Energy modeling projects, new funding opportunities, and legally-incorporated foundations

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Robbie Morrison

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Sep 15, 2022, 3:24:37 AM9/15/22
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Hi all

Some news today regarding California‑based outdoor clothing company Patagonia:

Owner Yvon Chouinard is "making the Earth our only shareholder". And a new organization called the Holdfast Collective will disperse funding — although that name does not show up on web searches yet. There are other benefactor‑driven initiatives emerging in this space too, directed variously at climate observation, mitigation, adaptation, relief, and awareness raising — and often stressing open data, open science, and collective wisdom. The Creative Commons‑led Open Climate Campaign being another recent example:

I imagine that some open source energy systems modeling projects would be of interest to these new funding organizations. The reason I mention this is that such projects might wish to consider forming stand‑alone entities incorporated under law to better interact with philanthropic funders. These entities are sometimes named "foundations" and the legal details depend heavily on their host country. They need careful design and navigation nonetheless. This well written but dense publication covers four case studies in the open source world more generally:

Perhaps some modeling and/or data projects have already investigated these questions?  If so, please post.

Note that I am not suggesting that the openmod heads down this track. Although that might be a question we may need to traverse at some point in time?

If anyone needs a referral for open source lawyers, I can assist.

with best wishes, Robbie

-- 
Robbie Morrison
Address: Schillerstrasse 85, 10627 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49.30.612-87617
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