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Conference
Community Energy Wales' Conference
Beyond 2035
Every year, Community Energy Wales organises a conference that gathers together our membership and other stakeholders in the sector to discuss our future, the amazing work happening today, and the challenges that are ahead of us.
Renewable energy is growing. Reaching Net Zero by 2035 is a priority to both industry and government. The question now is not if we decarbonise our energy system, but how. How do we design an energy system that is fair, that places agency in community hands, and that can reboot our local economies?
Join Community Energy Wales for our annual conference on 10 and 11 June at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, looking Beyond Net Zero to discuss the long-term vision for community energy in Wales.
We acknowledge that the cost of operating our organisations has been challenging. With this in mind, we have frozen our ticket prices for the conference, and kept them level with last year.
Programme
Tuesday 10th of June
12:30 - Lunch on arrival
13:45 - Welcome from our Co-Executive Director, Ben Ferguson, and the Centre for Alternative Technology’s CEO, Eileen Kinsman.
14:00 – 15:30 - Session 1 – Against the Backlash
In this session we’ll discuss the growing concerns some communities in Wales have about renewable energy projects. The aim is to come up with ways to keep Wales and the UK leading the way in moving from carbon-based energy to clean, renewable energy.
15:30 – 16:00 – Break
16:00 – 17:30 - Session 2 – Session led by Centre for Alternative Technology staff.
This session will be lead by CAT staff showcasing all the great work they do on site. More information about this session soon.
18:00 - Conference supper and Quiz
Wednesday 11th of June
9:00 – 10:30 - Session 3 – Manifesto for Community Energy
In under a year (May 2026), elections will take place for the next Welsh government. For community energy to be part of the election conversation, we need to be able to articulate the changes we want to see, specifically the changes that fall within the Welsh government's competence. This session will propose a narrative for community energy that challenges the voices opposing the decarbonisation agenda, together with a set of policy measures that can be turned into a community energy manifesto. Provocations will be put forward by members of the CEW staff team to facilitate discussions and agree a way forward.
10:30 – 11:00 – Break
11:00 – 12:30 - Session 4 - Community Assets in Action
Our final session of the conference will be an inspiring look at community asset building. A session to highlight the exciting ongoing work of groups from across Wales who are utilising their communities' strengths to build and develop local assets.
Importantly, we want to highlight organisations in Wales that have recently taken action on energy generation or climate as part of their wider work. Not solely community energy organisations, but charities, clubs, and faith groups that are a part of an exciting new host of organisations developing energy assets, showing how the sector can continue to grow.
12:30 – Thanks and Lleuwen Steffan
13:00 - Lunch and leave
Last year’s conference was superb. Great people. Wonderful hospitality. Inspiring venue.Ben Saltmarsh, National Energy Action
The CEW conference was great. The sector has really missed these opportunities to come together and share our experiences. Really good to see old friends and make new ones. Congratulations to all at Community Energy Wales for hosting such a successful event.Grant Peisley - DEG
As A House Becomes Home
A poem inspired by the Community Energy Wales Conference by Hanan Issa, the National Poet of Wales.
Begin with the trees. Ask them for their twigs, their branches.
Gather people. Promise them futures, late night conversations
on the names for wind and rain,
or the difference between downpour and deluge.
To those who confess, “I don’t have the energy,”
offer reassurance. Tell them having time to care is luxury
Begin to burn the money - watch closely as folded disposable notes
dance and shift, returning renewed warmth.
Celebrate the transition - tethered to each of you/ all of you,
feel your feet sinking into soil, as a house becomes home.
Ownerships merge over time -
We own the land.
We own land.
We one land.
We. Land.
Soon our shared muscles will stiffen till memory remains
the only limb we can sway with the wind.
Listen for the children.
Here they come, arms outstretched,
asking for your twigs, your branches.
Hanan Issa