This hybrid workshop took place on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at The Royal Society in London. Professor Vanesa Castán Broto gave a welcome lecture on "realising the benefits of community energy for a just energy transition", followed by a keynote by Professor Yacob Mulugetta on "community energy in the just transitions agenda". You can watch the recording of these presentations on the CESET YouTube Channel via the link below.
The workshop explored the potential of off-grid solutions and energy communities to deliver the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal 7: to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. The workshop aimed to produce policy guidelines for including off-grid solutions and community energy in energy transition strategies, identify new research opportunities, influence discussions at the UN Climate Change Conference Baku (COP29), and, in the long term, convene follow-up discussions at the COP30 in Belém do Pará in 2025. While the project has a global focus, practical discussions focussed on ongoing examples of off-grid projects and strategies in Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mozambique.
In the morning, participants shared their experiences of community energy and the barriers faced because of the lack of policy frameworks, supply chain challenges, limited resources, and community engagement and leadership. In the afternoon, participants collaborated in an interactive workshop to explore creative strategies to respond to those challenges within academia, practice, and donor policies. The workshop was funded as an activity of the Community Energy Systems and Sustainable Energy Transitions in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique project (CESET). CESET is a three-year collaborative multi-institutional research partnership funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (grant reference ES/T006358/1) to explore how communities can support just energy transitions in East Africa.
