The Consultation Process
Community involvement in Yansa projects is absolutely essential and ensures their fundamental economic, cultural, environmental and political rights. Collective community participation is manifested in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all projects.
In Ixtepec, stage one of the consultation process was to extend knowledge of the project beyond the indigenous governing body, who has already sought partnership with Yansa. The goal is to inform the entire community about the project and engage them in the envisioning the type of impact they would like to see as a result of the revenues from the wind farm. Yansa facilitates this process with research about potential areas of need in the community, but ultimately all decisions for projects that will be funded by the wind farm proceeds are made by the community.
Stage two occurs when the financing and contract agreement have been secured and the wind farm project begins. In communities like Ixtepec where an agrarian lifestyle is still maintained, neighborhood meetings and participation by existing organizations such as The Cattle Raisers Association and The Agricultural Producers Association are essential to the process, culminating in a consensus on how wind energy profits should be distributed. Yansa assists in building a transparent structure that oversees the allocation of profits, ensuring the community retains control over their land, resources and profits.
Community Impact
Each year after debt servicing, profits generated from wind energy projects will be split equally between the partnering community and Yansa, ensuring long-term sustainability for the community and Yansa’s vision.
The profits are administered in a community trust and are based upon the community needs assessment conducted during the consultation process in which community members actively participate in establishing their priorities. Yansa is responsible for ensuring that resources are devoted to the priorities democratically decided by the community. Typically, trusts are devoted to strengthening quality of life, diversifying economic opportunities and advancing environmental sustainability within the community in order to avoid creating a dependence solely on wind power income acquired by selling the energy to the national grid.
Yansa’s portion of the profits will be used to finance additional projects in other communities utilizing the same model and facilitating lower borrowing rates for future projects. Current renewable energy projects will finance a broad framework for future sustainable community development.