Biofuelwatch is co-ordinating a series of workshops to bring together campaigners against dirty extractive energy and fuel poverty with community renewable energy projects, to identify areas for collaboration and mutual support.
Aims of the day are:
- To facilitate collaboration and networking between grassroots groups and organisations campaigning against different forms of dirty energy and against fuel poverty, as well as those working on community renewable energy;
- To identify shared principles and campaigning objectives and messages;
- To identify scope for joint work or messaging, either between all or some participating groups.
The Southwest workshop will be in Bristol on Saturday 10th June at the Kuumba Centre, 20 Hepburn Rd, BS2 and will go from 10am – 4.30pm.
Please register on Eventbrite if you’re coming, and contact us – via fran@biofuelwatch.org.uk – if you have any queries, comments or suggestions.
The London workshop happened last Saturday. Lots of interesting conversations were had about what energy systems we want and how to get there, with a wide variety of people sharing their experiences and ideas for building a safer and more democratic energy future. We heard from Ian from Demand Energy Equality about making solar panels with communities while dispelling popular myths about renewables. Sam Mason from PCS Union told us about exciting developments in green jobs and PCS’s forthcoming report, ‘Just Transitions and Energy Democracy’. Andre from Brixton Energy Co-op shed some light onto different models for energy ownership, their benefits and pitfalls. We brainstormed ways to engage with people about energy justice, how to finance a transition away from dirty energy, what a ‘just transition’ for workers means, and how to make sure any new energy system is more just and democratic than our current one. We also shared knowledge about our current energy reality and the need for greater energy literacy in our wider movements and greater transparency across the sector.
We covered a wide variety of topics, asked each other difficult questions and took away a big list of potential further steps and new contacts. We are very excited about building on these and getting more people involved at the next workshops in Bristol and Liverpool, so come along or contact us to find out more.