MAINECAN: Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network

Sierra Club Maine - Earth Day Clean-up at Back Cove Trail, Portland
2025-04-26 10:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Back Cove Trail, 288 Clifton St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Please join us at the Back Cove Trail in Portland for a clean up of the beautiful trail. One of the oldest and most popular of the trails in Portland, Back Cove offers great views of the Portland skyline. Ideal for walking, running, biking and dog walking. There are benches and two water fountains (seasonal) along the trail. Portable toilets are available in the parking areas at Preble Street Extension and Payson Park.

Sierra Club Maine - Community Conversation: Hans Neu; Disowned Prophet of "Mega-Dams = Eco-Disaster
2025-04-23 16:00 - 17:15 | Zoom
Presented by Roger Wheeler, President of Friends of Sebago Lake (Maine). Over 50 years ago, Hans Neu, a leading Canadian government oceanographer warned that the continued building of large hydropower projects on subarctic and Arctic rivers in Canada and Russia could warm the climate, alter ocean currents with global implications, and bring grave harm to the fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic. Present available climate data supports the science behind his warnings. In this webinar we will resurrect the buried warnings of the scientist who was ahead of his time, but right on time!

CEBE Community Celebration & Open House
2025-04-22 17:30 - 19:00 | Center for an Ecology-Based Economy, 447 Main St, Norway, ME, 04268, United States
This April 22nd marks the shared celebration of CEBE’s 12th birthday and Earth Day! We cannot think of a better time to honor our community, to take stock of all we have accomplished together, and to recharge our collective energies for the important climate work that lies ahead.

Mitchell Center - Talk – Reconciling with resilience: How Maine can bounce back from floods
2025-04-21 15:00 - 16:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Last winter’s devastating storms revealed just how vulnerable Maine communities are to flooding, whether they’re behind seawalls along the coast or nestled on rivers in the state’s mountainous interior. In the aftermath of that flooding, Maine Monitor reporter Emmett Gartner traveled across the state to report on how effectively communities weathered the storms, speaking with local officials about their plans to fortify their towns against the rising seas and more frequent, intensifying storms brought on by climate change. Join Emmett at the University of Maine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions on April 21 at 3PM as he discusses his reporting on the challenges Maine faces in building resilience to flooding and what solutions exist at the state and local levels to prepare Maine for what’s to come.

Mitchell Center - 2025 Maine Wasted Food Solutions Summit
2025-04-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
The Maine Wasted Food Solutions Summit is Maine’s only statewide event focused on ending wasted food and food loss in our state. The Summit brings together our state’s key food system participants—farms, businesses, feeding partners, community leaders and more – to discuss proven win-win solutions for ending wasted food and food loss in Maine.

STEAM Team ~ Dive into Vernal Pools
2025-04-15 15:30 - 17:00 | Belfast Free Library, 106 High St, Belfast, ME, 04915, United States
Join us in exploring one of the most spectacular signs of spring…vernal pools! Seasonal spring pools are essential for the wellness of many critters and the forest ecosystem, but as the name implies, they are not here for long. Youth will build a model of a vernal pool to discover how these pools develop over time and play a game to learn what outside factors influence these sensitive ecosystems. Free event for ages 8-12.

Sierra Club Maine - Clean Energy Team Meeting - April 2025
2025-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Sierra Club’s monthly Clean Energy Team meeting

Mitchell Center - Talk – Managing for sustainability and climate resilience: The future of agroecological wild blueberry management in Maine and maritime Canada
2025-04-14 15:00 - 16:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Wild blueberry production in Maine and maritime Canada is an ecologically, economically, and culturally important industry and land use. Agroecology is a scientific discipline that examines agriculture within both ecological and social contexts, and can be used to better understand the past, present, and potential future of wild blueberry agriculture in our region. In this talk, we present two recent agroecological investigations of wild blueberries: First, Brogan Tooley, senior manager of agroecology at Wyman’s, will share on-farm challenges and ongoing research efforts to identify management techniques that bolster crop resilience and mitigate crop stress in today’s climate. Next, Dr. Rachel Schattman of the University of Maine Agroecology Lab will present on an ongoing study to investigate the effects of climate change, specifically changing temperature and precipitation regimes, on wild blueberries. We invite audience participation in the second half of the presentation as we probe the most pressing questions related to Northeast wild blueberry production in a changing climate.

