Award-winning “Dharray manymakkuŋ pawaw ga gapuw” Energy Efficiency Project with Very Remote Indigenous Communities: Ground-breaking Features & Learnings

Before European colonisation, Indigenous peoples were healthy and well. However, historical and contemporary colonisation led to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples living in very remote Indigenous communities sharply declining and to diverse interdependent challenges emerging. Indigenous peoples accessing energy is critical for preventing and addressing health and other social inequalities and restoring health and wellbeing. Parallel to these cultural and social disasters, climate change and ‘natural’ disasters are increasingly compromising the provision of power. Yet, utilizing ancient Indigenous ways of being-knowing-doing combined with appropriate innovative Western knowledges and technologies could create novel pathways for preventing and addressing the diverse challenges by (re)building and using Indigenous capabilities and capacities, reducing dependence on traditional energy sources, and utilizing the emerging carbon neutral economy. To start turning the tide, an intersectorial consortium conducted over three years an innovative $12 million Commonwealth funded community-based participatory action research project with six very remote Indigenous communities in East Arnhem Land (NT). The project, which won several national awards, employed, worked together with and educated over 80 community-based Yolŋu educators to educate their fellow Yolŋu to use power wisely and 16 community-based Yolŋu researchers to find out how Yolŋu use power, identify barriers to and enablers of using power wisely, and evaluate the project. The research/evaluation component was co-led, co-designed and co-implemented by a Yolŋu and an ally researcher, utilizing Yolŋu and appropriate Western worldviews, methodologies and methods. In this presentation, we will provide insights into the design, implementation and outcomes; what worked and what did not work as well; suggestions for improvement; and key barriers and enablers of Indigenous peoples and allies working together with Indigenous peoples living in remote Indigenous communities. While this project focused on enhancing power efficiency, the design and learnings will be of value for working with Indigenous peoples generally.