Bottom-Up Projects Will Be Key to a Clean Energy Future in Cities
Citizen engagement and participation will be critical to achieving a clean energy future in cities across the world, experts say. Although transitioning to green energy will be one of the most significant infrastructure projects that humanity has ever undertaken, public awareness of the renewable energy transition is quite low. Bottom-up initiatives have especially low citizen participation rates and are barely in the public’s awareness, EUSEW Young Energy Ambassador Bettina Päri says.
According to Päri, such bottom-up projects will be key to facilitating the full-scale change needed to reach the 100 Net-Zero-Cities target by the end of the decade. They provide individuals with a direct engagement channel and encourage them to make changes themselves, making them part of the energy transition rather than passengers along for the ride.
The European Youth Energy Forum, for instance, chose 50 young students and professionals to meet at the European Youth Energy Forum (EYEF) to discuss the transition to renewables alongside energy stakeholders. Participants were split into 6 teams, which had weekly online meetings where they worked on half a dozen energy proposals dealing with the role cities can play in the green transition.
The bottom-up initiative saw the participants discuss issues such as energy poverty, energy efficient urban planning, electric mobility, residential energy optimization, community engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration, and energy sector financial mechanisms. Through the course of the meetings, the participants suggested creating a community energy ambassador who would break down complex energy topics to citizens and help them make sustainable choices.
With the average citizen being ignorant of the often technical and complex mechanisms behind energy, these ambassadors would serve a critical role in the community. They would help people understand technical energy topics and show them how they can participate in the energy transition and how they stand to benefit from transitioning to green energy. Ideally, these knowledgeable ambassadors would be chosen from the communities they serve.
Other bottom-up proposals focused on providing more residential participation opportunities, green commuting, and University-Powered Energy Communities. Six in total, these proposals were gathered into a single paper titled ‘Sustainable Cities of the Future’ that presented how different bottom-up solutions could be deployed.
The Youth Energy Forum and similar initiatives show that citizens will be crucial to achieving net-zero cities and helping the U.S. transition to green energy successfully. Ensuring all citizens are educated on renewables and are somewhat involved in the transition will significantly increase the chances of achieving an equitable transition and reaching a sustainable future where no one is left behind.
As these bottom-up energy transition projects take root, there is likely to be a spike in the demand for the minerals that companies like Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) focus on since these are vital in the clean energy space.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
Citizen engagement and participation will be critical to achieving a clean energy future in cities across the world, experts say. Although transitioning to green energy will be one of the most significant infrastructure projects that humanity has ever undertaken, public awareness of the renewable energy transition is quite low. Bottom-up initiatives have especially low citizen participation rates and are barely in the public’s awareness, EUSEW Young Energy Ambassador Bettina Päri says.
According to Päri, such bottom-up projects will be key to facilitating the full-scale change needed to reach the 100 Net-Zero-Cities target by the end of the decade. They provide individuals with a direct engagement channel and encourage them to make changes themselves, making them part of the energy transition rather than passengers along for the ride.
The European Youth Energy Forum, for instance, chose 50 young students and professionals to meet at the European Youth Energy Forum (EYEF) to discuss the transition to renewables alongside energy stakeholders. Participants were split into 6 teams, which had weekly online meetings where they worked on half a dozen energy proposals dealing with the role cities can play in the green transition.
The bottom-up initiative saw the participants discuss issues such as energy poverty, energy efficient urban planning, electric mobility, residential energy optimization, community engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration, and energy sector financial mechanisms. Through the course of the meetings, the participants suggested creating a community energy ambassador who would break down complex energy topics to citizens and help them make sustainable choices.
With the average citizen being ignorant of the often technical and complex mechanisms behind energy, these ambassadors would serve a critical role in the community. They would help people understand technical energy topics and show them how they can participate in the energy transition and how they stand to benefit from transitioning to green energy. Ideally, these knowledgeable ambassadors would be chosen from the communities they serve.
Other bottom-up proposals focused on providing more residential participation opportunities, green commuting, and University-Powered Energy Communities. Six in total, these proposals were gathered into a single paper titled ‘Sustainable Cities of the Future’ that presented how different bottom-up solutions could be deployed.
The Youth Energy Forum and similar initiatives show that citizens will be crucial to achieving net-zero cities and helping the U.S. transition to green energy successfully. Ensuring all citizens are educated on renewables and are somewhat involved in the transition will significantly increase the chances of achieving an equitable transition and reaching a sustainable future where no one is left behind.
As these bottom-up energy transition projects take root, there is likely to be a spike in the demand for the minerals that companies like Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) focus on since these are vital in the clean energy space.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
