TRP Bay Area, California, Fall-Winter 2024: Project Information Form - The Regenesis Institute for Regenerative Practice

Your Name	Jake Hubley
TRP Cohort Assignment	Hybrid In-Person/Online with Intensive in the Bay Area, California, Fall-Winter 2024
Study Cohort Members	Matthew Baum Kaitie Worobec Adrienne Patterson
Working Title of The Project (which we will use to refer to it throughout the series)	Community-Owned Solar Installation at Tantalus Vineyard
Project Location	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Nature of The Project (e.g. building, new community, economic development, etc.)	Solar installation through community-owned solar investment program. The project takes small investments from many people to fund the installation, installation pays out the investors over time. The solar installation powers the vineyard, which produces local wine. The vineyard itself has a commitment to sustainable practice and was the first vineyard in BC to have a LEED certified building.
Why do you think this project is appropriate for the course assignment?	Studying the integration of solar/renewables in a community owned model Combines shared profit program with for-profit industry/business. There is a wider organizational commitment to sustainable practice and development. They may wish to carry our work forward in their development, or be more actively involved with us. It is place and land-based, in terms of the solar installation and the business itself being farmed/produced wine in the food and beverage industry. The land is on the traditional territory of the Syilx and Okanagan People/Nations, vineyard associated with indigenous artist. The project is isolated and approachable in scale. Being industry-based, there’s an opportunity for other applications of our learning to benefit the solar and wine-making industry. Kelowna is located in a close-to-desert / low rainfall region, which is unique to the rest of the province. Kelowna is highly susceptible to climate change/weather changes - forest fires, flooding, drought, crop death. One of our team members lives nearby! British Columbia’s first LEED-certified winery Generally, we feel that given the vineyards existing sustainable development priorities, our case study may branch into wonderful considerations related to ecology, agriculture and resilience and regenerative development in a land-based industry. We feel a solar installation study may stretch our learning by applying regenerative development to an industry that may require a bit more creative thinking to work with, as opposed to a project that is purely ecology/agriculture based with more 'obvious' regenerative opportunity.
Additional Useful Information	https://www.solshare.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/04/Press-release_SolShare-Energy-Tantalus_April-May-2022_FINAL.pdf https://tantalus.ca/pages/people
Date Created	September 19, 2024