Welcome to our December newsletter! Estimated read time: 4 min.

As we wrap up the year, we’re taking stock of a landscape that’s shifting fast alongside the realities that aren’t going away: growing energy demand, intensifying climate impacts, and the need to cut emissions.

We started Constructive to help leaders across sectors align quickly and collaborate effectively — so complex challenges translate into practical outcomes. 

And momentum is building! Since our public launch in July, we're now supporting efforts across multiple states and in multiple countries with a growing network of partners to advance energy abundance and a thriving planet.

We’re grateful to our team, collaborators, and funders for helping make it possible, and we’re looking forward to what’s next.

Here’s to continuing to #BeConstructive in 2026 — see you then! 

Susan Kish, CEO & Jonah Wagner, President

Constructive at the Cleantech for Europe Summit

Earlier this month we gathered 20 leaders from policy, finance, and industry at The Nine for lunch and a candid discussion on what it will take to unlock clean energy deployment — with a focus on opportunities in geothermal — ahead of the Cleantech for Europe Summit in Brussels.

Some of the themes we explored:

• Capital is ready, but needs clearer signals. Much of today's investment capacity is optimized for solar, wind, and storage — newer sectors attract capital when investors can see confident, consistent policy direction.

• Tech-agnostic, inclusive approaches beat ideological battles. Being “for everything and against nothing” gives developers and financiers the certainty they need to commit.

• Europe has real opportunity in geothermal. With advancing technology, strong policy frameworks, and significant district heating infrastructure, geothermal is emerging as a near-term, scalable, homegrown energy option that could boost Europe's energy security — especially as attention turns to the EU’s Q1 2025 action plan.

• However permitting and early-stage risk remain stubborn barriers. Streamlined processes and mechanisms to de-risk confirmation drilling could unlock meaningful investment flows.

We also shared a preview of work we're developing to accelerate clean energy in the UK and Europe — more on this soon.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to our speakers Tim Woodcock and Adam Roy Gordon from Climate Merchants, Victor van Hoorn from Cleantech for Europe, and Constructive’s own Mike O’Connor, Krysta Biniek, Susan Kish, and Jigar Shah for setting the tone with sharp, practical insights.

Download the full writeup here and get in touch if you work on clean energy deployment in Europe and see opportunities to collaborate!

Be a catalyst in 2026

We were thrilled to launch CATALYZE in partnership with ASME earlier this month — a two-day summit bringing together the engineers, investors, and ecosystem leaders driving the next industrial revolution.

Sign up for updates here and join us on June 17–18, 2026 at Newlab Detroit and Michigan Central to explore three program themes:

We’re seeking strategic collaborators to co-develop the experience, support the event, and help us launch a new kind of convening. To find out more, get in touch with david@constructive.org.

We’re excited to welcome Eli Bashevkin as a new Senior Fellow!

• Jonah listened to “The Future of Energy Has Arrived — Just Not in the U.S.” which explores the growing showdown between global superpowers over the future of energy and the conspicuous absence of the U.S. at COP30.

• Susan is delving into this roadmap to cut industrial emissions through clean heat by our partners at UC Santa Barbara. Electrifying “overlooked” industries, from ethanol to toilet paper, could cut their emissions 26% by 2050.

• The Brits on our team were excited to learn that the earliest known evidence of human-made fire was just discovered in Sussex — a poignant discovery as we approach midwinter, and a reminder that our own work is part of a 400,000 year journey to harness natural energy for human good.

• Mike has us swinging into the holidays with the warm and wonderful Ella Fitzgerald, of course.

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