HT26 Energy Seminar – Week 8: The challenges of keeping communities at the centre of energy access
Dr Bernie Jones
- Start Tuesday 10 Mar 2026 5:00pm
- Finish Tuesday 10 Mar 2026 6:15pm
- Venue ECI - Atmosphere Room
- Postcode OX1 3PY
- Register for event
THIS IS AN IN PERSON AND ONLINE EVENT
Summary: Insights from six years of clean energy innovation projects in Africa – Smart Villages is an Impact Innovation company, working on solutions for community development in the global South, to generate a positive social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Almost everyone in the sector argues that communities and impact are the centre of what they do, but from our experience that is not only often incorrect, but sometimes the whole system seems designed to make this fail. This discussion will present the work in inclusive energy innovation and highlight some of the issues that we have encountered that make community-focused impact more challenging than they need to be.
Speaker: Dr Bernie Jones is the founder and MD of Smart Villages, having previously co-led the 7-year Smart Villages Initiative research project that explored technologies, business models, policies and opportunities/barriers to energy access globally. After beginning his career at British Airways, Bernie led the International work of the Royal Society, the UK’s Academy of Sciences, and later ran the European and Global Networks of Science Academies and Academies of Medical Sciences. He has been involved in science and technology for international development for more than 20 years, mainly in scientific capacity building, science policy, agricultural technology and energy access.