Tackling current and future energy system challenges requires a diversity of perspectives and abilities. No single person or organization has the knowledge or capacity to independently create the energy system that the future requires of us. To do so, we require a diversity of stakeholder insights, perspectives, and contributions.
This is why we convene a diverse Fellowship to help co-create an energy future aligned with our shared 2050 vision. Fellows are the heart of the Lab, driving our Innovation Challenges and innovative solutions forward with passion and enthusiasm. With change-makers from the startup ecosystem, digital innovation, utilities, academia, Indigenous communities, oil and gas industry, and elsewhere, the Fellowship is intended to reflect a broad diversity of perspectives, needs and interests related to our evolving energy system. As we work to shape our energy future, we’ve discovered the importance of fostering “creative tensions” in a way that respects and elevates all voices within brave, respectful, collaborative spaces.
EFL Fellows have the opportunity and responsibility to deepen their understanding of our evolving energy system by engaging with a variety of stakeholder perspectives and ambitions. Fellows build trust, share knowledge, and work together to refine ideas and scale the impact of collaborative initiatives that support the transition to a more resilient, prosperous and equitable energy system.
Play a leading role in identifying, testing and scaling social innovation projects that will have a long lasting impact for people in Canada and our evolving energy system.
Acquire systems perspective and latest insight into opportunities and challenges facing our current and future energy system.
Foster relationships with collaborators in the Energy Futures Lab network and leverage their diverse expertise to action ideas that require input and support from other actors in the system.
Gain access to leading edge tools to facilitate learning and collaboration in response to energy transition challenges and opportunities.
Expand awareness of personal biases and grow leadership skills to better collaborate with a diverse set of actors and perspectives across the energy system and beyond.
We are a coalition of diverse innovators and leading organizations working together to accelerate the transition to the energy system the future requires of us.
As a trusted convenor, connector, and catalyzer of innovative energy system initiatives and solutions, our platform supports change-makers as they collaboratively explore Innovation Challenges for our energy future.
Since its public launch in 2015, the EFL has established itself as a trusted forum for building leadership capacity, fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, stimulating new narratives, and supporting early-stage development of new initiatives and innovative solutions.
We aim to inspire alignment and connectivity across sectors, while bridging ideas, people, and resources in a way that helps refine and develop solutions for our energy future.
The EFL is a multi-interest, collaborative platform that facilitates constructive dialogue around our energy future and enables real-world action and learning. At the heart of the EFL is its Fellowship, representing diverse perspectives from across the energy system. In order to support effective collaboration and facilitation, each Fellowship cohort is approximately 40-50 members, depending on the Innovation Challenges and applicants for the year. For the last seven years, EFL Fellows have established meaningful relationships, created a shared vision for our energy future, and launched numerous initiatives together.
The role of a Fellow is to:
The majority of Fellows are based in Alberta with some coming from other areas of Canada, given the importance of bridging regional-based initiatives to Canada’s national energy system and transition.
While the Fellowship is open to participants outside of Alberta, they need to be prepared to travel to Alberta for the in person workshops.
The EFL has a social contract that describes what it means to co-create and innovate together. This agreement stands for what we believe in as Fellows within the EFL community. By signing this agreement, new Fellows agree to join and actively participate in the EFL community. The social contract is a commitment to demonstrate EFL values and principles, and to contribute to accelerating progress towards the energy system the future requires of us.
Fellow terms last one year, after which the Fellow will be asked to reapply should they wish to continue.
EFL Innovation Challenges are a limited set of critical challenges around which the EFL mobilizes its resources and community to go deeper in order to make progress towards its vision and mission. They are major challenges in the energy system that:
Fellows help to identify Innovation Challenges that they address together. The EFL currently has four active Innovation Challenges.
A social innovation is any initiative that challenges and, over time, contributes to changing the defining routines, resource and authority flows or beliefs of the broader social system in which it is introduced. (Frances Westley, 2014)
In the energy transition space, social innovation involves looking at our energy system holistically to enable, shift, or encourage new ideas, policies and practices conducive to energy system transformation. Social innovations are often thought of as “beyond technology”, under the observation that a needed technological innovation will not succeed if it is embedded in social systems that are working against its widespread adoption.
In the EFL, examples of social innovations include new policies, new collaborations, new narratives, new platforms, new programs, new processes, and / or new business models.
Applications will be reviewed by the EFL support team, with input from the Steering Committee. Selection of Fellows is based on the merit of each potential applicant as compared to the selection criteria, while ensuring that the EFL as a whole reflects a broad diversity of actors and voices representing Alberta’s energy system.Please see EFL Fellow Selection Criteria in the Selection Criteria, Process, and Application document, linked here.
Once the 2023 Fellowship has been finalized, applicants will be notified in January 2023.
New applicants must fill out the application form and send the following:
All documents must be sent to eblocksom@naturalstep.ca before November 15, 2022 for the application to be deemed complete.
Experience has demonstrated that organizational support and endorsement from senior leadership is an essential component for participant success in the EFL. Organizational endorsement supports each Fellow to be an active and engaged participant and to get the most out of their time within the Fellowship.
The EFL Fellowship incorporates concepts of social innovation, collaboration, and systems change, which requires Fellows to immerse themselves in EFL learning experiences, including exploring systems change and sustainability frameworks, relevant collaborative projects, and occasionally bridging these learnings or initiatives back to their respective organizations.
In order to support applicants making the case for Fellowship participation to their organization or company, below are a few tips and talking points, which can be customized to reflect the organization’s specific needs, culture, and objectives:
Please refer to the “Why become a Fellow?” section at the top of this page.
In order to become fully oriented to the EFL, its activities, and its social innovation concepts, new Fellows are required to attend all Fellowship Workshops. 2023 dates will be posted once applications open.
A number of EFL Innovation Challenge workshops will occur throughout the year. Fellows and key stakeholders in the EFL community will be invited to participate in relevant sessions in order to unlock solutions that will enable movement towards our Shared 2050 Vision.
Fellows are expected to actively engage with one another, working collaboratively on shared initiatives. While Fellow workshops are mandatory, the collaborative opportunities that emerge are equally important.
The Energy Futures Lab Fellowship forms the nucleus of the Lab, comprising changemakers, innovators and influencers from industry, government, non-profit organizations, First Nations, academia and community interest groups. Fellows are selected based on merit as compared to the selection criteria, as well as in consideration with the overall diversity of the group and its ability to tangibly influence the energy system. The Fellowship is intended to reflect a broad diversity of actors and perspectives that play a vital role in shaping our shared future energy system.
The Energy Futures Lab Fellowship program is designed and positioned as a unique component of the energy system as the convening space for all perspectives and influencers coming together to co-create our future. The Fellowship also needs to remain a certain size in order to be effective in dialogue, innovation, and progress, therefore, spots are limited. We require an annual financial contribution of $3,000 from each Fellow, however, we have implemented a tiered fee structure based on the financial accessibility of each Fellow’s organization. Further to that, the Energy Futures Lab takes an equitable approach to best support our Fellowship and is open to navigating mutually beneficial arrangements to support the removal of significant barriers, as appropriate.
Standard Annual Commitment Fee Tiers:
Corporate / large organization: $3,000
SME / Municipal Government / Academia: $1,500
Entrepreneur / Individual: $500
Non-profit / Indigenous: bursary provided
Don Iveson, (Former) Mayor of Edmonton
We are an Alberta-based coalition of diverse innovators and leading organizations working together to accelerate the transition to the energy system the future requires of us.
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