The aim of this activity is to help you understand:

• Why do we want to get involved in transforming our local energy?
• What do we think our whole community would like to see happen?
• Who shares our ambitions?

Understanding your community’s priorities is a first and essential step when planning a community energy initiative. Only then is it possible to develop plans and initiatives that truly meet the needs and aspirations of the community. Identifying community priorities requires engaging with community members, conducting research, and gathering insights.

Please consider the following steps:

• Map your stakeholders – Download and follow this Stakeholder Mapping Template for mapping key stakeholders in your community.

• Do a survey or ask who has already done one, set up a stall at a local event and start talking to people. You can see Heyfield's Community Survey for ideas.

• Consider doing a community workshop to determine and discuss the participants’ vision for a sustainable energy future in their town.

• Ask people to answer the MyTown Energy questions and discuss the different results you each get.

• Synthesise what you aim to achieve through the project and the values that underpin your vision.

Remember priorities evolve over time, so it is important to revisit and update the your vision to stay responsive to the changing needs of the community.

Resources:

• Heyfield Community Survey. Example of a community survey for better understanding your community's needs.

• Stakeholder Mapping Template for mapping key stakeholders in your community.

• Community Priorities Exercise for better understanding your community's values and priorities in a workshop or event setting.

• The MyTown Energy questionnaire sorts each project by the following values:

  • Reliability
  • Cost
  • Sustainability
  • Self-Sufficiency
  • Equity
  • Innovation and
  • Having more say.

• In Venus Bay the community added Safety, Peace and Tranquility and Community Building with Resilience as the overarching aim of the project. Values for Venus Bay energy project: The Workshop#2 Harvest Report for the Venus Bay energy project explores what each value really meant to people.