Launching on 7 February 2024 is a new all-member online forum.
CEE has a range of members beyond community energy organisations, including companies providing services to the sector, such as installers, solicitors, and PPA providers, local authorities at various levels, and NGOs who support the community energy sector and broader community and co-operative sectors. These members are all supportive of community energy and many are key stakeholders in the sector, such as distribution network operators (four of the six are members).
The main objective of the forum is to create a space where all our members can interact - we think this will benefit our community members by making it easier to talk to these supportive and useful organisations and key sector stakeholders and gaining from their expertise and services. We hope the new forum will be useful to our community members, but also hope that in time it will enable new collaborations and services to be created, helping the sector to grow.
All members are encouraged to actively participate in discussions, share experiences, and contribute to the wealth of knowledge within our community. While we encourage community members to take advantage of the new forum, participation is entirely voluntary. All users will have full control over their notification settings, allowing them to customise the frequency and types of notifications they receive.
All-member Forum Opportunities:
- Discussion Threads: Ask questions and engage in thought-provoking discussions on a wide range of topics related to community energy.
- Resource Sharing: Share valuable resources, articles, and good practice that your organisation can offer to the benefit of other members and contribute to the sector's collective knowledge and growth.
- Networking Opportunities: Connect with practitioners within the sector and experts in the field, and foster meaningful relationships with supportive other organisations and sector stakeholders, which could help overcome barriers and lead to potential collaborations between CEE members.
If you aren’t already familiar with Loomio
Loomio is the online platform we use to host our community practitioner forum. The forum is used by its members as a place to raise questions, share learning and discuss a range of issues affecting their community organisations, the opportunities and activities they are working on, and the barriers they face; e.g. increases in insurance quotes or issues securing grid connections. It is a very active space and a unique place for our community members who have questions to go to for informative answers and advice from other practitioners. You can find out more about Loomio here.
The new all-member forum will operate in exactly the same way alongside the existing community-only forum. We will introduce and demo the new space at a future Monthly Members Call for new and existing members to familiarise them with the all-member forum and the community-only subgroup. We have created a short user guide and FAQ document which will help you navigate both of our online forums.
How can you sign up to the Community Energy England Online Forums
You can request access to our online forums here. A member of the CEE team will be reviewing who has requested access and will grant access to members of Community Energy England only and then assign users to the appropriate forums, ensuring that our community practitioner forum remains a closed space for community practitioners and organisations only. Multiple people working/volunteering for your member organisations are able to join the forums. Once your request has been assessed by CEE, an email invitation will be sent, inviting you to create an account in Loomio. Please check your junk email inboxes as this invite sometimes lands there.
If you have any questions about the CEE forums or about the launch of our new forum, please contact members@communityenergyengland.org