Presentation Description: We suggest a moderated panel format, discussing the experiment described below & lessons learned for community engagement. If selected as a panel presentation, other speakers collaborating on this experiment would Eider Cordoba from Nimbly Insights, and Max Jabrixio and Dahvi Wilson, formerly at Apex Clean Energy and now representing the Siting Clean Collaborative. The goal is to help fill a key strategic gap that could help combat misinformation and opposition, and it should be highly informative to ACP members considering their own strategies.
One challenge underpinning the spread of local opposition to renewables is the lack of trusted messengers who can speak credibly to community members in support of clean energy. Social science research demonstrates mistrust for information coming directly from developers and a much higher level of trust for those viewed as respected peers: farmers and small business owners. While landowners are often mobilized by individual developers to support individual projects, the many farmers and ranchers who support and are actively seeking to participate in projects have no collective, organized voice.
Our hypothesis is that landowners - both currently hosting renewable energy and those that want to - would find value in becoming members of a non-profit association dedicated to serving them. Since November, Rakas and Nimbly Insights have partnered with the Siting Clean Collaborative to research the formation of such an association, interviewing farmers and ranchers who would be potential members.
This presentation will describe the unique elements of this grassroots, farmer-driven initiative, the lessons we’ve learned so far in researching this topic, and the expected next steps.
