Demand Side Management & Renewable Energy in India: Capacity Building of Civil Society Organisations (DREC Project) Supported by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), India Project Overview & Role of SRG 1st SRG Meeting January 24, 2012, Ahmedabad, Gujarat Udai Mehta, Asst. Director Outline About CUTS International DREC Project 2 Project Details Project Features Activity Schedule Role of SRG Views/Inputs of SRG Members CUTS International Genesis: Consumer rights organisation est. in 1983. Broad areas of work: Trade, Regulation and Governance Active programmes on competition, economic regulation and consumer policy and law issues in 30 countries of Africa, and Asia…. and growing. 3 CUTS Centers Project Details Objective: Capacity Building & Awareness Generation among CSOs for DSM (EE) & RE Outcomes: Change in mindset of the consumers (Practice) CSOs representation in regulatory process (Policy) Outputs: 4 Research report Policy briefs/Briefing Papers Newspaper Articles, etc Project Features States – Gujarat & West Bengal Duration – Two years (2011-2012) Components – Research, Capacity Building & Policy Advocacy 5 Approach – Bottom-up Activities (2011-2012) Local inception workshop Baseline consumer survey (1000 Respondents) State level paper & synthesis report State level training workshops (2) Meeting with policy makers Consumer interface meetings (10-15) State level policy advocacy meetings National policy advocacy meetings Final consumer survey 6 National Conference State Reference Group WHAT IS IT? A group of stakeholders with analytical aptitude on energy related issues to act as ambassadors in each project state for guiding project activities by providing inputs and reviewing outputs; connecting with policymakers, etc ACT AS BRAND AMBASSADORS OF THE PROJECT 7 Role of State Reference Group ACTIVITIES INPUTS FROM SRG MEMBERS Research • Provide necessary inputs into research work • Suggest access to relevant (and otherwise elusive) documents, etc. for research purposes • Suggest useful news/documents to partners/CUTS for use in project Policy Advocacy • • • • Outreach & Sustainability 8 Guide in organising interactions/interviews with key stakeholders Advise on specific policy advocacy measures Guide partners in drawing advocacy lessons Link project with other ongoing initiatives • Help in outreach • Support in disseminating project findings through contacts/networks • Contribute articles, write-ups etc and help in dissemination. • Resource persons for training workshops • SRG is project-specific but has a long-life, even beyond the project own Thank You!! Udai S Mehta usm@cuts.org 9 VIEWS/INPUTS OF SRG MEMBERS……….. 10