The Aspen Institute
To support a dialogue process that applies research findings to inform the development of best practices for the governance of shale gas and oil
This grant funds the Aspen Institute to host a three-year dialogue series, The Aspen Series on Energy Governance, which will synthesize the disparate strands of research that Sloan and other funders have supported in recent years on hydraulic fracturing and shale oil and gas development. The series will consist of three annual forums and two smaller-scale dialogue series that will bring together scholars and practitioners from different fields to develop a set of guidelines and recommendations related to how to oversee shale oil and gas production at the local, state, and federal levels. Discussion papers will be prepared to inform each of the meetings in the series, and a rapporteur will produce a report to summarize the collective results. The Aspen Institute will also develop a web resource that will include materials created for each session in the series and that will serve as a one-stop-shop for all of the publicly available research that the Sloan and Mitchell Foundations have supported on shale gas and oil development. Findings from the discussion series will be presented at public panels and workshops, both in Washington, D.C. and in regions where shale gas and oil development has taken place.