WE CAN PRODUCE OUR OWN POWER
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About the Documentary
‘We can produce our own power: Community Energy Projects in Aotearoa’ is a short film documentary that features Community Energy Projects in Aotearoa and their benefits for people and the planet.
The documentary comes at a time when Aotearoa New Zealand and the world are looking for innovative solutions to power down the fossil fuel industry and power up renewable energy for all. Despite the challenges that come with navigating an electricity market that favours large-scale utility providers, a number of communities in Aotearoa have been leading the way in creating a just transition.
350 Aotearoa visited community energy projects in Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island) to talk to the unsung heroes who have been quietly redesigning their communities to improve energy access and resiliency, address energy poverty, create jobs, support the community, and tackle climate change.
This documentary will leave you feeling hopeful and excited to be part of the movement fighting for a just, prosperous, and equitable world built with the power of engaged citizens.
Our hope is that the documentary will inspire hundreds and thousands of people across Aotearoa to fight for clean and affordable energy for all. Do you know a community that needs a dose of hope for the future that we can build when working together?
Host a screening
Interested in hosting a screening of “We can produce our own Power: Community Energy Projects in Aotearoa” and showing your community the benefits of homegrown energy solutions and what is possible when people work together?
View this guide for helpful tips for planning, promoting, and facilitating a successful screening and discussion for the film.
Register your screening here!
If you have any questions, please email us at 350@350.org.nz
Sign our petition
Check out our beautiful Documentary Poster!
Talented takatāpui artist Huriana Kopeke-Te Aho (Tūhoe/Ngāti Porou/Rongowhakaata/Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi/Ngāti Kahungungu) has created the below artwork for us, and – with the help of our generous network we were able to crowdfund large billstickers that are up in more than fifty locations across the country for two weeks starting from the 23rd of July.
Thank you to every person who donated to our recent – as well as those who supported us in other ways. 350 is a people-powered movement, and we only make change when people across the country campaign, donate and act to usher in the cleaner, fairer future we know is 100% possible.
The billboards are in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, Pōneke/Wellington, Ōtautahi/Christchurch, and Ōtepoti/Dunedin. Are you somewhere else or would like to help spread the message further? You can print the artwork off, put it on a public noticeboard!
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Donate
This documentary and organising launch events has cost us just over $15,000 (including cost of labour for the filmmaker and project manager, travel and accommodation costs, compensation for community members who were interviewed and filmed, venue hire, film poster commission, printing costs and more).
If you’d like to contribute to this and future projects of 350 Aotearoa we’d be grateful for a koha to ensure that we can continue to punch above our weight and deliver bold, creative and strategic projects like “We can produce our own Power” to inspire people across Aotearoa to lead climate change projects in their communities.
Make a one-off donation
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Acknowledgements
This project would not have been possible without these incredible changemakers:
Kiran Patel – Filmmaker
Kiran is a community builder & filmmaker, is passionate about creative storytelling & bringing people together to move people to make the world more awesome. Kiran has worked alongside social justice organisations around the world, telling the human story behind social issues. Away from filmmaking is the founder of MoveSpace, a creative community organisation where 350 Auckland meet weekly, and is dedicated to supporting artists, activists & creators of all kinds to do more of what they love.
Matt Scrafton – 350 Aotearoa Volunteer and Project Manager
Energise Ōtaki– Community Energy Project
Raglan Local Energy – Community Energy Project
Emily McDowell – Communications Officer at Energise Ōtaki (On-site Producer)
Elishka Graham – Māoriland’s Kaitiaki Parakore
Rosa & Her Students – Ōtaki College
The Energise Otaki Board – Special thanks to Gael Ferguson & Leigh Ramsey
Ōtaki Bike Space Team
Eila Paul & Aroha Spinks – House Visit
Matt Brenin – Warm Up Ōtaki
Kevin Porteous & Jeff Hiscock – Stendy Solar
Stephen van Wonderen – Xtreme Zero Waste
Gareth Cartwright – Community Energy
Rick Thorpe – Xtreme Zero Waste
Alva Feldmeier – Executive Director of 350 Aotearoa
Global Green Grants for funding this project
The generous regular 350 Aotearoa donors and supporters
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