Clean Energy Group - Webinar: Energy Resilience for Medically Vulnerable Multifamily Affordable Housing Residents: A Technoeconomic Analysis for Connecticut
2025-04-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom
Power outages can quickly turn into a health crisis for the millions of Americans that rely on electricity for home medical devices, including life-support equipment and technologies for independent living. A new report, Optimizing Energy Resilience to Support Medically Vulnerable Multifamily Affordable Housing Residents, assesses the potential for solar+storage to improve health outcomes for medically vulnerable residents. It includes a technoeconomic analysis that explores opportunities to maintain electricity to essential resident services, both in-unit and in communal spaces, at three multifamily affordable housing facilities in Connecticut. In this webinar, project partners will discuss the methodology and results of their technoeconomic analysis, including key findings and recommendations. Speakers will also discuss applicable incentives available through Connecticut’s Energy Storage Solutions program and Residential Renewable Energy Solutions program.

YRCA - Coastal Tourism and Sustainability
2025-04-09 18:00 - 19:00 | Zoom
This program is part of our 2025 Climate Change Series: Coastal Impacts and Resources. This series is co-sponsored by York Public Library, York Ready for Climate Action and York Land Trust.

Sierra Club Maine - Earth Month Film Showing "A Fierce Green Fire" at Belfast Free Library, Belfast
2025-04-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Belfast Free Library, 106 High St, Belfast, ME, 04915, United States
A FIERCE GREEN FIRE: The Battle For a Living Planet is the first big-picture exploration of the environmental movement – grassroots and global activism spanning fifty years from conservation to climate change. From halting dams in the Grand Canyon to battling 20,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal; from Greenpeace saving the whales to Chico Mendes and the rubbertappers saving the Amazon; from climate change to the promise of transforming our civilization… the film tells vivid stories about people fighting – and succeeding – against enormous odds.

Mitchell Center - Talk – Closing the Loop: Opportunities for Industrial Circular Economy Exchanges in Maine
2025-04-07 15:00 - 16:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
In this talk, we’ll explore the potential of industrial symbiosis and materials exchanges as solutions for reducing waste in Maine— a key policy priority for climate action and sustainable resource use. By facilitating the exchange of waste, Industrial Symbiosis and Materials Exchanges can cut disposal costs, minimize pollution, and unlock new economic opportunities. This presentation will examine how Maine can create a collaborative network to foster these circular economy solutions and support the state’s climate goals.

Local Leads the Way April 2025 call
2025-04-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
Local Leads the Way provides support to communities throughout the state of Maine who are engaged in community-driven, solutions-focused climate action. Local Leads the Way hosts monthly meetings open to anyone involved in or contemplating community-driven climate action. Through these meetings, participants share resources, build networks of support, participate in trainings, collaborate, and reduce duplication of effort. Meetings typically take place the first Monday of each month. We hope you will join us! Email johannah@aclimatetothrive.org with any questions or to express interest in Local Leads the Way!

Green Home and Energy Show
2025-04-05 09:00 - 16:00 | The Point Community Center, 345 Clarks Pond Pkwy, South Portland, ME, United States
The Green Home + Energy Show is the place to find resources to make your home more comfortable, efficient, healthy and sustainable—whether you are renovating, building or buying. Come for the expert-led workshops, networking with contractors and good eats; stay for the vibrant community of eco-minded homeowners and professionals.

