Community Resilience
Current Initiative
Initiative Sponsors
For regional economies to prosper in transition, communities need access to tools that empower them to have tough conversations and make informed choices as they build resilience together.
Overview
The Community Resilience stream supports Alberta’s communities and regions as they navigate the opportunities and challenges of the energy transition. By drawing on the Lab’s collective knowledge, resources, and the expertise of our network, we work alongside local leaders to build shared understanding and inspire action.
Through this work, we help rural communities:
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unpack diverse perspectives by exploring the tensions of energy issues and depolarizing them.
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imagine the future by co-creating visions for their energy systems through interactive workshops.
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catalyze change by identifying strategic initiatives and empowering personal and collective action that balances the needs of people, profit, and planet
Why It Matters
The Challenge
Rural communities in Alberta are eager to engage citizens and business owners in conversations about how the energy transition is affecting their communities, but struggle to know where to begin or how to get the most out of them.
As Alberta evolves its energy mix, every community and region will be presented with new opportunities and challenges, but each community’s entry point is different—from the regional assets and expertise they hold, to their histories and identities, to the current and future groups of people whose needs and priorities must be navigated.
Regional leaders are seeking support in designing inclusive and effective processes that create constructive dialogue and build capacity, with a view to ensuring their communities are set up to thrive in a low-carbon future.
Our Approach
Collaborating with community members on energy transition mobilization at the local and regional level creates greater and better impacts because it allows communities to connect global challenges and potential solution pathways to their own experiences. Conversations become tangible, trust is easier to build, and solutions can be grounded in shared values, local priorities and aspirations, and practical action, lowering the barriers to progress.
Latest News & Insights
Roadshows
The Energy Futures Roadshow program has been the Lab's best-known approach to working collaboratively with communities in Alberta.
Roadshows were collaboratively developed with host communities and included a series of interactive multi-day workshops for community members. These included business and industry representatives, elected leadership, Indigenous organizations, First Nation or municipal government administrators, academia, students, economic and community developers, and the general public.
With support from the Energy Futures Lab team and Fellows, workshops helped depolarize the topic of energy to make it approachable, shared learnings, defined communities' own visions for their regions' energy future, took stock of aligned actions, mobilized community members and inspired collaborative action on energy transition opportunities.
Past Energy Futures Roadshow communities include:
Partnerships
The Lab has also worked with partners to deliver community engagement-focused events in line with our vision.
In 2023, The Lab partnered with SAIT and The Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association to deliver a series of 4 summits for urban Indigenous populations focused on green building innovations, energy literacy and energy efficiency.
Learn More
Interested in learning more or getting involved?
Keren Perla
Advisor, Strategy and Design kperla@energyfutureslab.com
General Inquiries
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