Sustainable Southeast Partnership : REAP

Sustainable Southeast Partnership

Sustainable community development

We are proud to be a partner with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP), a diverse group of organizations working together on the challenge of sustainable community development in Southeast Alaska. The SSP is a growing collaboration of organizations whose common goal is to empower Southeast Alaskan communities to develop cultural, ecological and economic prosperity, sustainability and resilience.

REAP staffs the SSP’s regional energy catalyst position that works to improve energy efficiency and energy education in the region, and support communities that are considering new renewable energy projects.

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Empowering Southeast Alaskan communities to develop cultural, ecological and economic prosperity, sustainability and resilience.

Building local resilience

The SSP helps build local capacity in the seven Southeast communities it serves.

By making sense of the complex challenges associated with community sustainability, SSP helps communities tackle the issue of local resilience as it relates to forest and fisheries management, energy independence, food security and local economic development. The regional energy catalyst works with other regional catalysts focused on local food, tourism, natural resources and economics, as well as the local catalysts that each SSP member community employs.

Energy efficiency measures

REAP calls energy efficiency our “first fuel” and in Southeast we focus on finding ways to encourage more efficient use of energy resources through building energy efficiency upgrades and increased energy literacy.

SSP partners work within communities to develop local, innovative energy efficiency projects that directly benefit rural Alaska, such as the Home Energy Leadership Program– HELP.

Renewable resource development

A heavy reliance on fossil fuels can be costly for local environments, cultures and economies.

Fortunately, Southeast Alaska enjoys local hydropower, biomass, solar, wind, and tidal resources that can all play a role in the region’s energy future. The regional energy catalyst supports local communities to ensure local involvement in the decision-making processes that determine which energy resources should be developed.

STEM education

The regional energy catalyst works in Southeast Alaska communities to help both students and adults better understand and relate to energy through Science, Technology, Education and Math (STEM) Education.

The catalyst visits classrooms and participates in events across the region from an office in Juneau. Our classroom lessons are tailored to meet each teacher’s particular needs, as well as the K-12 Next Generation Science Standards. Lessons also address the unique educational and cultural interests of remote Alaska schools with predominantly indigenous populations.

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