Read on Twitter
Our off-the-cuff chat might be a little rough around the edges, so lets unpack.
Summary: we'd decarbonize/electrify better/faster when white-collar policy makers/shapers work *with* blue-collar (HVAC) technicians, rather than design programs *for* them from afar. 1/ https://twitter.com/energysmartohio/status/1354968274581270530
Summary: we'd decarbonize/electrify better/faster when white-collar policy makers/shapers work *with* blue-collar (HVAC) technicians, rather than design programs *for* them from afar. 1/ https://twitter.com/energysmartohio/status/1354968274581270530
Seems pretty intuitive but is seldom applied in practice.
Eg: Nearly every city of any size or repute in Canada has a local energy/climate action plan, yet few (if any) are informed by their blue-collar workforce (eg: on task force) or have a plan for training/upskilling 2/
Eg: Nearly every city of any size or repute in Canada has a local energy/climate action plan, yet few (if any) are informed by their blue-collar workforce (eg: on task force) or have a plan for training/upskilling 2/
At heart, it's an epistemological challenge : how do we know what we know + get better at knowing better?
If knowledge is socially constructed - i.e. we infer reality through jointly-constructed understandings of the
,
what happens when white/blue collars inhabit diff worlds?
If knowledge is socially constructed - i.e. we infer reality through jointly-constructed understandings of the
, what happens when white/blue collars inhabit diff worlds?
I lament that fact that white and blue collar worlds seem to be growing ever so remote. We live in different neighbourhoods, drink different beers, eat different foods, and watch different shows.
So we have no shared understanding of reality, our priorities, tools and solutions
So we have no shared understanding of reality, our priorities, tools and solutions
A decarb world will be built on the backs of blue-collar workers.
So to enlist their capacity and full-throated support, I urge whitecollar policy shapers to hone and sharpen their instincts - tacit knowledge - by spending more time in the blue collar world.
So to enlist their capacity and full-throated support, I urge whitecollar policy shapers to hone and sharpen their instincts - tacit knowledge - by spending more time in the blue collar world.
Tacit knowledge is things you don't know how you know.
I'm a blue collar heart embodying a white collar career trajectory - I go drinking, go to baby showers w blue collar buds etc - so I can tell by instinct if a policy will be taken up by HVAC techs, I don't know how/why.
I'm a blue collar heart embodying a white collar career trajectory - I go drinking, go to baby showers w blue collar buds etc - so I can tell by instinct if a policy will be taken up by HVAC techs, I don't know how/why.
So as white collar policymaker, spending more time in blue collar forums like @energysmartohio's FB 'community of practice' will only sharpen your work.
Blue collar workers spending more time in 'policy playgrounds' like @DER_Task_Force will upscale your perspectives/priorities
Blue collar workers spending more time in 'policy playgrounds' like @DER_Task_Force will upscale your perspectives/priorities
Together, we unleash magic 
.
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Prediction: As cities scale up their ambition on retrofits, blue collar 'communities of practice' like @energysmartohio's are going to be the biggest/sharpest tool in their toolbox.
Once we get past the "aligning incentives", "increasing awareness", "pilot demo projects" phase of a program cycle, we'll need to unleash the “blue-collar innovator mutual-influence network” to rapidly scale up implementation. https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1091792317025898496?s=20
