From all at SCENE we would like to wish you a happy holidays and a relaxing start to the new year. Our office is closed until January 2nd, but we will all be answering emails in the meantime. (click to read more)
2012 has brought our organisation forward in leaps and bounds. Whilst our personnel has changed during the course of the year, our vision of bridging the gap between communities and private sector organisations, has not. This vision is becoming a reality, not only through our own work, but in the sector at large. We were delighted to join forces with MBM Commercial, RSP Consulting Engineers and Geddes Consulting in the creation of Sustainable Heat and Power (SHPL). We are confident that in partnership, 2013 will bring about innovative and equitable joint venture projects which empower communities and start to bridge the sectoral divide which poses such a deep problem at present.
Our UK-wide knowledge exchange, mapping, guidance and investment portal - has been live in pilot form for a few weeks now, and is almost ready to launch in full functionality early in the new year. We would like to thank the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation, Development Trusts Association Scotland, Climate Challenge Fund, EnGAGE Scotland and all of our staff past and present - Charlie, Stan, Rebecca, Anna, Maithu, Paul, Ashton, Marieke, Christina, Neil and Ciorstaidh - for all of their hard work. This has been a major undertaking and it would not have been possible without encouragement and interest from community groups themselves. We now have information from 868 projects and can't wait for SCENE Connect to go live. As an output from this project, SCENE was able to produce the most detailed overview of community renewable energy ever produced in Scotland. Our Report on Community Energy in Scotland looked at amount, distribution, size and types of projects as well as motivations, structures and key success criteria. The report received very good feedback and now acts as a baseline study in the sector, allowing a deeper understanding of where we are, where we want to be and hopefully even a few insights into how we might get there - we look forward to undertaking similar studies in the rest of the UK in 2013.
SCENE Presents a series of informal lectures and presentations on renewable energy started in the summer and we had a further event with special guest Dr Maitland Mackie in September. These events aim to engage with those who work both inside and outside the field of community energy, leading to interesting and balanced discussion on relevant topics. We would like to thank Gemma Lawrence for her help in organising these events. We have also joined the organisation committee for Global Energy Systems 2013 which will take place in June at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. We hope to use this opportunity to bring community energy to the table in a high profile, worldwide conference.
We hope to hear from you in the new year with renewed energy and drive. Until then, happy holidays!
Alex, Jelte and Vijay
