Energy Democracy, Environmental Justice, and the Governance Gap in the Context of Forest-Based Energy Conflicts: The Case of Akbelen Forest

Hilal Erkuş, Yavuz Selim Alkan () and Gülşah Tırış
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Hilal Erkuş: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07000, Türkiye
Yavuz Selim Alkan: Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07000, Türkiye
Gülşah Tırış: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Akdeniz University, Antalya 07000, Türkiye

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: This study explores the interplay between environmental justice and energy democracy in the context of forest-based energy conflicts in Türkiye, focusing on the case of the Akbelen Forest. It draws on qualitative data from community-based actions and legal documents to examine how local communities engage in collective action against extractivist energy policies that threaten their ecological and social environments. The findings reveal a complex web of multilayered injustices, including procedural, distributional, and recognitional dimensions, experienced by the affected populations. In this regard, the Akbelen case demonstrates how these different dimensions intersect and constitute a framework of “multiple justice”. The central argument of this study, developed primarily through our visualised network graph, is that the Akbelen case demonstrates the limitations of current environmental governance frameworks in accommodating community-based ecological values and rights. This analysis demonstrates how energy democracy can function as both a normative and strategic instrument for rethinking participatory planning and forest governance. The present paper contributes to ongoing debates in the fields of political ecology and environmental governance by situating grassroots mobilisation within a broader discussion of just energy transitions. The study also emphasises the necessity of inclusive, multi-actor governance models that prioritise democratic participation, ecological integrity, and intergenerational equity.

Keywords: multi-level governance; energy democracy; environmental justice; multiple justice; just energy transition; extractivism; participatory planning; political ecology; Akbelen; Türkiye (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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