No one ever said the transition to a new energy economy would be easy. From the very beginning, The Natural Step Canada (TNSC) was under a great deal of pressure to describe the impacts and outcomes of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL). We resisted prescribing a solution. Our Fellowship – more diverse than we could have hoped – has created a shared vision and innovation pathways, generated new ideas, and brought existing initiatives into the lab to amplify and scale. Describing an

Navigating the interconnected web of issues surrounding energy, climate change and sustainable development is a complex task. Over the past year and a half, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) has developed a platform for constructive dialogue and game-changing innovation. Through this process, we have identified five essential leadership capacities to succeed in this space. This November, join other leaders and innovators in the inaugural three-day EFL Leadership Bootcamp to hone t

Leaders from government, business, not-for-profit, academia and indigenous communities will gather in Calgary for a special two-day event on October 19 and 20. Their objective: to share proposed solutions for solving Alberta’s most complex and pressing energy challenges. This October event is an opportunity for the EFL to make its network of ideas even more inclusive and tested with as many diverse perspectives as possible before scaling up and communicating broadly through a

Earlier this fall Alberta’s Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous appointed Gord Lambert to chair a Climate Technology Task Force, which will engage stakeholders and advise the government on a framework for climate change innovation and technology. In addition to supporting research and development and investing in new technology ventures, let’s also create opportunities for the scores of innovators and influencers in Alberta to interact with one another in unp

Building systems that are fit for the future means beginning with the end in mind and working together with unlikely allies. Our greatest challenges can only be addressed if we learn to do so. Chad Park lays out an approach that aligns diverse perspectives towards a shared understanding of what the future requires: backcasting from sustainability principles. He also introduces the groundbreaking initiative that is putting these ideas to the test: the Energy Futures Lab. Chad

You need to critically test for whether the pace and scale at which work is getting done is appropriate to the challenges that you’re trying to take on. Nowadays, it’s a key success factor: can you accelerate progress? On issues like climate change, we have to accelerate progress tremendously. – Gord Lambert Pong : You talk about the importance of setting up aspirational goals to help drive innovation. Do you feel that the EFL Vision and Innovation Pathways are aspirational e

The term “Brain Trust” was coined in the 1930s by a New York Times reporter to describe a group of advisors who provided advice to Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidential campaign. Today, the term is used more broadly to describe a prized group of advisors who hold expertise in their particular fields. Under that definition it is easy to see that the Energy Futures Lab is indeed one of our province’s greatest brain trusts. The FSDS is the government’s plan and vision fo

The Energy Futures Lab is all about the energy system. In fact, the idea is built right into our convening question “How can Alberta’s leadership position in today’s energy system serve as a platform for transitioning to the energy system the future needs?” But what do we really mean by the energy system? It is important to keep in mind the great quote from George E.P. Box “All models are wrong but some are useful”. Is the energy system all about oil and gas? What about elect

Accelerating the transition to a sustainable energy system is a pretty big goal. Let’s face it, if we could meet this challenge with a step-by-step approach, we would have solved it by now. How do we keep track? How can we make sure that we are delivering value to the Fellows and contributing to systems change? How do we know when we getting to the “breakthrough results” we are looking for? But we know these change processes  are highly complex and very difficult to predict i

If the energy transition is a journey, what are the paths to get there? Our future isn’t in a single resource based economy or a silver bullet solution. Instead, it’s a series of paths leading to the same destination, paved by diverse talents and opportunities. But we need to quickly recognize the tools and resources we have, and looking at the trailblazers in cleantech is a good place to start. To better understand the potential for cleantech in Canada, Rudayna Bahubeshi sat

In our current energy transition dialogue, we’re used to separate and fragmented conversations from opposing viewpoints. The conversations generally hold a lot of emotion including apprehension, fear and frustration. There isn’t yet a wealth of examples, outside the Energy Futures Lab, that builds trust across the boundary that pins “us” against “them.” Leor Rotchild recently talked with Lliam Hildebrand, the newest Energy Futures Fellow, on how his organization Iron & Earth

In this three-part blog series, Donna provides practical advice on how to begin the sustainability planning discussion in your organization, with your stakeholder communities and with the critics. She will provide tools to accompany each blog post to assist you, as an intrapreneur, in applying the learnings. Building trust is really hard work. Working to understand what sustainability really means to your company, and what sustainability really means to your critics, and then

The May workshop of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL) Fellowship marked an important milestone, as the EFL pivots into a second phase of greater visibility and expanding impact. Deep, effective collaboration is easier said than done, requiring commonality of vision, shared value, and mutual trust. The pivot is partly a reflection of where we’re at in the Lab process and partly inspired by feedback received from EFL Fellows during a mid-point set of interviews conducted in April. I

Your own company may be committed to closing some of your performance gaps on sustainability. Your company may even be staking new frontiers in sustainability. But, you can’t solve sustainability challenges acting alone. This is work that requires integration and collaboration. You know that business as usual isn’t possible for an energy company operating in Alberta. You have opened up conversation with people inside your company who, like you, are curious about what sustaina

In this three-part blog series, Donna provides practical advice on how to begin the sustainability planning discussion in your organization, with your stakeholder communities and with the critics. She will provide tools to accompany each blog post to assist you, as an intrapreneur, in applying the learnings. As a corporate insider, you are no doubt noticing the radically different market reality. And, you want to support your organization’s targeting and pursuit of new sustai

“You learn more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation.” – Plato If you look at other human-made systems such as healthcare, agriculture, fishing, clothes manufacturing, mining, transportation, etc. you can see they’re all in transition. In the end, these transitions will rely on sparking the most difficult change of all: human behaviour. It will require a deeper systemic understanding. It was silent in the room and the windows were fogged. Twenty-two s

Our Energy Futures Lab Fellows, Convenors, Steering Committee, Advisory Council, Sponsoring Partners and The Natural Step team have deep roots in Alberta. So many of our family, friends, and colleagues are deeply impacted by the wildfires in Fort McMurray and surrounding regions. We are distressed by the number of displaced residents and damage that has been done to the area. And we are heartened by the news that there have not to date been reported injuries. As one Fellow ex

The first time I heard the term “Learning Journey” I had a little trouble taking it seriously. I mean, we’re talking about field trips, right? Well, sort of. If they are field trips, then they’re field trips with a very specific and important function in the lab process. What makes the trip even more timely is the fact that Fort McMurray is reeling from of the fall in oil prices, laying bare aspects of the community that represent seeds of resilience in the face of adversity.

Part Three: Opportunities for Alberta’s Energy Future Following last month’s GLOBE Conference in Vancouver, Energy Futures Lab Director Chad Park caught up with two members of the Energy Futures Lab Advisory Council, Tzeporah Berman and Toby Heaps, both of whom had important roles at GLOBE and its surrounding events. The following is part three of the three-part discussion and focuses on specific considerations and opportunities for Alberta’s energy future. Part one explored

Part Two: Updates from GLOBE Conference 2016 Following last month’s GLOBE Conference in Vancouver, Energy Futures Lab Director Chad Park caught up with two members of the Energy Futures Lab Advisory Council, Tzeporah Berman and Toby Heaps, both of whom had important roles at GLOBE and its surrounding events. The following is part two of the three-part discussion and focuses on infrastructure and policy to guide energy transition. Part one explored some of the big internation