens to act as change agents, public involvement transforms climate goals into a shared mission, making net-zero emissions a collective achievement.
The first part of this article discusses case law, soft law, and legislation on public participation, which is essential for protecting the environment and promoting democratic governance. The second part of this article examines how communities can engage in pro-environmental initiatives through experiential marketing, using The Green Planet AR Experience as a case study within Vella-Brodrick’s community engagement model (Vella-Brodrick 2017).
By embedding transparency, inclusivity, and accountability into environmental decision-making, the legislation empowers communities to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development, even though ensuring effective implementation and enforcement remains a critical challenge (Lee & Abbot 2003).
Participation in environmental matters: soft law and legislative frameworks
‘Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level’ (Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration of 1992). The Rio Declaration is a soft law instrument (Boyle 2000) and, unlike treaties which contain enforceable obligations, it can provide guidance, influence state behaviour, and shape customary law over time. Principle 10, having persuasive authority, has informed subsequent legal instruments. Indeed, it has been endorsed in regional agreements, such as the Aarhus Convention of 1998 and the Escazú Agreement of 2018, and has influenced domestic courts to strengthen the procedural dimension of environmental rights,2 and to embed participatory norms into constitutional and administrative law. Article 10 in the Rio Declaration regards access to information linked to the environment as an international benchmark for ‘environmental democracy’ (Stec & Jendroska 2019).
Public participation is essential to sustainable development and good governance. ‘Environmental democracy’ (Bandi 2014) was boosted in 2010, at the 11th Special Session of UNEP’s Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environmental Forum in Bali, Indonesia. This is where the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) adopted the Guidelines for the Development of National Legislation on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Bali Guidelines). It is the first international environmental regime to focus in some detail on public participatory rights; it is a voluntary soft law instrument (Etemire 2016).
Another milestone is the Aarhus Convention or Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making, and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. This Convention was adopted in June 1998 and gives citizens the right to access environmental information held by public authorities, by private companies providing public services, and by institutions of the EU (Vacca 2012). Applicants are entitled to obtain this information without having to say why they require it (Lee & Abbot 2003).
The current system must strike an appropriate balance between securing open access to the public for the environmental information, which provides ‘transparency’, and the individual right to protect private life (Caliceti 2017; Vacca & Onishi 2018). The Aarhus Convention links environmental rights and human rights (Lavrysen 2010; Sabato 2016a,b; Pedersen 2018; Vacca & Onishi 2018; Ryall 2023), establishes that sustainable development can be achieved through public participation and acknowledges that there is an obligation to future generations.
Other relevant soft law linked to participation includes the 2002 New Delhi Principles of International Law relating to Sustainable Development, the 2012 Sofia Guiding Statements on the Judicial Elaboration of the 2002 New Delhi Declaration.
The 2002 New Delhi Principles of International Law relating to Sustainable Development, adopted by the International Law Association, plays a significant role as soft law and may influence the development of customary international law or be incorporated into binding treaties and national law. It affirms that public participation is essential to sustainable development, which means development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Brundtland Report 1987) and good governance. Article 5 emphasises the participation process and the relevance of access to effective judicial or administrative procedures.
The 2012 Sofia Guiding Statements, adopted by the International Law Association, was designed as a supplement to the 2002 New Delhi Principles facilitating consistent interpretation of sustainable development across international courts and tribunals (French 2017). In Article 7 the principles of public participation and access to information and justice are considered foundational to sustainable development.
The 2018 Escazú Agreement codified Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration into a binding regional treaty, strengthening environmental democracy and guaranteeing the implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process, and access to justice in environmental matters. Several countries have ratified the agreement and are incorporating its principles into domestic law. This agreement marks the second regional legal instrument aimed at the implementation of Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, and the UNEP Bali Guidelines (Stec & Jendroska 2019).
This proliferation of legislation all over the world regarding participation in environmental matters underlines the enhanced importance of community engagement to achieve sustainable development and net-zero goals. As explained, most of these agreements are just soft law. The dilemma is that they are being circumvented over time or due to a lack of genuine influence, for example because of insufficient resources, administrative and bureaucratic constraints, and structural inequalities. Emerging technologies are introducing novel opportunities, leading to logistical challenges and digital exclusion. Indeed, public engagement is essential in reaching net zero. If well executed, it increases public support, improves cooperation with climate initiatives, and leads to better policies.
