MIT Hosting Offshore Wind Research On Cape Cod

BARNSTABLE, MA — Offshore wind power is the subject of a new study in Barnstable.

"Graduate students from the MIT Renewable Energy Facility Siting Clinic are hoping to hear from as many Barnstable community members as possible regarding their views about offshore wind power," town officials announced this week.

Clinic staff will summarize what they hear, without mentioning anyone by name, to contribute to a genuine community conversation, they said.

"The goal is to understand the full spectrum of perspectives in Barnstable—and based on those diverse views in the community, to suggest to the Town what a more inclusive planning process could look like," officials said.

The MIT Renewable Energy Clinic’s approach is a non-partisan effort. The Clinic does not advocate for or against any project.

While the clinic has a formal letter of engagement with the Town of Barnstable, the Clinic works in service of the whole community to:

• Conduct a comprehensive stakeholder assessment (i.e. understanding the range of views that exist in Barnstable).
• Reach out to stakeholder groups that have not previously participated in town-wide discussions.
• Establish face-to-face channels for community members to engage with the Clinic (such as the Zoom session).
• Help stakeholders jointly explore rules the town could impose on offshore wind project developers.
• Potentially explore prospects of collaborative problem-solving sessions that might lead to community consensus-building about how to handle infrastructure projects in the future.

"The Clinic recognizes there are diverse views about offshore wind power being developed near Barnstable’s seven villages," officials said. "The MIT researchers are eager to hear how local residents define what a meaningful public engagement process should include."

The Clinic is piloting “drop in” Zoom sessions for individual community members to share their ideas related to offshore wind directly with the Clinic staff. They will be held every Friday from 2 to 3 p.m. in 15-minute individual sessions.

Visit https://bit.ly/MITfridaychat to sign up for a time slot