Focus Areas
Proposed Structure and Focus Areas
Focus Areas (FAs) will assist with developing a structure for the CO-LSEN, recruiting active members to the network, and identifying and implementing engagement opportunities (e.g., science notes, workshops, etc.). FAs address topics with broad and long-term relevance to Colorado. While FAs are very likely to align with topics addressed by recent and current legislative actions in the state, their purpose is to establish longer term consistency in the type of engagement supported by the CO-LSEN.
We are initially exploring the following three FAs:
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Carbon-based and Renewable Energy. This FA will address the scientific basis and feasibility for a range of pathways toward a clean energy economy in Colorado. Under the current administration, this FA will remain responive to topics related to the Polis Administration’s “Roadmap to to 100% Renewable Energy by 2040 and Bold Climate Action”.
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Climate and Environment. This FA will focus on tracking key indicators of Colorado’s climate and environment, and relating the state of these indicators to societal benefit areas (e.g., conservation, economy, culture, etc.) and stakeholder interests. This FA will provide an accounting for the “state of the climate” in Colorado, as well as providing an evidence base for envisioning Colorado in 2040 (or 2050).
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Technology. This FA will adress the development and application of emerging technologies (e.g. rural broadband, artificial technology, machine vision, self-driving cars, robotics, etc.) and the use of large and complex data-sets that demand novel and highly technical analysis capabilties. This FA will also address the ethical, cultural, and legal dimensions of technology and dig data, as approporiate.
Issue Engagement (IE) will represent the activites of CO-LSEN that are reponsive to current legistlative actions and highly focused and active decisionmaking arenas. This element of CO-LSEN will likely require some combination of near-real-time legislative tracking, soliciting commentaries or targeted Science Notes from across the network on relatively short timeframes, identifying opportunties for expert testimonies, or convening knowledge exchange workshops with policymakers.
