Intersecting Energy Cultures has, since its inception, prioritized a community-led approach that brings to the fore impacts on people worldwide who are caught in the middle of varying energy transitions.
We’re delighted to have this work featured in an article by Joanna Keel and Charlotte Haley, two current Earth Fellows with The Edinburgh Earth Initiative at the University of Edinburgh. Led by Energy@Ed— a network at Edinburgh that aims to engage scholars researching both the social and technical aspects of the world of energy— academics at the University of Edinburgh are actively seeking to explore and amplify community-centered approaches to energy issues.
Rebeca Macklin, co-project lead, is quoted in the piece speaking to the importance of IEC’s methodology: “Collectively, we are beginning to understand that, to achieve a just transition, communities need to be central to decision making. This project seeks to understand how the arts can contribute to this work, not only to better understand community needs around energy policy but to develop new ways of creatively imagining and collaborating to bring about more just futures.”
An arts-based approach is also crucial to the IEC working groups. In the article, Isabel Lane, a member of “Products of Our Environment” emphasizes the power of using the arts as a tool in their work: “The arts-based approach has allowed for a truly remarkable and complex collaboration: scholars Jane Robbins Mize, David Pellow, and I conducted and compiled research about prisons, environmental justice issues, and the lack of evacuation planning in carceral facilities; POE co-founder and incarcerated writer Jared Bozydaj and I drafted the story; incarcerated artist Adam Roberts planned and drew the panels; and Adam’s longtime artistic partner outside of prison, CM Campbell, is currently inking and coloring the pages.”
Dr. Nelson Oppong, a member of the project’s international advisory board and lecturer in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh, is also featured in the piece. In it he conveys the potential for policy action to develop from projects like this: “If it translates into law, and if it translates into enforceable mechanisms at the national level, and if it also complements democratic processes and civic spaces in countries, then it could be a powerful tool.”
We hope you’ll take a moment to read this thoughtful piece featuring the community-led, arts-driven work of a few of our IEC teams.
Read the full article: Centering People: Community-Led ‘Just’ Transition Projects at the University of Edinburgh By Joanna Keel and Charlotte Haley.