Collaborating for Community Building Decarbonization

Round 1: Yes
• This is a great exercise. Sounds exciting and the aspect of collaboration comes from the actual attendees – encouraging dialogue and sharing of ideas – which is not always done in conferences
• Hoping –

the context points/data will be realistic
Exercise incorporates multifamily residents as session description only mentions homebuyers

• Just want to make sure that this exercise needs to be really thought out and executed well in order for it to work.

Yes, Love that it is intereative, collaborative and commnunity focused on a hypothetical town with a GHG reduction goal. It has a good potential to showcase what it takes for overall stakeholder engagment and collaboration on such projects to meet objectives. 
 
I hope the session chairs can make sure that the exercise if succint and useful within the alloted time. 

ROUND 1 DISCUSSION: Like that it's interactive - not usually done in conferences. NEEP speaker. Is it too generic and thus not useful? Is it realistic (not just homebuyers) - needs renters, etc. Need to include actual behavior science-(Jodi). Get clear idea how it would work online.

I have not yet connected with Emme (my lack of outreach) but have sent her these questions. I like hte layout and intent of this session, and woudl fully support it if we coudl get input on these questions I pose. The curator could work this through with Emme, I believe.Main questions –1) have you confirmed facilitators for this?2) will the focus be on any particular type of process (e.g. dynamic governance, regenerative practice, etc.), is it more about tools to use, or is it unstructured in the break outs?3) what are the main differences between remote and in-person, and how would you prefer this session be offered?4) what are your intended take-aways for participants (the must-have intent for this session). Is there a specific truth or idea you hope is made evident?

Emme responded just now - I'm capturing what she sent for the record. The last question I have not yet asked her, and would encourage that to be part of the curation. "Begin with the end in mind".have you confirmed facilitators for this?I would be the primary facilitator, so yes, but we would need other facilitators for the breakout rooms, NEEP could likely provide most or all of those facilitators depending on the expected number of attendees and ultimate number of breakout rooms.  will the focus be on any particular type of process (e.g. dynamic governance, regenerative practice, etc.), is it more about tools to use, or is it unstructured in the break outs?The intent is to have each breakout room tackle an issue of particular interest to them. The group as a whole would be presented with a general context and then each breakout room would get additional detail; facilitators would guide the conversation. Additional info below:Small Group Dialogue: Energy Town has tasked you and your colleagues with identifying potential solutions that can reduce the community’s GHG emissions from target sectors, empower residents to make efficiency improvements, leverage existing resources, and benefit the local workforce. In a small group dialogue setting for 45 minutes, a facilitator will lead each group in identifying 1-5 potential solutions with supporting strategies. A volunteer from each group will take notes and another volunteer will share a few high-level lessons learned with the entire group during the 15-minute close-out.Overarching Question for Small Group Dialogue: What might be some solutions that empower residents of EnergyTown to invest in their home’s energy efficiency while leveraging utility resources and stimulating the local workforce and real estate market?Additional Guiding Questions to be posed by Facilitator (Note: Facilitators may confirm or introduce additional context or data points to guide the dialogue): Who is on this task force and what expertise might they lend?What data can we assume this task force has? What data might be missing and how can we collect it?What stakeholder groups might be in opposition to these solutions and how can we work to overcome that opposition? What motivates Energy Town residents in this particular scenario?What impact will this solution have on the local economy? What jobs might be created? What professions might be supported or harmed by this solution?How can we expand the reach of this program to include even more customers? How can we apply this policy or program in an equitable way?How might the efficacy of this solution be altered if one of the context points were to change?Additional Context Points For Small Dialogue (breakout groups will be pre-assigned; attendees can choose topic during registration):Energy Town has a large university with hospital & 80,000 students Energy Town has a large, concentrated income-qualified population that is 70% Black and 20% Hispanic; the neighborhood is next to a coal ash pondCompanyX is building its new headquarters in Energy Town; there are very active real estate and construction markets with very vocal and engaged professionalsEnergy Town just installed 20 EV DC fast charging stations & 25% of population have EVsEnergy Town’s investor-owned electric utility is leading a community solar initiative what are the main differences between remote and in-person, and how would you prefer this session be offered?This session could be offered in a physical context in a large room with space for groups to separate, but I would highly recommend a virtual format for ease of facilitation and access. I would highly prefer a virtual format as I do not know if, due to COVID, our organizational guidance will allow for work travel at that time. I’m happy to talk with you about updates to the proposed breakout categories or process; I’ll note that I’ll be out of the office Thursday afternoon and Friday this week. Thanks and I hope to talk soon!Emme Emme LuckEnergy and Climate Associate

ROUND 2 DISCUSSION: Soft skills, process-focused, but collaborative and active (breakout session with facilitators, followed by process debrief). NEEP would probably provide facilitators. More about group communication and process than content, though content will be discussed in the activity. Preference for this to be a remote session format, but could happen in person. More focused on practice. Could work well as a pre-conference virtual session.DECISION: Accept to run as an online session on Wed, Sept 29 (showcase, as Community Event)