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Challenge Groups

All Challenge Groups

About

Through Challenge Groups, NEWHAB members leapfrog beyond current knowledge and practices while deepening relationships and enhancing collaboration capacity.

Each year a new cycle of Challenge Groups is formed by the members. Each group self-organizes to focus on a shared challenge or question. The network offers support through providing access to experts, best practices, and other tools to make their jobs easier and more effective.

The groups meet monthly over six months for deep learning on a particular topic, exchange perspectives on complex challenges, and uncover new solutions that are generated from fresh collaboration. At the end of the six months, each group shares what they’ve learned and developed back to the NEWHAB network to continue to expand our collective wisdom.

Current Challenge Groups

Connectivity

Energy Equity

Energy/Water Nexus

Fuel Switching

Greening Specifications

Resilience

Project Goals

Each group sets their own specific goals. Generally Challenge Groups are focused on:

  • Collective cross-sector problem solving
  • Research
  • Developing tools
  • Evolving existing thinking
  • Creating deeper relationships across the network
Learning to become facilitative, creative, and adaptive leaders across multiple, disconnected silos.

Learning to become facilitative, creative, and adaptive leaders across multiple, disconnected silos.

Project Activities

Challenge Groups meet monthly for six months. Topics range from personal (How do I become a better ally?) to technical (Fuel Switching in Multifamily Affordable Housing) to systemic (Equity and Inclusion in Utilities). The output of each group varies by topic and group goals. Examples of outputs include:

  • Tenant’s Bill of Rights
  • Glossary for Cross Sector Collaborations
  • Side by Side Advocacy with Tenants blog post
  • Tracking Federal Policy Change Resource List

Related Resources

NEWHAB Tenants Energy Efficiency Bill of Rights

Fact sheet