A Champion amongst us?

Joju’s Dr Chris Jardine has been nominated as a Community Energy Champion at the Community Energy Awards 2016.

At Joju we already know he is a Community Energy Champion (and has been for over ten years) but this week our very own Dr Chris Jardine was shortlisted for this year’s Community Energy Awards.

What are the awards?

The awards are a collaborative event between Community Energy England and Community Energy. The ceremony will take place on the 3rd September in Oxford, the same day as the Community Energy England conference. Chris has been nominated in the Community Energy Champion category alongside seven other prominent leaders from the sector.

Why has Dr Chris been nominated?

Chris has been pioneering in formulating the community solar energy model over the last ten years.  From the first community solar install in 2008, Chris has been involved in the largest and highest profile schemes in the country for many of the best-known community energy groups. They include:

• Energy 4 All and their subsidiary coops
  • Wey Valley Solar Schools
  • Schools’ Energy Coop
  • M&S Energy Society
• Low Carbon Hub work across Oxfordshire, and smaller local groups prior to the formation of the Lower Carbon Hub
  • Low Carbon West Oxford
  • Low Carbon Oxford North
  • Low Carbon East Oxford
  • Low Carbon Barton
  • Eynsham Green TEA
• Repower Balcombe
• 10:10

For all of these groups Chris has provided advice and considerable expertise.

What has Chris done to drive the Community Energy Sector?

Chris has positioned Joju as an ethical company with a strong commitment to community values; a fact recognised by our community energy partners.  He has developed an ethos that we call ‘Solar for the Community’.

Solar for the Community is the belief that real change is not best delivered top-down by Government and Utilities; nor by individuals acting in isolation.  Instead we believe that change at scale is best delivered by a network of mid-scale actors including community energy groups, councils, and specialist SME’s such as Joju Solar.  These networks can operate both at scale and with the trust of their local communities, allowing both renewable projects to be developed, but also to foster the necessary behavioural changes to achieve deep and long-lasting cuts in CO₂ emissions.

Who will Judge the Awards?

The awards will be judged in the week before the ceremony by a prestigious panel including:

• Chris Blake
• Ed Davey
• Ramsay Dunning
• Jon Halle
• Merlin Hyman
• Anne-Claire Leydier
• Anna Watson

We have our fingers crossed here at Joju that Dr Chris will take home the honours he deserves on the night but even if he doesn’t he will always remain a Community Energy Champion at Joju.

Read about the other awards and nominees here