Community Energy Network

It was such a privilege to work on this project with Orion NZ Ltd and Ara Ake. Fantastic wrap event last week too, with the passionate community organisations stealing the limelight. As they should! Looking forward to seeing how this cohort go with their ambitious plans and for partnering with Ara Ake to work out how we can support other electricity networks to give this a go in 2025. #communityenergy Also a huge thanks to the navigators and experts who supported this programme throughout the last 3 months. John Campbell, Kristy Hoare, Will Edwards, Bill Heaps, Jonathan Young, Leigh Ramsey, Chris Freear, Jamie Silk, Wim de Koning, Steve Merito, as well as Wendy Everingham from LETS and Ian Mackenzie from NZGIF.

Keenly interested in how this goes. Hubs like these would be incredibly valuable here too. The need for this has already surfaced in the Community Energy Accelerator pilot we're running with our friends a Ara Ake and Orion NZ Ltd in Canterbury (finishing in a couple of weeks and full write up early next year).

Kia ora tatou, Aotearoa’s environment hubs urgently need your support. Anyone involved in the non-profit sector knows that operational funding is the hardest type of funding to come by. Usually, funders are keener to support projects and outcomes, rather than the stuff we need in order to keep the lights on, like computers, utility bills, salaries for admin and HR staff, and maintenance. Environment hubs across Aotearoa were dealt a heavy blow when Ministry for the Environment funding for hubs up and down the country were cut without notice. That funding went towards vital operational costs for many hubs, which, like EcoMatters, are all places that serve their local communities with environmental education and opportunities to take action. When a budget line like that is struck off the books - especially when it happens without any prior notice, it really is the community that suffers. Collectively, environment hubs have 318 staff and over 213,000 volunteers engaged in 350+ projects across climate action, nature restoration and community resilience. For many hubs, especially for our younger and smaller hubs, it's a threat to their ability to continue to deliver their transformative environmental programmes, or even to their ongoing viability. Environment Hubs Aotearoa urgently needs funds to support our collective operations across Aotearoa, and this month we have set a fundraising goal of $500,000. The funds we raise now will help keep environment hubs across Aotearoa going, while we build new partnerships and pivot. If you can support our EHA whānau and help us get through this next difficult stretch, we would be incredibly grateful. We welcome all donations big and small at https://lnkd.in/g5uCRw9C With your help, we can continue the critical work of regenerating te taiao and supporting our communities in their fight for a sustainable future. If you or your organisation would like to explore supporting EHA as a partner or donor, please send me a direct message and I'll put you in touch with our national coordinator. Ngā mihi for your ongoing support.  Carla

What a great idea! I can't think why this wouldn't work here either.

Already loving the energy from these groups (pun intended). Awesome to be involved and I suspect we'll all be on a steep learning curve around how to support a growing network of community energy enterprises.

Pretty stoked, humbled & privileged to get a 20+ minute interview with Radio New Zealand’s Nine to Noon about my mahi on energy hardship, behaviour change and the just energy transition! Though I had to ask them to please not call me “the country’s foremost researcher” into these topics as there are others (actual academics) that may be more deserving of that title 😳 I also make it clear in the interview that my research takes place under the User-Centred Energy Systems TCP by IEA umbrella, not the International Energy Agency (Secretariat). And I screwed up (by a magnitude!!) the enormous amount of subsidies we’re still putting into planet-wrecking fossil fuels. That’s the danger of free form interviewing 🤷♀️(also, my name is actually pronounced like the ocean) But small corrections aside, it’s really nice when your life’s work and profession gets acknowledged and you get the chance to proselytise about your passion - in my case, environmental & social justice and systems thinking, where energy injustice is a marvelous encapsulation of so much that’s wrong in our socio-technical/political ecosystem with terrifying outcomes for all of us, and the whole planet 🌏 Check it out👇 Dr Sea Rotmann: from marine ecologist to looking out for those in energy hardship https://lnkd.in/g2U7AXhS

Stumbled across this article https://lnkd.in/dMy2wwT9 a couple of days ago. It is littered with USA terminology and a new set of acronyms but I still love this definition of what an equitable 'clean' (renewable) energy transition, especially the last sentence: "Equity in clean energy represents policies and programs that are informed by the community’s input and designed to meet the needs of all its residents. Equitable clean energy policies and programs are based on the principle that each action taken must not deepen existing social, environmental, or economic inequalities; such actions must instead address historic and systemic inequities."  Amongst the discussion around how this can be achieved, they include ideas such as building in new accountability frameworks, developing formal partnerships, ensuring that all renewable energy projects directly benefit local communities and building long term capacity in the community to be able to engage in the above activities. Would be cool to hear from smarter people than me in the LinkedIn space how this reconciles with a market led approach that seems to ignore, or at least significantly devalue, the needs of the communities in the location where the projects are being built. Especially where these communities will not be the primary purchaser of the power (so are not part of the financial model).

It was great to get together with community groups this week and talk about the Community Energy Activator. A pilot designed to support communities in Ōtautahi Christchurch and Selwyn to explore, learn, and connect around community energy needs, aspirations and projects. Thanks to everyone who came along and joined us on Tuesday night at Tūranga and Wednesday night at the Rolleston Community Centre. It was great to kōrero with you and hear what is happening in your communities. If you are considering starting a community energy project, but unsure if it's the right fit for you, check out the Community Energy Activator website to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gfusTVZj The Community Energy Activator is a collaboration between Ara Ake, Community Energy Network and Orion.

In collaboration with Ara Ake and Community Energy Network, we’re excited to introduce the Community Energy Activator – a thirteen-week immersive programme designed to empower local communities to actively participate in and benefit from real-world energy projects. Are you interested in developing a community energy project? Join the upcoming info sessions: > Tuesday 16 July, 6pm in Tūranga Library Christchurch > Wednesday 17 July, 6pm in Rolleston Community Centre The first programme will be held in Christchurch and Selwyn, where participants will explore diverse community energy models, develop innovative ideas and build networks. With guidance from industry professionals, the programme offers a blend of collaborative, peer-to-peer, online and in-person learning, including site visits to local energy projects. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/ggwTvYZG

Great article Mike Casey. In the community sector, the $$ being discussed are big numbers with large potential upsides and downsides depending on how well we do the next 10 years. Maybe we're seeing an opening of the door to accepting the need for large and long term systems change? #communityenergy