As we enter into the last year of the AURORA programme, it is important that we support our energy community Forest Community Energy build a legacy beyond AURORA.
Throughout AURORA, CSE and Forest of Dean District Council staff have been coordinating the energy community to drive forward local citizen led energy activities. This coordination role has included running meetings, developing communication materials, running the social media channels, engaging with local press, organising public engagement events…
In order for Forest Community Energy to continue this work beyond AURORA, it was important that we support them through a transition phase where members take ownership of the group and its coordination. We decided to get the help from some independent facilitators from Holding the Space to support this process. You can read about the outcomes of this process in our previous article.
What did we do?
- Step 1 – Member survey. A member survey went out to all the people who have been involved in the energy community to understand better their interests and levels of commitment.
- Step 2 – “The Way Forward” workshop. An initial workshop was held in February where the group were facilitated to build a shared understanding of FCE members’s areas of interest, look at the current local energy landscape and collectively identify options for action.
- Step 3 – “Nuts and Bolts” workshop. In March, the group were brought together again to consider their vision for FCE in one year’s time and to start discussing the “Nuts and Bolts” of running the group (e.g. communication methods).
- Step 4 – Final workshop. A final workshop in this series was held in April where the FCE core group members were brought together to agree their overarching purpose and objectives, key roles and responsibilities and how the group will communicate with each other and others going forward.
To support this process, meetings were held with individual members, pre-reading and handover documents were created for the group to base discussions around at the workshops.
What have we learnt?
Importance of neutral facilitation.
Having the support of neutral facilitators to guide the group through this journey was essential. Their approach was not guided by any other agenda other than to help the group get to a position where they have the structure they need to progress and achieve what they want to do.
We were grateful to have the expert facilitation support from Holding the Space for guiding us through this journey. This also allowed time for AURORA FOD staff to input into the discussions which has been critical for this transition period.
Data was key to get the process started.
The energy community was loosely defined at the stage in which we put the survey out. There were people who came and went in terms of their engagement with the group. Getting people to respond to a survey was helpful for gathering that baseline information on who exactly wants to be involved, what time and skills can they offer and what vision people have for the energy community going forwards.
Don’t underestimate the work and time involved in this process.
Although this process could be defined by a series of steps, there was a lot of work that happened in between the steps to ensure that the workshops and meetings were effective and a good use of everybody’s time.
The work that happened in between the workshops was also essential at ensuring that all voices were considered and for funnelling a broad spectrum of ideas and opinions into an agreed direction of travel. Having a multi-step approach with more work being done in between allowed for debriefing, discussions and percolation of ideas which led to a process of sifting and refining to get to a more specific goal for the group.
The nuts and bolts are equally as important as the purpose.
The successful running of an energy community is more than just the bringing together of passionate individuals – there is a lot of day-to-day practical considerations that are required to ensure a group can achieve its goals. This process allowed the space and time to consider these more practical elements including internal and external communication methods, decision making processes and group governance.
Flexibility and responsiveness is required.
Prioritising a shift in ownership in this process meant that members of the energy community started to have more agency and take on actions which led to a degree of pivoting in our planned approach. The facilitation team needed to be flexible and responsive to allow for these changes.
The need to balance inclusivity and making decisions.
It was important in this process to ensure all voices were being considered in the workshop settings and for those who could not make the workshops. Rather than take too much time with this during workshops, the facilitators spent some time gathering opinions outside of the workshops and presenting proposals to the group during the workshop rather than start from a blank page. This was an effective and efficient approach to take.
Trust was critical for this transition phase.
The work that the AURORA FOD team had done with the group over the years up to this point already built a lot of trust with the energy community members. This helped the group to be open to independent facilitators being brought in by FoDDC and CSE to guide this process and engage in the workshops.
Design in time for building relationships.
An important aspect of our approach was to prioritise relationship building as not all the members of the group had worked together before. The facilitation team made sure to build in time for socialising and sharing meals during the workshops.
Appreciation of volunteers.
Ongoing engagement is a key challenge for working with volunteers. The energy community members are not being paid to take part in this process. We are reliant on their personal drive and passion for local energy action as a motivation for staying involved. This is essential for individuals to put themselves forward to take on responsibilities to drive forward tasks. We recognise the importance of giving our appreciation to the volunteers for their time and efforts in taking part at any opportunity we have.
Model good practice in the process.
During the workshops, we didn’t have time to cover everything and also provide training on key aspects of running a group – for example, how to make decisions as a group. A useful approach that the facilitation team took was to model decision making processes during the running of the workshops.
To conclude
On reflection, the key elements to making this process successful were: allowing enough time to put in the necessary work, building trust with the individuals beforehand, being flexible and responsive in our approach, building relationships between members of the group and modelling good practice.
The FCE group are now at a critical point in their journey to self-organisation. They have the tools to be able to be in the driver’s seat, but the AURORA Forest of Dean staff will be on hand to support the next phase of this process, gradually reducing this support over time.
