Graduate School of Public Policy

Lessons from Europe: The Role of RenewableEnergy Co-operative Federations featuring Dirk Vansintjan

This talk, featuring Dirk Vansintjan , is part of the Creating a League of Our Own: A Renewable Energy Cooperatives in Canada Discussion Series.

Renewable Energy Co-operatives (REC) in Canada have created opportunities to reduce carbon emissions while enhancing community connectedness and local economic development. However, RECs also face formidable barriers, including capacity issues and volunteer burnout. One potential path forward to addressing those capacity issues is having RECs come together to form a second-tier organization, often referred to as a league or federation, owned by RECs to create shared services amongst the sector. While there is currently no league representing RECs in Canada, we can look to Europe to better understand the role and potential of leagues. In this talk, Dirk Vansintjan, President of REScoop – the European federation of citizen energy cooperatives, will share the historical and current context of RECs in Europe and how REScoop was formed, and the roles REScoop play for local RECs.


About our Speaker

Dirk Vansintjan is regarded as a legend in the community energy movement in Europe. He co-founded multiple community energy cooperatives, including Ecopower (1991), the Organisatie voor Duurzame EnergieVlaanderen, ODE-Vlaanderen, (in 1996), and REScoop.be (2010-2020). Dirk has been the President of the RESCoop.eu since its inception in 2013.

Event Information:
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm CST (Saskatchewan Time)

This event is being hosted through Zoom. A link and password will be sent to the confirmation email provided below.

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