Some examples of community engagement: energy communities in the European Union. Case law relevant in achieving net-zero goals
Active public involvement holds governments and corporations accountable for their net-zero commitments. Citizen assemblies, watchdog groups, and public forums put pressure on stakeholders to act transparently and to maintain progress toward set goals. Transparent processes build trust between governments and communities. Engaging local knowledge and expertise leads to more effective and sustainable solutions and inclusive processes, and reduces tensions and resistance by addressing concerns early (Ansari 2009). Public involvement can help policymakers to identify potential barriers and craft strategies that resonate with diverse stakeholders.3
Incorporating public input in the design and implementation of climate policies ensures that they are practical, inclusive, and have community buy-in, encouraging also behavioural change. Grass roots movements can drive innovative solutions, spotlight the issues, and put pressure on governments, empowering citizens in the energy transition. A good example is that of energy communities (Hoicka et al. 2021; Neves et al. 2024), which are initiatives where individuals, households, local governments, and businesses collaborate to produce, consume, manage, or distribute renewable energy, being independent and guaranteeing energy security with a low environmental impact and affordable energy costs (Fuentes & Gaso 2024). Energy communities can contribute to increasing public acceptance of renewable energy projects and make it easier to attract private investments in the clean energy transition, ensuring the pivotal role of citizens in shaping a sustainable energy future (Koirala et al. 2016).
Energy communities are increasingly recognised in legislation, particularly in the European Union (EU), as vital tools for democratising the energy system, accelerating the renewable energy transition, and promoting energy justice. Legal frameworks provide the foundation for their establishment, operation, and growth while ensuring citizen rights to participate actively in the energy market. Local communities and energy communities play a vital role in the transition to a low-carbon energy system, democratising energy production, fostering local resilience, and ensuring equitable access to clean energy, thereby enabling self-consumption and shared resources. The REPowerEU Plan put forward the shared political objective of achieving one energy community per municipality with a population of more than 10,000 by 2025 (European Commission 2024).
Pilot projects in regions like Piedmont (Italy) involve rural communities in collective renewable energy solutions (Mutani et al. 2018). The island of Samsø (Denmark) transitioned to 100 per cent renewable energy through community-led projects; indeed, the focus on the community brought incredible benefits to the island and improved the community’s perspectives and sustainability in the long term (UNFCCC 2023).
The EU is planning to adopt a Citizens Energy Package. This is a clear sign that the EU is following the path towards citizen participation and an important step towards accelerating the transition towards cleaner energy sources, while ensuring a just transition in which all citizens can be actively involved.
Achieving net-zero emissions through participation is enhanced not just by the legislation but also by the courts. A landmark decision by the Dutch District Court in 2015, Urgenda Foundation v. The Netherlands, was the first in the world in which citizens established that their government has a legal duty to prevent and significantly reduce emissions in line with human rights obligations. The Dutch government appealed the decision, but in 2019 a formal opinion recommended the Supreme Court uphold the decision. This case demonstrated how domestic courts are helpful for applying international commitments and creating a transnational climate justice jurisprudence (Bakker 2021; Barrit 2021).
Other cases were built on the Urgenda landmark decision. In 2019, the environmental group Milieudefensie/Friends of the Earth Netherlands and co-plaintiffs, including other NGOs (nongovernmental organisations) (ActionAid NL, Both ENDS, Fossielvrij NL, Greenpeace NL, Young Friends of the Earth NL, Waddenvereniging) and more than 17,000 citizens, filed a lawsuit in the Dutch courts against Shell for failing adequately to reduce CO2 emissions, alleging it had breached its duty of care under Dutch law and human rights obligations (Mayer 2021; Saracino-Lowe 2023).
A similar case also took place in Italy: Greenpeace Italy et al. v. ENI S.p.A., the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A (where the latter are government entities). The defendants argued that Italian judges lack jurisdiction on companies linked to ENI located abroad and on political matters. Greenpeace Italy and ReCommon appealed to the Supreme Court of Cassation (Cassazione) and consequently the lawsuit was suspended when the Civil Court of Rome in July 2024 sent the case to the Italian Supreme Court (Cassazione) for a regulation of jurisdiction. This is the first time the Court has been required to rule on climate change litigation. The Supreme Court of Cassation ruled in favour of the plaintiffs (Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, no. 20381/2025 in the judgement of 21 July 2025), declaring that Italian civil courts have jurisdiction to hear the case and consequently the case returned to the Civil Court of Rome for examination on the merits.
Indeed, in recent years, the number of climate change cases has risen (Alogna et al. 2021; Brady 2021; Setzer & Higham 2021). This plethora of class actions shows how citizens can contribute to achieve net-zero goals. Most common parties are NGOs, intergovernmental organisation but also private parties (Alogna et al. 2021).
