Expression of Interest for UKERC Meeting Place research hotel activities
Applicant’s full name: FEASTA
Applicant’s position/title: Phoebe Bright
Business address: Kippagh, Dunmanway, Co. Cork
Business phone:+353 23 55195
Mobile phone:
Fax:
Email: phoebebright@vividlogic.ie
Admin Contact: Enid O'Dowd
Address: Feasta, 10a Lr Camden Street,Dublin 2
Tel: +353 (0)1 4053615
Fax: +353 (0)1 4054835
General Email: feasta@anu.ie
ENERGY SCENARIOS FOR THE UK AND IRELAND
1. Outline the purpose/objectives of what you want to do:
The Energy Scenarios Ireland study (http://www.energyscenariosireland.com) used four senarios to look at the impact that changing energy prices might have on the Irish economy and society over the next fifty years. The aim of this project is to develop the approach used in that study, to apply it to Britain, and then to bring the results to a much wider audience.
Our primary objective is to help as many people as possible become aware of the fundamental impact that switching away from oil and gas is going to have on our way of life and in doing so start to ask better questions and make more informed decisions about our future.
Our plan for phase 2, still in development, is to get together a workshop pack that can be delivered by others and that will include newspapers of the future for each scenario. We believe that Energy Hotel idea can be used to further develop these newspaper articles in two areas: - develop UK specific scenarios - develop articles that reflect potential future technologies and how these will effect the way we live and work.
This is an opportunity for researchers in a particular area to give free rein to their imaginations. If their projects were to take off, what do they think it would mean? And to test these ideas with people who have a different perspective. Very often we assume that everything else will stay the same while only our area of interest changes. For example, the road hauliers may think that substituting biodiesel will allow business as usual, but if at the same time businesses are moving away from Just in Time to having warehouses and therefore fewer but larger deliveries, this will have a major impact on road haulage.
Potential headlines that need fleshing out:
- Major shipping company buys Airship business - about how low cost shipping and low cost airship transport is replacing high cost aviation and road haulage.
- First new windmill that you live in for 150 years - about block of flats has giant blades on the side that powers everything from lights to lifts making the building self-sufficient.
- Furry roof powers house - about how small is the way to go. Nanotechnology used to develop miniature windmills that cover roof slates and power a whole house.
We are open to ideas on the best way of achieving this, and are assuming that a few concentrated days together plus some online collaboration would be the way to go, but your thoughts and experience would be most welcome.
More about Energy Scenarios Ireland
The cheap energy that is fundamental to our western way of life, and drives our economic systems, comes almost entirely from depleting fossil fuels. The second era of cheap energy may come again when we become as technologically advanced and societally adapted to using it from renewable sources as we currently are from non-renewable sources.
In the changeover period however, prices will rise and supply become even more uncertain. This will bring major and fundamental changes to the way we have to live and do business. We are only just starting to become aware of how significant these changes are likely to be.
We are still a very long way from understanding just what they mean and so continue to plan based on assumptions that energy will remain as affordable and, easily and profitably accessible as it is today.
If this continues it will make the changeover more chaotic and painful than is necessary. By sharing ideas about what our future might be like with less affordable energy, we challenge these assumptions and help people and institutions start to make more adaptable plans for the future.
The main reason we are slow to make essential changes is fear of the unknown. Using pre-prepared scenarios helps people to explore what the future might look like in a safe environment and in a way that avoids using our inbuilt assumptions about the future.
Once we have more knowledge about what the future can be and how we can influence it, we are much more likely to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
This project will take people through the process of understanding why we are where we are, what the future might bring and how to plan when the future seems so uncertain.
This project aims to inform and empower people to grasp the future with enthusiasm and help to share news of what is happening in the energy world in a easily consumed format.
2. Outline of tentative content, format and workplan of the activity (the Meeting Place will assist in developing this aspect of the proposal, but it will be helpful to us if you could communicate your initial ideas):
Meeting Plan
It is not yet clear exactly how best to use the expertise that would be available via the Energy Hotel, so here is a rough timetable that can be adapted:
1. Pre-meeting (1 day)
With main stakeholders to go through the plan in detail and identify any additional resources required.
- Run through workshop format at is stands so that everyone understands the scenarios.
- Allocate tasks for next meeting
2. Brainstorming Day (1 day)
- Brainstorm articles on energy
- How could workshops be improved
- How can workshop material be made available to right people
- review website and other technology to be used for communication during the project - Skype, GoToMeeting etc. to ensure everyone is up to speed.
3. Monthly Virtual meetings (1 hour)
- status report.
- issues and risks.
- plans for coming month.
