BCSEA’s  Free Webinar Series – 2026

Join us for this informatative webinar and register here to attend this free webinar!

This webinar will present on the background research for the Accelerating Community Energy Transformation’s (ACET) project Worldviews in Energy and Climate Engagement (WECE) project. The WECE partners with Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions and Community Energy Association to examine the social context of renewable energy transitions. Across BC, social perceptions of energy and climate solutions are varied: from full support and tentative public acceptance, through to delay discourses that oppose transition. These differences are in part explained by differing ideologies and worldviews, which is exacerbated by misinformation and polarization. Local governments often struggle to balance time and resource constraints with the care and nuance that climate and energy communications and engagement require today. Often there is insufficient time or tools to work with communities on the deeper layers of this challenge, in ways that connect with local values, emotions, and beliefs. The project team works within local communities across BC to better understand what people feel about, and how they make sense of, climate and energy transitions. This includes where and how misinformation comes in, how it drives polarization, and the manner through which it spreads across social media. The research outcomes include how local governments might work differently in their communications and engagement about energy and climate solutions. Webinar participants will have opportunities to discuss and share their own ideas, learn some of the most recent information coming out about how municipal staff can communicate about community energy transitions, and may leave with new ideas and even new tools for how to talk about climate and energy with their own target audiences.