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the European Union
Another example of legislation, but also case law related to participation, is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This is a process of evaluating the potential effects of a proposed project or policy on the natural and social environment. Public participation is an integral part of the EIA process (Maphanga et al. 2023). The US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) initiated the EIA embedding in the process public participation (Petts 2003; Suwanteep et al. 2017). It is not clear what degree of public participation is required and what should be established as the efficacy of alternative mechanisms in achieving public involvement (O’Faircheallaigh 2010) in the EIA. There is no consensus on who should be allowed to participate (Glucker et al. 2013).4
EIA focuses on the interests of the different actors involved. This in turn is linked to the increased transparency in administrative processes in many countries and to the active role of the public in democracy and decision-making (Del Furia & Wallace-Jones 2000; Ansari 2009; Hu 2011; Kaku et al. 2023), and should lead to more informed choice and better environmental outcomes.
The EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive provides public participation in decision-making, enabling the decision-maker to take account of opinions relevant to those decisions, and contributing to public awareness of environmental issues and support for the decisions taken. While EIA offers several benefits, there are also disadvantages, such as time and costs implications, the complexity of the assessments, and potential conflicts among stakeholders.
Some case law can demonstrate the paramount importance of EIA. An example is the ruling of Lord Hoffmann in the famous UK case, Berkeley v. Secretary of State for The Environment and Others, that a court is not entitled retrospectively to dispense with the requirement of an EIA, even if the result would have been the same or that the local planning authority or Secretary of State had all the information necessary to reach the proper decision.
Another case, the ECJ Case C 72/95 Aannemersbedrijf P.K. Kraaijeveld BV and Others v. Gedeputeerde Staten van Zuid-Holland, Advocate-General Elmer underlined this point again. These judgements enhance the essential role of EIA. However, in R (Champion) v. North Norfolk District Council, the UK Supreme Court reversed the argument, claiming that the failure to conduct an EIA had no substantive effect on the decision (Bell et al. 2024). This followed Lord Carnwath’s analysis in the UK case Walton v. Scottish Ministers, where the main issue to consider was the fact that the applicant had suffered ‘substantial prejudice’. In these recent cases a more a pragmatic approach is being taken.
This proliferation of legislation and case law all over the world regarding participation in environmental matters underlines the enhanced importance of community engagement to achieve sustainable development and net-zero goals. Despite several initiatives, effective participation might still be weak due to a lack of enforcement or weak enforcement mechanisms, poor design of consultation processes, inequality as to who participates, low transparency in how citizen input is used, and the lack of requirement to provide feedback on how input is incorporated.
Nevertheless, public engagement is essential in reaching net zero, increasing public support and cooperation with climate initiatives, and it leads to better policies. Community engagement plays a pivotal role in achieving net-zero goals by fostering widespread adoption of sustainable practices, enabling informed decision-making and policies, encouraging behavioural change.
Technology can be relevant in involving the population in the EIA. Stakeholders can opt for online platforms and tools, such as websites, social media, apps, or games, to incentivise public participation in EIA, using visual tools (Roque De Oliveira & Partidario 2020) or the Internet as a tool of participation (Sinclair et al. 2016). Electronic tools are cost-effective in reaching people and are used in many jurisdictions (Dietz & Stern 2008; Fredericks & Foth 2013), but must be inclusive to avoid digital exclusion.
AI-driven solutions could also revolutionise how energy is produced, consumed, and distributed, to improve grid resilience and the reliability of renewable energy, and support decarbonisation, providing efficient recommendations for energy use.
Embodied cognition and community engagement
The urgency of climate action underscores the importance of public participation in climate governance and environmental decision-making. Community engagement becomes essential at the local level, where shared understanding of environmental issues is negotiated and contested.