NRCM Monthly Climate Action Call - April 2025
2025-04-03 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
These Zoom meetings will give you a chance to meet our staff experts, hear the latest climate & clean energy related updates at the State House and beyond, and learn ways to take action and make a difference. We’ll focus on a different issue each month and send an agenda and what to expect before each call.

Belfast Free Library - Grow Your Own Organic Garden
2025-04-02 18:00 - 19:30 | Belfast Free Library, 106 High St, Belfast, ME, 04915, United States
Learn about the basics of organic gardening – from soil health and pest management, to seed starting and harvesting. Plus, head home with some seeds to start in your garden. Register for your spot in the class here.

Mitchell Center - Talk – Scallop Aquaculture in the Gulf of Maine: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned
2025-03-31 15:00 - 16:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Dr. Damian C. Brady is a Professor of Oceanography based at the Darling Marine Center. His research interests, while broad, focus on how models can inform better decision-making in marine ecosystems to reflect the values of the coastal communities that rely on them. The decision-making contexts have included aquaculture, offshore wind, marine carbon dioxide removal, the American lobster fishery, sea-run fish, and coastal water quality. The Gulf of Maine is an important economic driver for the region with important fisheries and aquaculture operations; however, dynamic new ocean industries are emerging, such as recirculating aquaculture systems, floating offshore wind, and marine carbon dioxide removal. Many of these new and emerging technologies purport to address our pressing climate change induced challenges. To determine whether these emerging technologies can address these challenges, our team develops, calibrates, and validates tools, such as techno-economic analyses, marine ecosystem models, remote sensing, and oceanographic buoys, to collect objective, science-based information and importantly, communicate these results to coastal communities.

MAINECAN Session at the 2025 Maine Sustainability & Water Conference
2025-03-27 08:30 - 16:00 | Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Dr, Augusta, ME, 04330, United States
This session will bring together Maine communities (municipal & tribal government officials, local non-profit organizations, citizen groups) implementing or interested in implementing climate and energy solutions and the groups supporting these efforts: Service Providers and Regional Coordinators from the Maine Community Resilience Partnership; Maine-based non-profit organizations; and other entities supporting community-driven climate and energy action. It will be an all-day “track” with morning and afternoon sessions and related poster presentations. This will be our second Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN) event; this initiative has been building over recent years and is a collaboration between community groups and the entities that support them. Each session will focus on a different theme: outreach/engagement best practices (community leaders with community members; supportive partners with communities); specific projects and lessons learned (e.g., climate action planning processes, community-driven solar cooperatives, residential weatherization, etc.); ongoing and planned research into opportunities and barriers for energy transitions; and resources for communities to build capacity and keep the momentum going. A targeted focus will be on people and communities considered underserved, disadvantaged, or “high” on Maine’s Social Vulnerability Index. Ideally, each session will have some combination of panel presentations and roundtable discussions.

Maine Sustainability & Water Conference
2025-03-27 08:30 - 16:00 | Augusta Civic Center, 76 Community Dr, Augusta, ME, 04330, United States
The Maine Sustainability & Water Conference provides an annual forum where professionals, researchers, consultants, citizens, students, regulators, and planners gather to exchange information and present new findings on sustainability and water resource issues in Maine.

GEO & GOPIF - Direct Pay Webinar for all eligible entities
2025-03-24 15:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
GEO and GOPIF will be hosting a series of webinars in the coming weeks for eligible entities to learn more about filing for Direct Pay.

Mitchell Center - Panel Discussion – The Tekαkαpimək Contact Station at Katahdin Woods & Waters
2025-03-24 15:00 - 16:00 | Mitchell Center, 107 Norman Smith Hall, UMaine, Orono, ME, 04469, United States
Tekαkαpimək Contact Station is a stunning 7,900 square-foot building and 23-acre site atop Lookout Mountain created to welcome the global public to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The monument is located within the present and traditional homeland of the Penobscot Nation. The land and waters hold special significance to the Penobscot Nation and is inextricably linked with Penobscot culture, ceremonies, oral traditions, language, history, and Indigenous stewardship which continues the respectful relationship with the land and waterways that has gone back more than 11,000 years. Katahdin is a culturally significant place to the Wabanaki people where connecting watersheds provide important travel routes for Wabanaki people of Maine, comprised of Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Nations.

