The Holyoke Community Energy Project is committed to building a just, equitable, and sustainable energy future for Holyoke through co-designed solutions that respond to residents' energy needs, center the community's voice, and repair the legacy of environmental injustices.
Starting in 2023, researchers from UMass Energy Transition Institute are teaming up with Neighbor to Neighbor Holyoke with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for four years of community-based workshops and action.
These workshops will engage Holyoke residents in discussions of energy use at home, new technologies that cost less to operate and create less pollution, community-led energy solutions, and planning at the city level and beyond to make sure the transition to a low-carbon energy system is just and sustainable.
El Proyecto de Energía Comunitaria de Holyoke se compromete a construir un futuro energético justo, equitativo y sostenible para Holyoke a través de soluciones de diseño conjunto que respondan a las necesidades energéticas de los residentes, centren la voz de la comunidad y reparen el legado de injusticias ambientales.
A partir de 2023, los investigadores del Instituto de Transición Energética de UMass se asociarán con Neighbor to Neighbor Holyoke con fondos de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA) con el fin de llevar a cabo cuatro años de talleres y acciones comunitarias.
Estos talleres involucrarán a los residentes de Holyoke en discusiones sobre el uso de la energía en el hogar, nuevas tecnologías que cuesten menos de operar y generen menos contaminación, soluciones energéticas lideradas por la comunidad y planificación a nivel de ciudad y más allá para garantizar que la transición a un sistema energético bajo en carbono sea justa y sostenible.
First Energy Project Workshop
May 8, 2023 - Fifty Holyoke residents came to El Mercado in Holyoke, Massachusetts, for the first Holyoke Community Energy Project workshop. The workshop was a collaboration between the UMass Energy Transition Institute (ETI) and Neighbor to Neighbor Holyoke, a local organization that builds residents' capacity to advocate for their communities. Our goal was to understand the desires and concerns of Holyoke residents, particularly those from the Black, Puerto Rican, and Afro-Caribbean communities, regarding the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
The 50 attendees joined eight focus group discussion tables facilitated by anthropologists, engineers, and other ETI researchers who learned from community members' knowledge of and experiences with the current energy system. Many participants face economic and energy vulnerability and reside in neighborhoods with a history of environmental injustice. Our collective inquiry focused on how the transition to renewable energy could address the historical exclusion of these communities from decision-making and the benefits of energy systems.
In activities developed by the Center for Design Engagement, workshop attendees used colorful strands of yarn to create a data portrait of the assembled group and participated in an interactive "gallery walk" of posters with potential future workshops designed to generate further exploration of Holyoke's energy transition pathways. Participants annotated the posters with stickers and post-its, expressing great interest in learning about energy cooperatives, community air quality monitoring, household energy demand management and prosumer opportunities, and more.
ETI and Neighbor to Neighbor will use the resident feedback to plan ongoing Holyoke Community Energy Project workshops that prioritize participants' interests.
The May 8 workshop was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Energy Foundation.
Harper presents research at Anthropology of Energy Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal
In June 2023, Prof. Krista Harper was invited to present her team’s research on community and expert perspectives on the energy transition at the biennial Energy Anthropology Network Workshop in Lisbon on “Renewable Energy & Post-Carbon Futures.”
The research presented is part of ongoing community-based participatory research on energy issues at the household and community level in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
The workshop was organized by the European Association of Social Anthropologists in collaboration with the EASA Futures Anthropology Network (FAN) together with CRIA (Centro em Rede de Investigação em Antropologia) at the Insituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE).
Holyoke Community Energy Project on Talk the Talk Radio Show!
On Feb. 20, 2024, Prof. Krista Harper was interviewed by WHMP's Talk the Talk radio show about the Holyoke Community Energy Project and the launch of the new Energy Justice Leaders program in collaboration with Neighbor to Neighbor Holyoke and One Holyoke CDC. Harper discussed the need for a just renewable energy transition and for community-based energy research. The deadline for applications to join the Energy Justice Leaders program is Sunday, February 25; click here to apply. For more information, contact communityenergy@umass.edu .
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Email
holyokecommunityenergyproject@gmail.com