Immersive technologies have shown promise in enhancing audience interaction (Dacko 2017; Poushneh & Vasquez-Parraga 2017; de Amorim et al. 2022). However, their role in shaping community engagement and long-term pro-environmental behaviour remains underexplored, warranting closer examination of the role of immersive technologies in environmental community engagement projects. Involving participants in brand initiatives has been understood as contributing to trust-building, loyalty enhancement, and more favourable brand perceptions (e.g., McAlexander et al. 2002, Algesheimer et al. 2005). Recognising this positive impact, organisations are increasingly exploring practical ways to engage communities, including the use of interactive technologies. Multisensory engagement amplifies emotional involvement and influences consumer decision-making processes across various contexts (Schmitt 1999; Elder & Krishna 2012; Krishna et al. 2017; Glowka 2021; Shahid et al. 2022; Bialkova 2023). Studies suggest that sensory and cognitive processes are closely linked in shaping how consumers perceive, interact with, and assign meaning to brands. This connection has drawn scholarly interest to embodied cognition theory, particularly its relevance to brand co-creation and the formation of long-term consumer loyalty (von Wallpach & Kreuzer 2013; Reitsamer et al. 2016; Stach 2019; Zhou et al. 2024). Therefore, it appears that interactive technologies, by offering multisensory experiences that simultaneously engage multiple senses, have the potential to influence the level of participants’ engagement. Sensory inputs and interactive elements, such as graphics, soundscapes, and touch-sensitive feedback, can evoke a heightened sense of reality and vivid depictions. Supported by the sense of presence (Cummings & Bailenson 2016; Fan et al. 2022) and narrative transportation (Green & Brock 2007), these approaches have the potential to result in memorable and impactful experiences. The sense of presence enables one to feel physically and emotionally involved in a virtual environment, even when physically located in a different place (Lee 2004; Cummings & Bailenson 2016; Fan et al. 2022). Narrative transportation refers to mental immersion into a story, where individuals find themselves emotionally and cognitively absorbed in the narrative (Green & Brock 2007). This multisensory engagement potentially enables participants to absorb and retain information more effectively, reinforcing both tacit knowledge and cognitive and emotional engagement (Alfaro et al. 2019; Dubovi 2022; Lin et al. 2024; Pastor & Bourdin-Kreitz 2024). Multisensory engagement might also reinforce a participant’s self-efficacy, suggesting that engagement within immersive environments can build confidence in one’s ability to enact change. Therefore, the perceived sense of presence and the feeling of being immersed in the story can potentially create an experience that transcends mere observation. In the interactive, technology-enhanced environments, participants are encouraged to take an active role in the narrative, make their own choices, and, consequently, affect the outcome of the plot. This participatory approach creates a space for participants to immerse themselves and feel like they are part of the story. This element in turn might result in an enhanced effectiveness of the message conveyed as part of the experience, due to emotional and cognitive involvement that potentially intensifies greater information understanding, message recall, and consumer behaviour change.
Pro-environmental initiatives employing immersive environments appear to support more profound understanding of sustainability concepts, resulting in improved recall and long-term environmental behavioural changes (Breves & Heber 2020; Lin et al. 2024). A study on The Green Planet AR Experience (Levstek et al. 2024) suggests that the sense of presence and emotional connection to nature act as mediating factors in pro-environmental behaviour change observed under immersive technology conditions. It seems that immersive media might enhance the feeling of presence and emotional connection with nature, potentially strengthening the overall immersive experience. The study further emphasises the potential role of immersive experiences in reinforcing sustainability beliefs and promoting pro-environmental behaviours immediately after immersive media engagement, and in the following month (Levstek et al. 2024). It is possible that the embodied nature of the immersive experience could create a two-way process between the participant and the mediated environment, resulting in the co-creation of meaning and strengthened pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour. Therefore, incorporating immersive technologies into pro-environmental community initiatives can deepen relationships between organisations and their customers. Immersive experiences have the potential to evoke emotional and cognitive involvement, leading to favourable brand perception. Brands that create interactive experiences aligned with their customers’ values may, in this way, become ethical facilitators of change, strengthening brand–community relationships. Customers who engage with brands beyond transactional interactions often form emotionally resonant and cognitively meaningful brand associations, making brands personally relevant.
The Green Planet AR Experience: immersive community engagement
Understanding how immersive technologies contribute to community engagement requires an examination of their role in public participation and community-building. Since immersive experiences can reinforce cognitive and emotional involvement (Cummings et al. 2021), particularly when the content aligns with customers’ values, it appears that pro-environmental enacted experiences contribute to a shared understanding of sustainability concepts. A case study of The Green Planet AR Experience provides further insights into the role of immersive technologies in advancing pro-environmental public participatory projects.
