New Mexico Renewable Energy Workshop: Facilitating Community Engagement

6901 Arvada Avenue Northeast,Albuquerque NM 87110

19 January, 2023

Description

This interactive workshop will bring together various stakeholders, including environmental nonprofits, land management agencies, Tribes, industry, and grassroots community-based groups. Participants will have the opportunity to share lessons learned, challenges, and success stories from previous renewable energy projects in the state. This workshop will be facilitated by Rosemary Romero, the former President of Western Network, a non-profit organization that developed an extensive practice centered on conflict resolution specific to natural resource issues such as water planning and land use planning. For the past 30 years, Rosemary has designed and facilitated numerous public involvement projects, assessed the potential for neutral conflict resolution services in diverse cases, consulted with public and private organizations on the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques, trained hundreds of persons in negotiation and mediation and public involvement skills and promoted the use of mediation and facilitation in the environmental field and other public policy arenas. We will provide an overview of the land-use planning process for renewable energy siting on public lands, the current state of play for renewable energy in New Mexico, the Inflation Reduction Act and its implications for future funding and infrastructure development in New Mexico. Participants will discuss best practices for facilitating meaningful engagement of both impacted communities and Tribes in the planning process, and ultimately develop recommendations to submit to decisionmakers after the workshop. Speakers will include: Fernando Martinez, Executive Director of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission AuthorityArcelia Isais-Gastelum, Field Director of ReNew New MexicoAdam Cernea Clark, Senior Manager, Environmental and Natural Resources Officer at Pattern EnergyAnna Rondon, Executive Director at New Mexico Social Justice and Equity Institute