Exploring perceived impacts of onshore wind farms and the link to public support and experience

The perceptions of wind farm impacts play a key role in shaping local support for wind farms. However, previous research has not examined the prevalence of impacts most salient in public perceptions, and acceptance of impacts is often studied in isolation, focusing on single or limited types of impacts. To address this gap, we (1) reviewed the literature to identify commonly researched impacts, (2) conducted a multi-country European survey (n=356) to determine people's perceptions of the impacts and the relevance of the impacts identified in multidisciplinary literature, and (3) examined how these perceptions relate to previous experiences with wind farms and level of support through logistic regression analysis. We identified sixteen impacts from the literature. Through a thematic analysis, 17 additional impacts emerged from participants' descriptions. All 33 impacts were classified into four themes: social, environmental, economic, and energy production-related. Impacts from the literature were consistently rated moderately to highly relevant. The results show that both support for and experience with wind farms shape which impacts were reported. Opponents were more likely to emphasise social and environmental impacts, whereas supporters frequently referenced impacts associated with energy production. Respondents with prior experience reported more social, environmental, and economic impacts than those without. This study contributes to linking the understanding of wind farm impacts with acceptance research, highlighting the need to integrate these perspectives. A holistic consideration of impacts across scientific domains may support future research on public acceptance and contribute to more effective decision-making in wind farm development.