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Western Colorado Climate Challenge Conference in Paonia

Last weekend saw the Western Colorado Climate Challenge in Paonia.  It was a conference focused on the impacts of climate change on the Western Slope, and what could be done to address them.  This event was a little different than others like it.  This is Rob Menzies, one of the facilitators.

"It’s different than most of the seminars people go to," he says.  "Usually you go to a seminar and you hear all these brilliant people who are doing these big, exciting things, but when it’s over, the process ends.  With rapid prototyping, we’re going to take the best processes from software design, and apply them to climate

change, and move climate change action forward very quickly."

That model he mentioned, rapid prototyping, is a structured way to come up with ideas, and create plans to tackle a problem.  Menzies says a lot of people at the conference are attracted to the idea of working towards a tangible goal.

“They struggle with how to take this to the next step, to the average home owner, to the average business owner, to the average local utility.  How do we take this to the next step?” says Menzies.

And prototyping ideas is how they planned to do that.  The thirty or forty attendees broke into four groups, each tasked with brainstorming ideas.  The sessions are planned down to the minute. 

At the end of the afternoon, they’d come up with a plan to increase solar use in the county, to help the electric utility achieve more local generation, and to spread rapid prototyping as a tool for combating climate change. 

Don Smites is originally from the Netherlands, but he’s been living in Vail.  His group came up with plans to raise awareness about water conservation.  He’s excited about what they did, and what they will do.

Everybody who cam to this conference today was very motivated to actually do something.  The whole plan of this rapid prototyping was to actually get back to the community with an action plan.  People signed up for email lists, for weekly and monthly meetings.  We’re really going to do something.   

He’s helping to host a similar event in Vail.  It’s his hope, and the organizer’s hopes, that these groups of people with a shared passion will continue to work towards a common goal, and prepare the Western Slope for the future.

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