Solar in the Coalfields – A Future Powered by the Sun

Dialogue + Design Associates is the sister company to the Yes! We Rise Podcast. They provide facilitation, community engagement, and help everyday community members and leaders come together, envision their future, and find tools and resources to make that vision a reality.  In 2016, a few groups approached Dialogue + Design in the hopes of creating a community-based effort to grow the solar energy economy in Southwest Virginia. In today's episode, Christine shares the history behind this initial vision and the incredible progress that has been made. From a recording from a recent gathering and celebration of a new solar system at Wise Primary school, you will also hear from folks with a direct role in the growth and progress that has been made since the Solar Workgroup's inception in 2016.  Job opportunities have been created, resources and education are being provided, and policies in Southwest Virginia are changing. As coal dwindles as a resource and solar becomes a more prominent source of energy, Southwest Virginia continues to be an energy hub with prospects for a growing and thriving economic future. Welcome! LINKS/RESOURCES MENTIONED To find out more about the Solar Workgroup, you can check out their website and sign up for their newsletter. Learn more about the amazing partners that have made this group possible, including Appalachian Voices, UVA Wise, and People Incorporated. Find out more about the organizations that provided funding and support to the Solar Workgroup: Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, Appalachian Solar Finance Fund, and Secure Futures. The Yes! We Rise podcast is produced by Dialogue + Design Associates, Podcasting For Creatives, with music by Drishti Beats. Follow the We Rise podcast on Facebook and Instagram. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast so we can continue spreading our message far and wide. Find our email list at the website: www.yeswerise.org. Thanks for listening. The Yes! We Rise podcast features solutions-seekers, change-makers, and those creating a resilient future. We share stories and strategies to inspire action to build collective resilience and community transformation. To create change, people need to feel like they belong and that they are part of a growing movement. They need to know their voice matters and that they have the inspiration, agency and ability to transform their lives and their communities. They are the key to a resilient future.     From the Navajo Nation to the mountains of Appalachia, incredible work is being done by community members and leaders. Change is often sparked by inspiration: seeing what others have done, especially in similar situations and places. People see that when someone looks like them or lives in a place like theirs, and has created real, true and lasting change, change that will allow their granddaughters and grandsons to thrive — they begin to imagine what might be possible for them.  No longer waiting for someone else to come and save them, they realize they are the ones they have been waiting for.  But what creates that spark? What creates that inspiration?  Learning through stories and examples, feeling a sense of agency and belonging, and getting fired up to kick ass creates that spark.  We Rise helps community leaders and members learn to forge a new path toward creating resilience and true transformation. One person at a time, one community at a time, one region at a time, the quilt of transformation can grow piece by piece until resilience becomes the norm instead of the exception. Together, we rise.