Energy Resources & Access

This past summer, homes in Detroit were flooded with up to five feet of sewage backup after heavy rains dumped six inches of water overnight. It took weeks and more than $10,000 (not reimbursed by insurance) for my home in East English Village to be restored to a livable condition.

Community-based hydropower — such as pico, micro, and mini hydro — has provided socio-economic and environmental benefits to thousands of off-grid communities in the Asia Pacific, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, long before central grids have reached them. Dipti Vaghela was recently interviewed by International Rivers on key aspects of community-scale micro hydropower (MHP).

Check out the books authored, edited or co-authored by Switzer Fellows in 2021 and dive into topics such as Indigenous teachings, the biology of climate change and sustainable urban planning.

Switzer Fellow Zully Juarez interviewed Oregon State Representative and community advocate, Khanh Pham, a founding leader of and spokesperson for the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) about her involvement with PCEF, campaign challenges and words of advice for any cities interested in adopting a similar model

Robinson (Wally) Fulweiler presented Coastal Ocean's bold vision for conducting ocean science in a talk at TEDx Boston.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program and the authors of NCA5 are hosting a series of virtual public engagement workshops to inform development of this federal climate report.

The book argues that structural change in institutions and socioeconomic systems and a creative process of design—including design of institutions and social structures as well as physical places—is necessary to move towards urban sustainability.

The new course "Energy Justice: Fostering More Equitable Energy Futures" is free to audit via Coursera.