Global Fusion Forum: An online platform for public engagement and participation in the development of fusion energy technologies*

Emerging survey research from the US and Europe shows that publics are misinformed but nevertheless positively inclined toward fusion energy. Our engagements with communities indicate a curiosity to learn about emerging energy technologies and a desire to participate in the development process, particularly to shape local infrastructure.  Given this, we have created an online platform – Global Fusion Forum – for public engagement and participation in fusion energy development. To create this platform we assembled an interdisciplinary team with expertise in nuclear and plasma engineering, technical communication, science illustration, UX/UI design, and user-centered web application development. Global Fusion Forum combines accessible information on fusion energy with engaging illustrations and a survey feature. As they learn about fusion energy, users respond to survey questions to express their preferences on how fusion energy should be developed, and share their hopes and concerns for this emerging energy technology. This talk describes platform development and initial data. We also share our planned future developments to the platform, including translating the content into several languages and building additional interactive features.

While there are no substitutes for in-person community engagement, we believe a large-scale online public participation platform, in conjunction with localized in-person engagement, can inform fusion energy research and development efforts.