If I could solve climate change and get the world to net-zero emissions by myself, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
No email chains or meetings or workshops, no competing priorities, no need to coordinate or align on anything with anyone.
But that’s the annoying thing about collective action problems: one individual effort isn’t enough, it’s negligible – a drop in the rising ocean. By myself, I can get exactly nowhere.
So how do I help build on the momentum, passion, and hope that I have the privilege of being exposed to every day in my role?
I show up to my job at the Canberra Innovation Network, and I write a blog post to get the word out about a new initiative: Accelerating Canberra’s Energy Transition (ACET).
With assistance from the ACT Government under the Energy Innovation Fund, the initiative aims to strengthen and consolidate Canberra’s energy innovation ecosystem as we work towards net-zero. Delivered in partnership with ANU, UC, UNSW Canberra, CIT, and NEVCE, ACET consists of four academia-industry workshops on key policy areas (electrification, grid resilience, gas transition, circular economy), a Zero-Emissions-Transport Hackathon for students and young entrepreneurs, business accelerator support for organisations in the energy sector, and an end-of-year Energy Innovation Showcase to highlight the fantastic work being done in the space.
Building on existing momentum, the project is a chance to connect with new people working on the same challenges, chat about things you usually don’t have time for, and take a new look at an old thing. So, if you’re part of the ACT’s energy innovation landscape (or would like to be), then let’s work together and make it better connected, more effective, and leverage Canberra’s unique strengths to address this collective problem with some collective action.
If you’d like to add your drop to the ocean, solve climate change (with the help of others), and help me keep my job, go to our website and see how you can get involved: https://cbrin.com.au/programs/acet
