Plan for Economic Development

Why an economic development approach?

Energy and economic development are closely linked. Your community spends millions of dollars on energy and some of this money can stay in your community if you are transitioning your energy supply to local renewable energy, used efficiently. Poor electricity supply costs the whole community. Renewable electricity and energy innovation can give your community a marketing edge. Planning your energy transition with the aim of benefiting your local economy can attract many people to participate.

These are some other energy and carbon related goals that communities sometimes plan for:

Why is Planning necessary?

Planning plays a crucial role as it provides a strategic framework and structure for achieving your goals. Planning helps you and your community agree the important steps toward achieving those goals. Sometimes planning is about getting agreement for the goal and the timeframe.

A plan serves as a basis for defining roles and allocating tasks within your group. A plan can help you attract resources and partnerships to support your ambitions.

Planning can involve your core team, your full membership or your whole community. If your goals are for the whole community, it often makes sense for the planning process to be led by someone who represents the whole community, like your local council. Waiting for government shouldn't stop community groups though. Announcing the goal and showing people the plan can be a good way to get people on board and supporting your work.

A plan often answers the following questions:

What are we trying to achieve? why and by when?
How much money, time and skills are we likely to need? where will we find these resources?
Who needs to be involved? Who is responsible for making sure we get stuff done?
How will we keep track of progress?
How are we going to keep everyone motivated and doing their part?
How are we going to tell our story and keep engaging a wider part of our community?