The Green Planet AR Experience was an augmented reality installation, organised by Factory 42 in collaboration with BBC Studios and EE Ltd, available from February to March 2022 in London, United Kingdom. The exhibition, inspired by the BBC series The Green Planet and attended by around 10,000 visitors (Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards 2025), aimed to raise awareness about the role of plants in the green ecosystem and the biodiversity of the planet. The experience combined realistic soundscapes, interactive storytelling narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and augmented visuals to generate immersive and believable worlds. Visitors explored six digitally enhanced habitats, including the Amazonian jungle, deserts, and saltwater ecosystems, all viewed from the perspective of plants. Participants could personalise their educational journey by choosing their own paths and sequence of interactions across the various habitats. The Green Planet AR Experience, in addition to its educational focus, can be considered a participatory initiative that contributes to community formation. Beyond the physical exhibition, an online campaign, #OurGreenPlanet, offered a space for continued engagement, where community members could exchange ideas and learn together over time. It featured inspiring stories of environmentalists who restore and reclaim green spaces, and it encouraged individuals to initiate their own environmental projects and share the outcomes.
The project, based on Vella-Brodrick’s community engagement model (Vella-Brodrick 2017), provides a more detailed perspective on how the levels of engagement were achieved. Vella-Brodrick’s community engagement model describes the level of interaction as a continuum, ranging from basic one-way communication to collaboration and ownership. At the lowest level, participation involves raising awareness through clear communication and education about the problem. Mid-level engagement focuses on consultation and inclusive dialogue to address community concerns and perspectives. At the highest level, engagement entails active collaboration, such as co-design and shared decision-making, where community members help shape outcomes and drive solutions. This level encourages community members to take ownership of initiatives and guide them in ways that reflect their priorities, contributing ideas, decisions, and directions. As they engage, they build practical skills and learn from the realities of their own environment.
Notably, the model assumes that the impact of a project should be evaluated not only from a financial perspective but also from a social standpoint, considering the quality of the change experienced by those involved (Diener & Seligman 2004; Vella-Brodrick 2017). It calls for locally embedded strategies that draw on diverse perspectives and encourage collaborative problem-solving. The model argues that the level of community engagement should correspond with the specific aims and circumstances of the project. Therefore, the highest level of engagement does not necessarily result in the most desirable outcomes.
The Green Planet AR Experience, analysed through Vella-Brodrick’s model, reveals that the initiative engages the audience at both involvement and partnership levels. These levels correspond to mid-range and higher levels of community engagement identified in the model. The project extends beyond informing and educating, as it offers a participatory experience that invites visitors to engage actively in the installation and online campaign. The integration of interactive technology in The Green Planet AR Experience exemplifies engagement at the involvement level of Vella-Brodrick’s model, situated within the mid-range of the community engagement continuum. The installation combines immersive design with storytelling to convey complex environmental concepts in an accessible format. This fusion invites participants into a layered experience that encourages reflective engagement with complex ecological ideas and elicits affective responses. By embedding responsive elements into the experience, the design translates abstract information about different ecosystems into immediate experience, potentially affecting how individuals perceive their relationship with nature. The exhibition encourages participants to see nature as part of their own world, making it more personally relevant rather than abstract or distant. This shift perspective may lead to identification with nature, which, in turn, might increase the likelihood of environmentally responsible behaviour. Moreover, feedback mechanisms included in the exhibition, as a post-experience assessment of knowledge retention, emotional impact, and behavioural change, reflect a project design process consistent with a mid-range level of engagement in Vella-Brodrick’s model. A higher level of community engagement can be observed in the co-creation of the experience. Participants, by interacting with the immersive environment, became co-creators of the project and its co-designers. The initiative engaged community members as active partners and co-creators by creating an environment where participants can build a collective understanding of environmental issues and connect with the natural world (Jang et al. 2010; Levstek et al. 2024; Mansour et al. 2024; Liu & Wang 2025). As reported by Levstek et al. (2024), participants demonstrated higher scores on sustainability-related knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes following the experience, compared to their pre-exposure levels. These results suggest that the initiative potentially deepened participants’ understanding of environmental concepts and supported their experiential learning process through embodied interactions that grounded abstract knowledge in a multisensory environment. Possibly, the initiative, by encouraging participants to act as co-creators, also contributed to long-term capacity building. Seemingly, its accompanying online campaign, #OurGreenPlanet, created a space for meaningful discussion and active participation. Individuals were encouraged to initiate their own environmental projects and share outcomes with others, which corresponds to the highest level of Vella-Brodrick’s model of engagement, where co-creation and collaboration are central. Active involvement also helps strengthen the relationships between organisations and participants, providing opportunities for emotional connection (Schmitt 1999; Akgün et al. 2013; Kim & Sullivan 2019). When individuals are invited to engage meaningfully in brand-led initiatives, the resulting emotional resonance and sense of purpose can translate into brand advocacy, loyalty, and community-based value creation, all of which support customer-based brand equity (Merz et al. 2009; Keller 2013; Iglesias & Ind 2020), characterised by the distinct manner in which a consumer’s familiarity and associations with a brand influence their reaction to its marketing activities (Keller 1993). As Keller (1993) suggests, a brand achieves positive equity when its specific marketing efforts evoke a more positive response than identical marketing efforts applied to a generic or unbranded version of the same offering.
