Introduction to designing community owned energy projects with strong community participation

Donna Luckman • 10 June 2020

Community participation is a key driver of many community owned energy projects as we seek to work together towards a clean energy-powered future. Local residents are looking to become a driving force behind the transition to clean energy, necessitating a community-led approach.

But how do you make sure community participation is at the heart of the enterprise model you create for your local project? How do we ensure our community owned energy projects are truly community-led?

These webinars will take you through the process of understanding and analysing how the design of your enterprise model impacts on how people participate in the project.

Governance structures (such as voting and membership), economic arrangements (such as shares, debt or donations) and community engagement practices (stalls, workshops and events) all have implications for how participation is either enabled or restricted.

This series will introduce the ‘Participation Footprint’ method, a useful and practical tool to guide enterprise design to drive strong community participation.

Who is it for?

This webinar series is designed for Community energy groups that are keen to ensure their projects enable strong community participation, or those seeking to understand how to create more effective opportunities for community participation.

About the presenter and supporting partners

The series will be presented by Dr Jarra Hicks from Community Power Agency in partnership with Sustainability Victoria’s Community Power Hub program. Dr Jarra Hicks is co-founding director of Community Power Agency and member of the C4CE Steering Committee. The Community Power Hub is a pilot program based in Ballarat, Bendigo and Latrobe Valley investigating and implementing a range of models for community energy.