About the Energy Development in Islands Nations

The Energy Development in Islands Nations (EDIN) and U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) project provides an example of how to develop a vision and goal setting for an energy initiative. USVI Gov. John P. de Jongh Jr. says he plans to reduce the territory’s reliance on fossil fuel 60% by 2025.

To define and fully comprehend the vision for renewable energy, the governor started a leadership team and steering committee with particular duties. Their first duty was to interact with key stakeholders in solar energy planning workshops. In the first workshop, the leadership team needed to share with the diverse public and private stakeholders about essential parts of the project.

Vision and Setting goals

The organizers needed to engage their stakeholders in fine tuning the clean energy vision, setting goals, forming consensus about its direction, and setting community buy-in. The leadership must find a balance between the community in discovering technology and locating paths to fulfill the vision.

The next phase was providing participants knowledge into the opportunities to completing the fossil fuel reduction goal. The leadership began with information sharing to help stakeholders with social concerns to understand technical elements, and vice versa.

The information was shared to examine the issues from all sides. The biggest concern was securing buy-in and developing a shared vision and agreed-upon goals for moving forward.

A. Share technical info about USVI energy profile, clean energy technologies, policies, and barriers and opportunities from assessments.

B. Facilitate dialogue that helps stakeholders understand opportunities and barriers from the leadership team’s perspective. This gives the team insight from the community’s perspective.

C. Get consensus on a vision and establish broad aims.

D. Organize an interactive group exercise to foundation for communicating project vision and goals to the public and generating grassroots support.

E. Task groups with locating and applying answers to energy goals, and assign stakeholders to co-lead the working group, with technical support from U.S. Department of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory experts.

Sharing Knowledge

The USVI project emphasizes the importance of sharing information in a transparent and objective way, facilitating open dialogue between stakeholders, and exploring obstacles and opportunities from all sides when the vision and goals for a solar energy initiative. The USVI leadership team and steering committee succeeded in bringing stakeholders with contrasting viewpoints to develop a vision and set goals that begin a path for fulfilling energy transformation.

Involving a broad cross-section of public and private stakeholders to build a vision created an opportunity for civil discourse which was important to the project’s long-term success. Involving detractors in the early planning enhanced transparency, and reviewed opposing views which achieved consensus.

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