Community Skills
Community Skills for climate change was one strand of activity in the Climate East Midlands Skills Programme funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government. It was designed to support the decentralisation of power to the local level by enhancing the skills that local authorities and their local communities needed to take positive action on climate change.
This strand of the Skills Programme was designed to support the development of climate change skills within local communities. It supported local communities to engage with the planning system, built on the existing Climate Friendly Communities network and assisted people living off the mains gas network to heat their homes efficiently and lower their carbon footprint.
A description of the project, including 'lessons learned' can be found in the following report: Community skills for climate change
An online resource was developed to help communities make informed decisions and have meaningful input in to planning consultations - www.planningforclimatechange.org.uk . The resource contains planning news, information about how the planning system works, a section on community led planning, information about practical ways in which communities can save energy and become more resilient, plus case studies and useful tools. Four subregional events have been held to support the resource. The presentations that were delivered can be downloaded here.
Growing Climate Friendly Communities Grant enabled eight succesful projects to be delivered
Click on the name of the community to download the full case study
Greening Beeston: the project has enabled feasibility studies to be carried out to select a suitable community building for the installation of a renewable energy source, for a full feasibility study of the site selected to be completed, and a planning application to be written and submitted. The result has been that Chilwell School is looking to install a 5kW wind turbine. www.greeninginbeeston.weebly.com
Newstead Enterprise: using the park’s own reed-stock, local volunteers have installed a wet reed-bed system for the disposal of sewage from the Newstead Earth Centre. It is complemented by a Klargester sewage treatment unit to add an extra level of filtration to the system. A functional operating sewerage system has now been constructed to dispose of the centre’s waste in an eco-sensitive way and 24 local volunteers have developed new construction skills. [email protected]
Oundle Transition Town: by training Household Energy Assessors who have carried out customised energy surveys based on a standard set of documents, householders have become more aware of their energy consumption and their dependence on fossil fuels. During the project, money was raised to purchase an infra red camera. A huge amount of enthusiasm and momentum within the community has been developed which will help the community move towards its aim of reducing its carbon footprint. [email protected]
St Matthews Community Solutions: the project aimed to get the community to start to think differently about their community. 10 volunteers have attended a
10 week horticulture training, 6 communal planting areas have been developed for the community, including 3 ‘St Matthew’s Fruit Corners’, 4 active wormeries and 2 composters. Two of these areas were full of vegetables which were harvested by the community at the end of the summer 2011. One of the biggest achievements of this project is that it has engaged the local residents to such an extent that 30 residents have signed up, both themselves and their gardens, to the community gardening scheme. [email protected]
Sustainable Bakewell: the funding has paid for a detailed engineering investigation and hydro energy confirmation study, complete with report. The local consultation process has begun, so that all local stakeholders are engaged in this local renewable venture. [email protected]
Sustainable Hayfield: the project has raised awareness of sustainable issues within the community, reaching out through a series of community events. Energy assessments have been carried out on 8 core housing types and a road map for each house type has been created , showing how to improve its energy efficiency. Relevant and practical advice has been provided to help householders make energy efficiency improvements. An energy audit has been carried out on the local school, to kick start their carbon reduction programme. [email protected]
Transition Chesterfield: Fossil Fuel to Pedal Power has provided cycle training and pedal-powered solutions for people in Chesterfield to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and help to tackle local and global CO2 emissions, as well as encouraging healthy living and practical, sustainable transport. 60 people attended 3-hour bike mechanics workshops, 48 Bikeability cycle training places were filled, 7 events have been run where cycling has been promoted, through information and demonstration. All of these events have included a free Dr. Bike service offering people bike checks with adjustments and repairs. 6 people have taken part in a load carrying (cargo) bike building project, involving further professional training in brazing, welding and workshop skills. One cargo bike has been completed and another in under construction. 2 bikes have been re-homed. Transition Chesterfield now has 3 fully qualified bike mechanics and has encouraged people to get their old bikes out their shed, get them into working order, and most importantly, start to use them. [email protected]
Transition West Bridgford: this project has enabled members of the public with opportunities to see green new build and low energy refurbishment work in progress. The theory behind the idea is that seeing completed projects is inspiring, but seeing them in progress is more informative because the real energy efficiency features are usually invisible by the time the work is complete. During the project, the Eco House Group has grown from 100 to 170 members, with high levels of attendance and interest at events. Home-owners’ knowledge about low energy houses has improved, and many are seriously planning ahead to carry out significant work on their own homes. This includes a number of people living in “hard to treat” solid wall homes who are now considering major work that includes insulation or even whole house low energy retrofit. The wider interest that this project has generated, led to a presentation about the project at the AECB (sustainable builders’ association) annual conference in September 2011.
www.wbecohouses.co.uk
Community Champions and Energy Advisors were also trained in off-gas communities across the region. The outputs from this project are summarised in the report Community skills for climate change.
A full detailed report of all of the projects is availble on request
Contact: Mike Peverill E: [email protected] or M: 07854 284 588
