ENERGY JUSTICE INDICATORS: MEASURING COMMUNITY EFFECTS OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND (BIDWELL, PI; SMYTHE, TRANDAFIR); BOSTON UNIVERSITY (PEARL-MARTINEZ; SOVACOOL); UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE (DAVID; FIRESTONE) THIS PROJECT COLLABORATES WITH FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES TO CO-PRODUCE KEY SOCIAL INDICATORS OF ENERGY JUSTICE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY ALONG THE EAST COAST OF THE U.S. AND TO TRACK THOSE INDICATORS OVER TIME. ENERGY JUSTICE HAS EMERGED AS A PRIORITY IN ACADEMIC, NON-GOVERNMENTAL, AND GOVERNMENTAL COMMUNITIES. IN OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPMENT, ENERGY JUSTICE CONCERNS INCLUDE WHOSE INTERESTS AND VALUES ARE CONSIDERED LEGITIMATE, HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE DURING PLANNING AND OPERATION, AND HOW VARIOUS IMPACTS AND BENEFITS ARE DISTRIBUTED. BECAUSE THE CONCEPT OF ENERGY JUSTICE IS DIFFICULT TO MEASURE, WE PROPOSE A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL INDICATOR APPROACH TO OPERATIONALIZE ENERGY JUSTICE AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL AND TRACK ITS ACHIEVEMENT OVER TIME. INDICATORS—QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE PARAMETERS THAT CAN MEASURE A SPECIFIC PHENOMENON—CAN BE USED TO ASSESS OR TRACK THE SUCCESS OF REACHING SOCIAL GOALS. INDICATORS ARE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL WHERE GOALS ARE ABSTRACT (SUCH AS ENERGY JUSTICE), AS THEY PROVIDE AGREED-UPON AND MEASURABLE CONCEPTS. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND TRACK INDICATORS IN THREE COMMUNITIES ADJACENT TO PORTS SLATED FOR DEPLOYMENT OF TURBINES AND OTHER PROJECT COMPONENTS (NEW BEDFORD, MA; NEW LONDON, CT; AND A THIRD COMMUNITY TO BE DETERMINED). THE INITIAL PHASE OF THE PROJECT WILL ENCOMPASS THE PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT OF JUSTICE INDICATORS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT. AS A FIRST STEP, THE PROJECT TEAM WILL REVIEW RELEVANT LITERATURE AND ASSEMBLE PROFILES ON THE THREE COMMUNITIES. THEN, WITH INPUT FROM A TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (TAC), COMPRISING ACADEMIC, INDUSTRY, AND GOVERNMENT EXPERTS, THE TEAM WILL EMBARK ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUSTICE INDICATORS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDICATORS WILL BE A PARTICIPATORY PROCESS, INVOLVING MEMBERS OF EACH COMMUNITY. WORKING WITH A COMMUNITY PARTNER ORGANIZATION IN EACH COMMUNITY, THE TEAM WILL CONVENE WORKSHOPS TO DISCUSS KEY CONCEPTS AND BUILD THE CAPACITY FOR COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION. THEN, QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS WILL BE USED TO GLEAN KEY ISSUES AND POTENTIAL JUSTICE INDICATORS. THE TEAM WILL USE THIS INPUT TO CREATE A SET OF DRAFT INDICATORS, WHICH WILL THEN BE EVALUATED AND REFINED IN COOPERATION WITH THE TAC AND COMMUNITIES. THIS PROCESS WILL RESULT IN A FINAL SET OF JUSTICE INDICATORS FOR OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT. THE SECOND PHASE IS FOCUSED ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FINAL JUSTICE INDICATORS. THIS MEANS THE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF LONGITUDINAL QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA. RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS (E.G., SUMMARY STATISTICS) WILL BE POSTED ON AN ONLINE DASHBOARD, AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. THROUGHOUT THIS MULTI-YEAR PROCESS, COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE COMMUNITIES AND TO PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC ORGANIZATIONS WILL BE CENTRAL.