Social Engagement
Engaging the community
Energy communities coexist and are nurtured by the local community. Good relationships and open communication are beneficial for both sides as they are crucial in building trust with the community and in creating meaningful relationships that can help you support each other. Hence, reaching out and engaging with the community is an essential part and should be done in various ways and through different channels, based on the specific context. You can reach out and engage with the wider community through local media, social media, as well as local events, which can foster community involvement and offer opportunities for the locals to get involved. Through Media or person-to-person communication, depending on the circumstances, projects and updates about the progress of ongoing projects can be communicated. It’s also crucial to offer the space for open back-and-forth communication and citizen involvement that can lead to future actions, further support from the community and most importantly contribute to fostering a collective sense of ownership.
Hover to read in light mode.
A portuguese example
In the case of C-COOP, community engagement was emphasised as a crucial component in the process of organising Culatra into a renewable energy community and involving locals in the decision-making processes. In collaboration with the Culatra Island Residents Association (AMIC), the University of Algarve, the organisation MakeItBetter, and local and national government they launched a Participatory Diagnosis process during which, the island stakeholders co-decided on a new governance system for the participatory exploration of transition paths and appropriate solutions, taking into account the specificities of the island context.
Community Building Activities
Below you can find some team-building activities that will help strengthen your team by building a collaborative spirit and improving collaboration skills while having fun.
- Energy Mapping activity: divide into groups and think about the energy consumption map of your community. Could you brainstorm some solutions for reducing energy usage or increasing renewable energy? With this activity, you can encourage members to think creatively and collaboratively about sustainability.
- Human Knot: In this activity, everyone from the group stands in a circle and extends their right hand into the center to grab a random person’s hand. Then, they all extend their left hand to grab another random person’s hand. The group must untangle themselves without letting go of others’ hands. It’s a fun and nice way to break down barriers while working as a team.
- Two Truths and a Lie: This icebreaker helps team members get to know each other better. Each person shares two facts and one made-up fact about themselves, and the rest of the group tries to guess which statement is a lie. It’s a great way to spark conversation and build trust.
- Blindfold Obstacle Course: Pair up for this trust-building exercise. One person wears a blindfold while their partner guides them through a simple obstacle course using only verbal directions. It’s all about learning to communicate clearly and trust each other.
- The escape room challenge: Creating an escape room, where the members have to solve some puzzles to get out of the challenge, could enhance collaboration and critical thinking under pressure.
- The role reversal activity: The group members have to swap roles, with ones that they are unfamiliar with and don’t usually work with. This could be helpful, to step into other members’ shoes and see things from a different perspective, and enhance empathy.
Team building and community empowerment (for engagement) activities can help groups of people to share ideas and come closer together. An approach we like to deploy is tasking groups of people to work together for a common practical goal like building a small renewable energy powered device.