The Green Planet AR Experience illustrates how interactive media can contribute to community engagement in ways that are both contextually appropriate and psychologically impactful. The experience advances engagement by situating environmental narratives within interactive environments designed to provoke affective responses and support environmental understanding. The initiative aimed to encourage participants to observe and interact with different species and habitats, experiencing their interconnectedness, which might have reinforced a collective sense of responsibility for the planet and reflection on individual ecological impact. Together with its online campaign, the experience also encouraged participants to undertake their own environmental projects, contributing to the co-creation of community-led sustainability efforts.
Limitations
While the Green Planet AR Experience offers valuable insights into the potential of immersive media for environmental engagement, several limitations must be acknowledged. First, the experience relied exclusively on augmented reality (AR), without incorporating virtual reality (VR) or multisensory feedback mechanisms, such as touch-sensitive haptics. It constrains the exploration of embodiment and sensory immersion, which are recognised as influential mechanisms in behaviour change (Krishna 2012; Ardelet 2020; Sarıca 2023). Moreover, the quality of immersive stimuli, such as visual fidelity, narrative coherence, and emotional resonance, remains under-researched, yet is likely critical to the effectiveness of such initiatives. Future studies should examine how stimulus quality interacts with audience characteristics, including individual differences in technological literacy, environmental attitudes, and cognitive styles. For example, a significant gap remains in understanding how much a highly realistic visual stimulus is more or less effective than a more stylised one for audiences with low environmental attitudes, or how excessive narrative presentations affect users with lower technological literacy.
Accessibility and inclusivity also present challenges. Although the experience was designed to be engaging and educational, it did not fully address the needs of users with disabilities, which underscores the importance of developing initiatives that cater to the diverse requirements of participants. The lack of comparative analysis with other immersive formats also limits generalisability. The Green Planet AR Experience demonstrates that immersive techniques developed for augmented reality can be adapted to other media environments. However, their success depends heavily on how users interact with the content and the specific conditions in which it is delivered. As technologies advance, the emergence of novel approaches, like adaptive interactivity, personalised feedback, and multisensory integration, calls for further empirical investigation. Future research should examine how these affordances shape engagement, learning outcomes, and behavioural change, particularly in relation to environmental and social effects. Future studies should investigate how multi-modal controllers, which utilise hand tracking, speech recognition, and tactile sensors, can be used to create closed perception–action loops and, in turn, deepen emotional engagement and improve cognitive coherence. Research should also investigate how AI algorithms, based on engagement data and user interaction patterns, can adjust content structure and interaction flow in real time to support user autonomy and involvement. To assess the environmental and social impact, research could adopt social network analysis of community interactions and measures of collaborative project success as methods for examining whether the technology fosters community cohesion and collective action outcomes.
Practical implications
The case of The Green Planet AR Experience demonstrates the potential of immersive technologies to create emotionally resonant and memorable, multisensory experiences that not only support educational goals but also encourage meaningful participation and promote long-lasting pro-environmental behaviour changes.
AR experiences can stimulate the sense of presence and narrative transportation, resulting in increased understanding of pro-environmental concepts, better knowledge retention, and behavioural changes (Alfaro et al. 2019; Breves & Heber 2020; Dubovi 2022; Lin et al. 2024; Pastor & Bourdin-Kreitz 2024; Zhu et al. 2024). In the case of The Green Planet AR Experience, individuals were encouraged to engage with the augmented world on a personal level. Rather than simply presenting information, this carefully designed participatory initiative invited individuals to be active contributors who explore and co-create the experience, which in turn prompted pro-environmental behavioural changes. This case study suggests that interactive environments that engage both participants’ emotional and intellectual faculties have the potential to enhance memory retention and recall. In addition, stimulated emotions such as awe and empathy, together with cognitive engagement, can motivate participants to engage in further conservation activities. Therefore, it appears that immersive pro-environmental initiatives may support community-building, especially among individuals concerned about sustainability, and who are willing to interact with new technology.