4. Mid project meeting (1 day)
- What went well so far
- What can we do better
- Review plan for second half of project
5. Project close/review (1 day)
- how did we do?
- what did we learn?
- tasks outstanding and who will be responsible for them.
- how can we get this information out there?
- how can we keep the energy scenarios project energised?
- what is the life of the project likely to be?
- what next?
Deliverables
- website that includes all material produced during the project.
- workshop pack for use by third parties including timetables, visuals and briefing documents.
- ideas for sharing scenarios with key people/organisations
Who will be your key partners in organising this
(you don’t necessarily have to have obtained their commitment at this stage)?ENERGY 21 insert bumf here ? FEASTA - The foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (NGO) Cork City Council
3. Aside from your organising partners, are there any other communities, networks or individuals that you plan to involve?
In UK :-
- Forum for the Future
In Ireland: -
- Chamber of Commerce
- City and County Councils
4. Do you need to identify further expertise?
- Expertise in developing stories about the future that exploit technology that is only just being developed or that is still only an idea.
- How to develop a network able to organise and support workshop givers.
5. What is the potential impact and anticipated application of the work?
Empower people to start making a better future by giving them the information to make informed decisions about their own and the future of others.
Our aim is not to provide the answers but to give people the knowledge of what the future may hold so that they can apply this to their own situation.
6. Who is the intended target audience for the outputs?:
In both UK and Ireland,
- Business
- Public Sector
- Voluntary Sector
- Schools and Colleges/Universities
- Community Groups
7. What outputs and avenues for dissemination are envisaged?:
A website, similar to www.energyscenariosireland.com will be produced to be the central repository for information and discussion. Material from the website will also be diseminated in paper format where appropriate, but we will strive to make efficient use of energy in this project by avoiding unnecessary production or paper and travel.
Programme lasts for a year with report produced after a year then Website
Reports from each workshop to go to local papers, local government, other local organisations
Writeup of output after 1 year to go to national papers and national goverments
handoff to other organisations.
APPENDIX
Energy Scenarios Ireland Project - Phase 1
The Energy Scenarios Ireland project has been very successful in raising awareness and creating a positive outlook for those who atteneded our workshops. We have also had mentions in national newspapers and on Irish radio. Because the budget for this project was limited, so was the number of workshops we were able to run and we are keen to bring the workshops to a wider audience and in process continue to develop the information available to all on the website.
Some of the feedback we got when asking what stuck in peoples minds:
- The air of optimism and readiness to accept a changing world
- Diversity of issues, scale of challenge, level of uncertainty.
- Looking back from 2015
Work carried out:
- development of four scenarios bound the likely future.
- development of computer based model that shows the impact on the economy of each scenario, including growth and energy use for each sector.
- development of website http://www.energyscenariosireland.com to news about the project and the newspaper articles dated 2016 that reflect what it is like to live and do business in each of the scenarios.
- interviews with business leaders in each economic sector.
- four workshops, two in Cork and two in Dublin, to share findings and gather feedback from the audience.
- preparation of report on findings of the project (due April 2006).
Workshop Format Example
Peak Oil - what is it, what does it mean - Colin Campbell 15mins
Scenarios - stories about the future - Phoebe Bright 20 mins (also include improvisations from acting group from Cork)
What does UK/Ireland look like if we are reactive in our response and what changes will I have made in this scenario? Group work on their own stories. - 20 mins
-- 10 mins break --
Intro to second scenario - Phoebe Bright/actors - 5 mins
What does UK/Ireland look like if we are proactive in our response and what changes will I have made in this scenario? Group work on their own stories. - 20 mins
Review output from groups - 10 mins.
Closing - 10 mins.
About FEASTA
Feasta (pronounced f-a-st-a) is an Irish non-profit organisation that has a worldwide membership and has a reputation for thinking outside the box and producing thought provoking material.
Feasta aims to identify the characteristics (economic, cultural and environmental) of a truly sustainable society, articulate how the necessary transition can be effected and promote the implementation of the measures required for this purpose.
More about Feasta at their website: http://www.feasta.org
ENERGY 21
Energy21 is the hub of a national network of grassroots renewable energy groups. These groups work to make a difference at a local level to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to promote a more sustainable future for everyone. A future with clean renewable energy driving progress.
More about Energy 21 at their website: http://http://www.energy21.org.uk/
Dates
Preferred dates:
1st choice: Initial Meeting April 2006
2nd choice:
Please email this Expression of Interest form to sarah.keay-bright@eci.ox.ac.uk or post to: Sarah Keay-Bright, The Meeting Place; Oxford University Centre for the Environment; South Parks Road; Oxford; OX1 3QY; UK.
