Warren Hagist attended the annual SolarFest sustainability conference in Tinmouth, VT, from July 21 – 23
Each year on the open, rolling fields of Forget-Me-Not farm in rural Vermont, hundreds gather for one of New England’s premier summits on green living. SolarFest is three days of music and workshops on everything related to sustainability at the local level. The festival seeks not only to educate about health risks, pollution, and climate change, but also to foster a sense of community – and with it, community action for a cleaner and greener planet.
Dozens of workshops and activities inform and inspire festival-goers on a wide range of themes. Educational presentations discuss emerging topics in sustainability; I attended a talk on how environmental activists and small farmers can leverage social media to build support and attract donations. Local experts teach festival-goers skills for reducing their environmental footprint, such as financing solar panels or installing tighter insulation. Networking opportunities, guidebooks, and how-to demonstrations abound for the amateur organic gardener, hobby biodiesel mechanic, and native foodie. The vendors have a green streak too, selling products for the residential renewable enthusiast, as well as local crafts, like chemical-free Vermont soaps and organic blueberry bushes. Food stands cater to vegetarians, vegans, and locavores, serving food with tags like “grass-fed,” “seasonal,” and “non-GMO.” The festival itself demonstrates renewable energy’s potential: solar panels and a wind turbine installed specially for the weekend heat and power the entire festival, including hot water showers and over 24 hours of music. This year’s keynote speakers were Steven Strong, an early commercial solar panel designer who outfitted the White House with photovoltaics; and Bill McKibben, professor and environmental activist who last year staged the largest act of civil disobedience in three decades while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline.
While it may seem a stretch to draw connections between events on a Vermont horse farm and the work of urban planners in Cambridge, SolarFest closely links to the I2UD’s work in two ways. First, many of the technologies and practices showcased over the weekend parallel the appropriate technologies espoused by sustainable development initiatives in poorer countries. The engineers electrifying rural northern Tanzania or Vermont, and the farmers growing organic vegetables in Costa Rica and New York, are trying to avoid the unsustainable development models of industrialized countries, especially our large volumes of waste, dependence on fossil fuels, and loss of biodiversity. Additionally, during a global recession, the long-term cost-savings of renewable infrastructure appeal equally to economically depressed regions of the United States as to cash-strapped developing countries.
Secondly, all of SolarFest’s activities emphasize community engagement. Organizers and presenters recognize that despite the global character of many social and environmental problems, their consequences manifest at the neighborhood and municipal level first. Climate change is forcing communities across the Sahel to migrate away from drought-stricken lands, just as New England communities suffering from increased precipitation are struggling to rebuild after floods. Alongside organizations like the Transition Network or Huairou Commission, SolarFest believes that strengthening the community is the first step towards building resilience and sustainable habits. The more a community looks for local solutions to problems of a global nature, the more likely meaningful interventions will be identified and rapid action taken. For example, while tackling food security in a changing climate may seem an insurmountable task, a neighborhood can easily support a small farmer through a CSA subscription, or work together to donate to a foodbank.
SolarFest is always a rewarding experience, not just for the barn dance, blue-grass bands, or quinoa dishes; it is the inspiration and empowerment that comes from seeing so many ordinary actors making such large contributions in the fight against climate change and environmental degradation right here in New England. That some of the most exciting work is happening in the midst of a Recession gives great hope that low-income communities around the world are finding appropriate technology solutions to their environmental problems.
-Warren Hagist, Research Associate, I2UD