GEO & GOPIF - Direct Pay Webinar for Non-profits and Other Tax-exempt Entities
2025-03-21 12:00 - 14:00 | Zoom

Meet the Moment: Sierra Club Maine 2025 Chapter Retreat
2025-03-21 - 2025-03-23 | Ferry Beach Retreat & Conference Center, 5 Boardwalk Dr, Saco, ME, 04072, United States
Come and join Sierra Club Maine members, volunteers, and staff for a weekend of meaningful discussion, food and music, and a review of how we are working to save the environment in the face of our most significant challenges in history. We know that sharing in a community with like-minded people is the first and best place to start making a difference. The retreat will take place at the Ferry Beach Retreat & Conference Center in Saco. Learn more and register here.

CEBE Winter Film Series: The Chase & Remember Winter
2025-03-20 18:30 - 20:30 | Center for an Ecology-Based Economy, 447 Main St, Norway, ME, 04268, United States
Join us at CEBE for free movie nights this winter! Popcorn provided and discussion afterward.

GEO & GOPIF - Direct Pay Webinar for Schools and Higher Education Institutions
2025-03-20 13:00 - 14:00 | Zoom

MCAN & ACTT - Energy Democracy Series
2025-03-20 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
See the MCAN website for recordings of these webinars

Sustainable Brunswick: Keep Calm and Pedal On – Accessing Active Transportation Near You
2025-03-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant St, Brunswick, ME, 04011, United States
Sidewalks, bike lanes, trails – oh my! Please join the Town of Brunswick and Curtis Memorial Library as we shift gears this March to highlight the benefits of investing in local bike and pedestrian infrastructure, advocacy efforts at the state and local level, tips on how to navigate this new landscape, and opportunities to get involved and show your support for these initiatives right here in Brunswick! First, Andrew Hamilton of the Brunswick Bike and Pedestrian Commission will take us on tour through some of the latest research and trends in bicycle-friendly planning and design, with an emphasis on the idea that bike infrastructure benefits everyone (even people who don’t ride bikes themselves!); Bicycle Coalition of Maine Active Transportation Director, Paul Drinan, will wrap up the second half of our lecture with an overview of the different types of bike infrastructure and best practices for their use, opportunities for community involvement and action at the state level and an overview of their new municipal membership program meant to help support communities with Climate Action and Master Bike-Ped Plans. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about local efforts to promote the expansion of biking and how you can get involved!

Region 2 TCTAC - Webinar: Designing a Resilience Hub
2025-03-19 14:30 - 15:30 | Zoom
Increasingly, community institutions are equipping their facilities with renewable and reliable backup power – solar paired with battery storage systems – as part of their efforts to become a Resilience Hub. Join Region 2 Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center (TCTAC) in this virtual training where Clean Energy Group will delve into resilient power topics and provide time for the audience to ask any questions about designing a Resilience Hub.

Belfast Free Library - Come Boating! Winter Adventure Series: Scallop Farming in Penobscot Bay
2025-03-18 18:30 - 20:00 | Belfast Free Library, 106 High St, Belfast, ME, 04915, United States
Andrew and Samantha Peters founded Vertical Bay in 2018 as a model for scallop farming in Maine. Andrew will discuss how their scallops are grown in the nutrient-rich waters of the Penobscot Bay, the “ear-hanging” method of farming he uses, how he has benefitted from the work of research institutions in Maine and the challenges and opportunities scallop farming presents.

GEO & GOPIF - Direct Pay Webinar for Municipalities and Tribal Governments
2025-03-18 10:00 - 11:00 | Zoom
