Description
This initiative aims to equip community-based organizations (CBOs) across the U.S. Southeast with tools and knowledge to engage in “unlikely coalitions” with researchers, project developers, industry leaders, and policymakers to shape the future of equitable decarbonization together. We are developing and implementing a training academy to:

- Explore emerging technologies like electrification, battery storage, hydrogen, and carbon capture through community-centered perspectives and priorities
- Foster partnerships between CBOs and experts in industrial decarbonization
- Help CBOs integrate emerging technologies education into their sustainability programs
Our long-term goal is to equip CBOs in every Southeast state to actively shape decisions about their energy and decarbonization futures.
SCoRE/BBISS Lead
Jennifer Hirsch, Senior Director, SCoRE
Partnership History
- Launched initiative in April 2024 with a Direct Air Capture (DAC) Symposium hosted by Georgia Tech SCoRE, bringing together community leaders, researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers to explore DAC through the lens of community benefits, concerns, and impact
- Offered 2024-25 Community DAC Workshop Series, shaped by participants’ interests, covering topics like community benefits planning and CO₂ storage risks
- Summer 2025: Launched pilot collaborations with Mississippi Communities United for Prosperity (MCUP) and the Rural Studies Institute at Georgia College and State University to co-develop strategies and materials that align carbon management with local community goals
Disciplines & Faculty
SCoRE runs this program in partnership with the GT Direct Air Capture Center (Chris Jones and Matthew Realff, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) and other faculty in the same school (Micah Ziegler and Judy Xie) and with the GT Renewable Bioproducts Institute. We are eager to work with liberal arts faculty interested in the social science, community, and humanities aspects of industrial decarbonization.
Other Partners Involved
Coalitico, Integrated Solutions, Mississippi Citizens United for Prosperity, Rural Studies Institute at Georgia College and State University
Keywords
Environment & sustainability, education, community and social development, energy, decarbonization, carbon removal, direct air capture (DAC), environmental justice, just transition, coalition-building, rural and urban communities
Associated SDGs
9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), 10 (Reduced Inequalities), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 13 (Climate Action), 17 (Partnership for the Goals)