MIT Launches First-of-its-Kind Course to Train Students as Mediators in Clean Energy Conflicts

"MIT's Novel Solution to Address Growing Opposition to Clean Energy Projects: Supervised by a Mediator, Students Bridge Gaps Between Developers and Communities"

• MIT has launched a unique course to teach students how to mediate conflicts over clean energy projects. The class, supervised by experienced professionals, allows students to work directly with local communities, officials, and developers.
• The goal is to address concerns and misinformation that often cause opposition to clean energy developments. These oppositions have been making regulatory processes more lengthy and difficult.
• The course acknowledges that fast-tracking new clean energy infrastructure involves dealing with complicated regulations at local, state, and federal levels. Technologies under development include wind and solar farms, storage facilities, power lines, CO2 pipelines, and renewable hydrogen production facilities.
• Larry Susskind, the MIT professor behind the course, emphasizes the importance of setting aside personal biases to act as a fair mediator. The students, from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, recently completed a certification exam to prepare for real-world applications of their training.
• The course also aims to build a consortium of universities nationwide that can provide support to local communities and projects in their areas regarding clean energy. Columbia University has already expressed interest in this initiative.

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