This is ‘Whoosh’, a three-part audio series on listening to different voices in the wind energy transition. ‘Whoosh’ is produced by DRIFT as part of the JustWind4All project. 

In these three episodes, colleagues Wouter Mulders and Stéphanie van der Raad are trying to shift perspectives by listening to sounds that they believe deserve to be better heard when it comes to offshore wind energy development. 

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In the second episode of ‘Whoosh’, Wouter and Stéphanie continue their journey into the complexities of the wind energy transition — this time, from the perspective of those who share the skies and seas. What happens when the drive for clean energy collides with fragile ecosystems?

They speak with Samuel Wrobel from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, who shares how offshore wind farms are reshaping marine habitats and affecting seabird populations, with 10 out of 25 species already on the red list. From avoidant birds rerouting their migration paths to the seabed forming an artificial reef on wind turbines, there are many unseen consequences. They talk to Cristina Madrid López from the University of Barcelona who approaches the wind transition from a systems perspective. As a modeller, she traces the entire life of a wind turbine — from construction to decommissioning — and looks at how to design better indicators that don’t just focus on energy output.

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These episodes are part of the free training module ‘Leadership in Transitions’, but we think they’re a great listen on their own as well. You can find more info on justwind4all.eu. 

Special thanks to: speakers Samuel Wrobel and Cristina Madrid López, Theo Jansen for interview and inspiration, Marius Kooij for editing and music, Derk Loorbach and Audrey Wientjes for voice-over, Igno Notermans for feedback and support and Julia Wittmayer as well as the entire JustWind4All project team for making this possible.