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Onergia – Renewable Energies Cooperative – Founded in 2017
Onergia Cooperative is a social enterprise of renewable energies made up of an interdisciplinary team of young people from different fields, ranging from engineers, social and environmental sciences experts, to economists.
Onergia was conceived on two main pillars. On the one hand, as an answer to the precarious working patterns supported by the neo-liberal economic model, with the aim to provide decent working conditions for all its members. On the other hand, on its members and collaborators’ concerns about ecology and social transformation. It aimed to promote and support processes that can lead to energy transformation, sovereignty and autonomy, both in rural communities and cities.
Considering the evident negative impact of the current energy matrix on the social fabric and the land, we believe it’s fundamental to promote collaboration with society at a comprehensive level, new forms of environmentally friendly energy production and distribution that respect the land and nature.
Besides, we think that there is currently an unfair and inequitable distribution of resources, even energy resources. As a result, we believe it is essential to develop, together with the society, new production and distribution relations in terms of energy resources. To that end, we adhere to the International Cooperative Alliance’s values and principles, based on the collectivization of resources, cooperation and support in decision making regarding the organization of society and the distribution of those resources.
Onergia is comprised of different areas. The Technical and Innovation area, the Education and Research area, and the Administration and Sales area.
The Technical and Innovation area aims to collectively build a path as a society that can bring about a genuine energy transition through the implementation of projects on energy generation, distribution and consumption in a more comprehensive, responsible and efficient way. The Education and Research area, on the other hand, plays a key role in the development of internal and external training and education strategies that contribute to the process of socialization of knowledge on renewable energy, energy transition, ecology, solidarity economy, among other issues that can lead to the consolidation of this process. Finally, the Sales and Administration area that comprises and manages the two productive areas mentioned above.
Our work entails providing support, advice, training and management of renewable energy projects, while carrying out collaborative research to identify energy demands and opportunities, mainly in the center and south of the country.
ORA’s Fellowship Contribution
Thanks to ORA’s Fellowship, we managed to carry out reorganization and self-care initiatives, badly needed in the aftermath of the pandemic due to the hardships the collective had endured. Those activities were:
- Psychosocial support sessions to strengthen those internal bonds within the organization that had deteriorated due to poor internal communication or, simply, lack of it.
Psychosocial support sessions
- The pandemic forced several members of the cooperative to relocate to other places for work, which decreased our collective life dramatically; as a result, we organized a three-day meeting with all the members in Atlixco, Puebla, to plan the 2023 agenda.
Annual Assembly 2023
Annual Assembly 2023
ORA’s resources were not only used for Onergia´s in-house initiatives, but also to foster a sense of community in the city by sharing the outcomes of the various support processes.
- We carried out 4 documentary projections in Cholula and Puebla that enabled us to reach new audiences. This led us to discover and connect with other initiatives in the city regarding organic corn crops or permaculture approaches that are developing more sustainable lifestyles.
Projected documentaries
Projected documentaries
- Before starting the workshop on electricity for women, we first focused on the tools and their different uses through engraving and drawing aimed at a collective design of a tool manual for women. These first workshops were a catalyst to reflect on the need to adopt not only mechanical tools but also artistic knowledge and techniques. They also triggered a collective critical reflection around the masculinization of some chores and jobs which are fundamental for daily community life. On the one hand, the engraving technique made us discovered other hand tools and creative processes; on the other, the engraving of the seals of the tools made us connect with them from a different perspective. We are pleased to have had the chance to take part in these workshops and generate material with educational purposes aimed at women’s emancipation.
Engraving workshop on tools for women
Engraved tools for women
- There were tool-use workshops given by women, where we identified a relation between women and tools resulting from their need to solve household or other related issues. Besides, it was a way to discover the strength of the different body builds, as well as other parts of the body we do not often use due to the gender divide of chores. Finally, we are glad to share a little bit of our knowledge on this from our own learning experience.
Training session on tools for women.
- Women from various communities attended these workshops, and learned how to use power tools to deal with daily household maintenance and repair while gaining autonomy as they did so, which is quite satisfying.
Training session on electricity for women.
The following photos show some of tasks done with the tools acquired through the fellowship:
Manufacturing of an Educational Mobile Photovoltaic Generator
Electricity training in different communities
