aylett - solarize portland and networked urban climate governance
DESCRIPTION
Solarize Portland transformed the market for residential solar energy in Portland, OR. It's also an example of the key - but often overlooked - role of community and civil-society groups in creating more sustainable cities. This talk looks more closely at how civil-society groups can drive innovation and push forward urban responses to climate change. [Originally given in New York City as part of the 2012 Association of American Geographers annual conference.]TRANSCRIPT
Networked Urban Climate Governance: Solarize Portland & the role of communities as
drivers of innovation
Alex Aylett, PhD Research Director, Sustainable Cities International
Sustainable Cities PLUSnetwork
My Work
ocio-political and institutional dynamics of designing and implementing urban climate change
mitigation policy.
Analyzing the socio-political and institutional dynamics of designing and implementing urban climate change mitigation policy.
Portland, OR Durban, SA
civil-society / municipal civil-society / municipal
120 in-depth interviews
My Work
ocio-political and institutional dynamics of designing and implementing urban climate change
mitigation policy.
Analyzing the socio-political and institutional dynamics of designing and implementing urban climate change mitigation policy.
Portland, OR
civil-society
To have a meaningful discussion of urban responses to climate change means moving our attention from municipally-led systems of climate government to more complex networks of climate governance. Networks where multiple state and non-state actors all have important roles to play.
Key Questions•a) What does a critical study of public participation and engagement bring to our understanding of urban climate governance, and the roles and capabilities of citizens and communities in those networks of governance?•
•b) How can we conceptualize community agency in the context of attempts to encourage innovative urban climate responses?
- community-based collective contracting
- competitive bidding
- bulk purchasing
- cost reductions:
24% economies of scale
65% coordination of incentives
- average installation cost: $18,000 $2,925
●
●
601 Installations (2009-2011)
Initial 2009 Installations in SE Portland
Spread of Solarize Portland
Impacts of Solarize
● 1.7MW of electricity
● GHG Reductions = 3156 Cars off the road
● 17% of Portland's 2012 Renewable Energy Goals
Impacts of Solarize
Transformation of the Residential Solar Market
From:
high margin
low volume
scattered
...installations
To:
low margin
high volume
clustered
....installations
“Wouldn't it be cheaper to install solar panels on my house if a bunch of my neighbors were doing it too?”
Selling Solar to Individuals
Mobilizing Communities Behind a Collective Energy Transition
“ Tim and I thought, we are going to consider ourselves successful if we get ten people.
Twenty is going to blow our minds.
I went home that night, picked a name, designed a logo, and within a couple of days I launched a website. ...
We started sending out e-mails to our contact lists, our contacts sent out e-mails to their contacts and within weeks 100 people had signed up. By the end of it I think 300 people had signed up.
– Interview, Stewart 2010/06/29
“ This project has truly brought our community together, all moving toward one goal. ...
It’s been great to see what we’ve been able to accomplish as a group.
- Tim O'Neal, in Rubado 2010
Social Ties TechnologicalTransition
Points for Discussion
Citizens/Civil-Society and:
Conceptions of Public Participation
Experimentation & Innovation
Public Participation
participatory planning
participatory implementation
Spectrums of Participation
participatory planning
Consultation Deliberation
participatory implementation
Behaviour Change
CommunityProjects
● Expressing Preferences● Changing Behaviour● Participating in Hyper-Local Campaigns
Collective Action
● Social Ties● Collective Action● Leadership
The discourse of the citizen as a consumer and object of government has blocked the local state from engaging with communities of citizens as active participants, even leaders, within networks of climate governance.
Civil-Society, Experimentation and Innovation
Civil-Society, Experimentation and Innovation
The “what” and the “how” of sustainable cities is still an open question.
what is innovation?
Civil-Society: an engine for innovation & experimentation
Innovation not at the level of technology, but at the level of market transformations and implementation pathways.
Civil-Society: an engine for innovation & experimentation
Smaller Scale
Higher Risk Tolerance
Locally Situated Understanding of Socio-Technical Transitions
Civil-Society: an engine for innovation & experimentation
Smaller Scale
Higher Risk Tolerance
Locally Situated Understanding of Socio-Technical Transitions
image: Portland Sustainability Institute
