Community Energy Scotland Annual Members Conference 2026
About this Event
Join the Community Energy Scotland team in the stunning, historic Debates Chamber at Glasgow University Union for our ever-popular Annual Members Conference. This year our focus is Owning the Future: Turning ambition into reality with community energy.
Scotland’s energy system is changing. More renewable generation, reforms to electricity markets, growing interest in shared ownership, and pending decisions such as P441 are creating new possibilities for how energy is generated, supplied, owned and shared.
But the future of energy is not just technical — it is about equity, justice, ownership and benefit. Community organisations in Scotland already have a proven track record in community energy, delivering impact despite persistent challenges and barriers.
Owning the Future is an invitation to think boldly about what comes next: how communities can secure a fair share of the benefits from renewable energy, how partnerships can be made more equitable, and how we can shape a policy environment that supports genuine community leadership.
Join members, community organisations, partners, policymakers and supporters for a day of discussion, inspiration and practical insight as we explore how communities can own not just energy assets, but the future they make possible.
Some discounted tickets are available. Please take a look at our FAQs if you have any questions before booking.
With thanks to our headline sponsor SP Energy Networks
Agenda
🕑: 08:45 AM - 09:30 AM
Registration & Networking
🕑: 09:30 AM - 09:40 AM
Conference Welcome
Host: Zoë Holliday
🕑: 09:40 AM - 10:40 AM
Local Voices to Lasting Change
Info: Panel - How policy can be a tool for building the future. Community energy can deliver a wide range of social, economic and environmental goals, from community wealth building and wellbeing to thriving local economies, climate resilience and decarbonisation. But we need a supportive policy environment to do it.
This session will explore how communities can influence policy, how policy can support community-led energy projects, and how together we can create the conditions for a community owned energy future.
🕑: 10:40 AM - 11:25 AM
Stronger together: community energy and collective prosperity
Info: This session will explore how collaborative action can unlock collective prosperity for communities and places. Community energy is one part of a wider systems approach to tackling fuel poverty, climate change, and inequality, alongside retrofit, community wealth building, and skills development. Through shared ambition and joined-up working, communities can retain more local value, strengthen resilience, and deliver lasting social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
🕑: 11:25 AM - 11:40 AM
Refreshment break
🕑: 11:40 AM - 12:10 PM
Sandy Macaulay Lecture
🕑: 12:10 PM - 12:55 PM
Reframing the Narrative: Getting Everyone on Board with Community Energy
Info: At a time when public discourse around energy and net zero policies has become increasingly polarised, the Community Energy sector has an important story to tell. Community-owned energy projects are already delivering local development and decarbonisation, showing how climate action and local priorities can be aligned. By showing how a relationship to energy, based on collaboration, local ownership, and agency, can deliver real community benefit, community energy can reframe the narrative from alienation to inclusion.
🕑: 12:55 PM - 02:20 PM
Lunch & Market Stalls
Info: Lunch will be provided (please let us know any dietary requirements when ordering your tickets). Networking & opportunity to visit market stalls during lunch.
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:15 PM
Workshops - 1st session
Info: Individual workshop details below. Each workshop will be run twice and every delegate will be able to attend 2 of the 4 workshops. Places are limited and are allocated on a first come first serve basis.
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:15 PM
Shared Ownership
Info:
This workshop will explore the future of community shared ownership as a route to community wealth building by examining existing case studies, discussing the needs and challenges at different stages of development, and hearing from Great British Energy (GBE) about the support they can provide.
The session will bring together representatives from community organisations at different stages of the shared ownership journey, sharing real-world experience of the opportunities, risks, decisions and lessons learned along the way. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss common challenges, explore potential solutions, and gain insights to help inform their own shared ownership ambitions.
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:15 PM
The power of data
Info: Community ownership is about more than physical assets. It's also about owning the data and information that is found within people and their places. This session will explore how community-led approaches to collecting and using data can strengthen relationships, increase participation and build local confidence and agency. We'll discuss how communities can use their own data and stories to make the case for change, secure funding and influence policy.
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:15 PM
Heat networks: From community vision to local impact
Info: Heat networks will play an important role in decarbonisation and climate targets and also have the potential to deliver local benefits, including lower energy costs and warmer homes, but developing them can be complex. Through case studies from community groups, this session will explore what it takes to establish a heat network, the funding and delivery models available, and the policy and regulatory changes needed to ensure heat networks help tackle fuel poverty. Join us for presentations and discussion on lessons learned from projects at different stages of development.
🕑: 02:20 PM - 03:15 PM
Community Buildings
Info: Taking on a well-loved community building brings challenges as well as opportunities. This workshop will explore how communities are using modern technologies to help older buildings continue to serve the community into the future. Participants will hear from groups who have taken on community buildings, the different stages of developing their projects, challenges and achievements, and the importance of the building to their community.
🕑: 03:25 PM - 04:20 PM
Workshops - 2nd session
Info: 2nd workshop session will begin 10 minutes after the end of the 1st session to allow delegates to move between locations and workshop facilitators to rest & reset.
🕑: 04:20 PM - 04:30 PM
Conference Wrap Up
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 50.00 to GBP 150.00