In parallel, the #OurGreenPlanet campaign, launched after the Green Planet AR Experience, enabled meaningful participation and ongoing dialogue, and promoted collective pro-environmental efforts, all of which contributed to continuous community-building and inspired a culture of sustainability. Both initiatives, The Green Planet AR Experience and the #OurGreenPlanet campaign, were designed as collaborative projects that invited participants to co-create environmental experiences, establishing a sense of partnership and shared ownership. These examples suggest that organisations seeking to deepen community engagement through participatory projects should consider integrating co-design practices that are structured around shared decision-making and reciprocal interactions to strengthen participants’ sense of self-agency and contribute to community change.
The findings of the study also hold important implications for marketing practice. Given the popularity of The Green Planet AR Experience, the UK’s top immersive experience (Campaign Ad Net Zero Awards 2025), it appears that the participatory character of the initiative could lead to organic word-of-mouth and social sharing promotion. Such organic advocacy can be particularly powerful in the context of environmental sustainability initiatives, where authenticity and trust significantly influence how messages concerning, for example, energy conservation or greenhouse gas reduction, are received and acted upon. Consequently, organisations that engage communities in environmental projects and build meaningful connections with community members may be perceived as more authentic and trustworthy, thereby reinforcing long-term brand relationships. Prior research supports this notion. For instance, Du et al. (2007) have observed that customers tend to identify with brands that are committed to social responsibility, as these brands provide evidence of shared values. Furthermore, research by Bhattacharya & Sen (2004) suggests that customers strongly identify with the character of brands that engage in social responsibility initiatives as more human, which in turn leads to stronger customer trust and loyalty. Therefore, organisations committed to sustainability should maintain coherence in their messaging and user experience across platforms to build brand recognition and reinforce consumer–brand relationships grounded in shared values. To maximise the effectiveness of their engagement campaigns, organisations should apply rigorous evaluation frameworks that incorporate longitudinal data, stakeholder feedback, and multidimensional performance metrics.
The Green Planet AR Experience and its accompanying online campaign also function as strategic tools for brand differentiation. The collaboration served to articulate the distinct technological competencies of EE and the content production strengths of the BBC, strengthening the position of each brand within its respective sector. EE demonstrated the practical applications of its 5G technology, reinforcing its position as an innovative telecom leader. At the same time, BBC enhanced its image as a provider of educational content, aligning with its broader public service mission. The case of The Green Planet AR Experience suggests that projects designed to engage communities through innovation and entertainment can be practical marketing tools when built around a customer-focused strategy. By incorporating relatable themes and content that can become personally relevant for customers, such initiatives can strengthen brand connection, increase audience engagement, and contribute to a stronger sense of belonging. This strategy reflects a link between active stakeholder participation and the evolution of brand identity over time. It also indicates how integrated environmental messaging can shape public perception and influence sector-wide standards. Organisations implementing such initiatives should ensure their teams can recognise and respond to both emotional and cognitive dimensions of engagement, creating experiences that align with audience expectations and values.
Conclusion
This study has explored the role of interactive technologies in community-based environmental initiatives. The Green Planet AR Experience serves as a compelling case study, demonstrating that immersive technologies can effectively engage and educate communities while supporting broader sustainability goals. The study also considered how evolving EU legislation, particularly second-generation provisions on energy communities, is reshaping the role of citizens in the energy transition. These legal reforms increasingly recognise community-led initiatives not just as peripheral actors, but as central contributors to renewable energy production, governance, and benefit-sharing.
By embedding public participation and community-led decision-making into environmental legislation, governments can ensure that local voices shape sustainable energy initiatives from the ground up. When policymakers and organisations actively collaborate with communities in designing environmental initiatives, they build trust, deepen public understanding of environmental issues, and create conditions for the adoption of sustainable practices. Linking legislative efforts with clear public communication helps translate environmental goals into practical action. It drives innovation, supports responsible behaviour, and holds institutions accountable. It also creates conditions for a collective commitment to environmental sustainability and global net-zero goals.
Environmental initiatives can reshape how societies respond to ecological challenges. Involving communities in the design and implementation of these efforts, organisations, and policymakers can accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices and ensure that their benefits reach across social and economic boundaries. With targeted funding and coherent policy frameworks, environmental initiatives can contribute to the global transition toward sustainability, encouraging long-term behavioural change and institutional accountability.
Interactive technologies can deepen public engagement by offering immersive experiences that make environmental issues tangible and relevant. Their integration into community-based projects has also shown promise in strengthening relationships between organisations and the audiences they serve, particularly when these tools are used to support dialogue rather than deliver one-way messaging.
