Over 13-14th October, Latrobe Valley locals, renewable energy industry reps and community leaders from around Gippsland kicked off the inaugural Transform Expo, putting a spotlight on the region’s massive renewable energy opportunity.
We’d like extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended the expo and made it such a special event.
It was an incredible couple of days featuring inspiring panel discussions, a schools program and expo site enabling people in the community to learn more about the renewable energy projects on the horizon, how to get involved with and how to begin a career in the sector.
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"It was so amazing to showcase renewable energy projects proposed for Gippsland, and to connect the community with the industry. Transform Expo allowed our community to engage and understand the renewable energy industry and to discuss the jobs and career paths created by the many projects proposed” said Wendy Farmer, President of Voices of the Valley and Gippsland Organiser for Friends of the Earth.
“The Transform Expo is just one example of how Gippsland is continuing to play an important role in the transformation of energy, which is a huge opportunity for our community” added Farmer.
The exciting program was packed full with cutting edge content covering everything from energy storage technologies to community power projects, worker’s stories and healthy hospitals. One of our most popular sessions was the Women in Renewables workshop.
The energy industry has long been male-dominated, and this session highlighted the experiences of women leading the shift to renewable energy, and the need for the industry to create safe working environments and play a key role in addressing systemic challenges such as violence against women.
The top highlight was the Friday night opening event, which featured Victoria’s Climate and Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio alongside an all-star cast including our very own Wendy Farmer, Sasha Courville from Bank Australia, Kate Graham CEO of Gippsland Women’s Health, Elianor Gerrard from the Community Power Agency, and futurist Steve Sammartino.
Image: Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio speaking with locals at the Transform Expo opening night event
Minister D’Ambrosio spoke about the need to rebuild the State Electricity Commission after years of privatisation and Gippsland’s opportunity to be the first place in the country to build offshore wind.
Seeing the interest from community and industry throughout the days has shown how important it is to create a platform that brings people together and make the energy transformation the best it can possibly be for regional communities.
“It was great seeing people come in from the street and networking with all the stallholders and joining the talks and workshops” Ronja, Transform Expo Volunteer
“It was simply amazing to see the energy around the planned transition to renewable clean energy in this part of Victoria. Thanks to Yes2Renewables and the organisers for bringing it all together” Dan, local Transform Expo volunteer
We would like to extend a special thankyou to all our incredible speakers, expo partners and sponsors who helped make the event so special. You can read more about each of our sponsors and partners here.
Organising the inaugural Transform Expo 2023 was led by Friends of the Earth’s Yes2Renewables Project, Voices of the Valley, and Healthy Futures, organisations dedicated to action on climate change that delivers real outcomes for communities.