In June 2024, The Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland and George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government hosted an energy and climate-tech innovation policy “boot camp” for early career researchers in Washington DC. The Mason-Maryland boot camp, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, strengthened researchers’ understanding of how energy and climate-tech policy is made to promote greater impact on real-world clean energy and climate innovation outcomes. Schar School Professor David M. Hart and CGS Assistant Research Professor Kathleen M. Kennedy co-directed the boot camp while a distinguished panel of scholars served as the boot camp’s advisory committee.
Participants engaged in discussions with key players shaping the energy and climate-tech policy landscape, including members of Congress, the executive branch, international organizations, NGOs, businesses, and more. Following the program, participants drew up on these discussions and skill-building sessions to develop a set of policy briefs on their own research, which can be found below.