Appendix
Legislation
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992, Principle 10: Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.
Resolution 3/2002 NEW DELHI DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Article 5. The principle of public participation and access to information and justice.
5.1 Public participation is essential to sustainable development and good governance in that it is a condition for responsive, transparent and accountable governments as well a condition for the active engagement of equally responsive, transparent and accountable civil society organizations, including industrial concerns and trade unions.
5.2 Public participation in the context of sustainable development requires effective protection of the human right to hold and express opinions and to seek, receive and impart ideas. It also requires a right of access to appropriate, comprehensible and timely information held by governments and industrial concerns on economic and social policies regarding the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment, without imposing undue financial burdens upon the applicants and with due consideration for privacy and adequate protection of business confidentiality.
5.3 The empowerment of peoples in the context of sustainable development requires access to effective judicial or administrative procedures in the State where the measure has been taken to challenge such measure and to claim compensation. States should ensure that where transboundary harm has been, or is likely to be, caused, individuals and peoples affected have non-discriminatory access to the same judicial and administrative procedures as would individuals and peoples of the State in which the harm is caused.
2012 Sofia guiding statements
Article 7 The principles of public participation and access to information and justice are foundational to sustainable development, and judicial and quasi-judicial bodies must seek to affirm this in their substantive decisions and, as applicable, as elements of their own procedure.
Escazú Agreement: The objective of the present Agreement is to guarantee the full and effective implementation in Latin America and the Caribbean of the rights of access to environmental information, public participation in the environmental decision-making process and access to justice in environmental matters, and the creation and strengthening of capacities and cooperation, contributing to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development.
Bali Guidelines adopted by the Governing Council of UNEP, UNEP/GCSS.XI, Decision SS XI/5, pt A, 26 February 2010
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/unep-implementing-principle-10-rio-declaration; https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/bali-guideline-implementation-guide; https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/11201/UNEP%20MGSBSGBS%20BALI%20GUIDELINES-Interactive.pdf?sequence=1&%3BisAllowed=y
DIRECTIVE 2014/52/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 April 2014 amending Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment
Case law
Berkeley v. Secretary of State for The Environment and Others, Berkeley (No. 1) [2001] 2 A.C. 603 pp. 615–616.
Case C-72/95, Aannemersbedrijf P. K. Kraaijeveld BV and Others v. Gedeputeerde Staten van Zuid-Holland (Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Nederlandse Raad van State).
Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, no. 20381/2025, Greenpeace ONLUSet al. v. ENI S.p.A. et al. Judgment of 21 July 2025.
R (Champion) v. North Norfolk District Council UKSC (2015).
Rechtbank Den Haag [Hague District Court] 26 mei 2021, C/09/571932 m.nt. rechtspraak.nl (Vereniging Milieudefensie/Royal Dutch Shell PLC) (Neth.).
Urgenda Foundation v. The Netherlands [2015] HAZA C/09/00456689 (24 June 2015); aff’d (9 October 2018) (District Court of the Hague, and The Hague Court of Appeal (on appeal)) (affirmed by the Supreme Court, 20 December 2019).
Walton v. Scottish Ministers [2013] P.T.S.R. 51.
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2
For example, Hungarian Constitutional Court, Case 28/1994 (Magyarország Alkotmánybírósága), and Constitutional Court of Colombia, Sentencia T – 080 de 2017 de la Corte Constitucional – Consulta Previa – Programa de Erradicación de Cultivos Ilícitos Mediante Aspersión Aérea con el Herbicida Glifosato (PECIG).
3
For example, the Pratobello law in Sardinia (Italy) is a legislative initiative with signature collections and public meetings held across the island aimed at regulating renewable energy projects prioritising environmental protection and local community benefits, emphasising the importance of local decision-making.
4
In Mexico, EIA is important for vulnerable local communities impacted by extractive industry projects, but there is a lack of information (Aspinwall 2021).
Cite
DOI: 10.5871/jba/014.a12
Published on: 9 June 2026
Volume: 14
Issue: Issue 2
Article view count: 135
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© The author(s) 2026. This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International LicenseCite this article
Vacca, A. & Glowka, K. (2026), ‘The role of public involvement in achieving net-zero goals’, Journal of the British Academy, 14(2): a12 https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/014.a12Crossref
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Received
October 2022
Accepted
May 2023
Published
July 2023
African ecologies: the value and politics of indigenous knowledges—introduction Adriaan van Klinken, Simon Manda, Damaris Parsitau, Abel Ugba
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