Resources in the Community Skills category
Power to the People event resources
A concluding half day event for the Community Skills for Climate Change project was held on Saturday 17th March in Langley Mill, hosted by Groundwork, who managed the whole project on behalf of Climate East Midlands. Around 40 people took part, including members of the eight community projects that received small grants to undertake action.
The downloads below are the agenda and the presentations given on the day by Graham Truscott from the Transition Network, Sustainable Hayfield, Fossil Fuel to Pedal Power (Chesterfield), Jon Harton who designed the Planning for Climate Change website, Mick McGrath from Big Lottery Fund and Climate East Midlands.
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Planningforclimatechange
An online resource for local communities to use to help them make informed decisions and have meaningful input in to planning consultations is posted on www.planningforclimatechange.org.uk . The resources 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.
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Communities case studies
Growing Climate Friendly Communities Grant enabled eight succesful projects to be delivered, as follows:
The full case studies can be downloaded at the bottom of the page
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. Visit www.sustainablebakewell.org.uk or email [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
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Planning for Climate Change - Community Events
Following the launch of the online resource, a series of free one-day workshops for community groups, individuals, councillors and planners with an interest in local planning and climate change have been held across the East Midlands.
The events featured a speakers with a wide range of first hand experience of achieving planning permission for community projects, as well as experts in the field of understanding synergies between wider community concerns and low-carbon/renewable energy projects and the statutory process. Also featured was an introduction to PlanLoCaL, a suite of resources including films, a resource pack and a website which aims to support communities and groups that are 'planning for low carbon living'.
An overview was given of the importance of understanding the UK Climate Impacts Programme climate projections and how they might influence planning decisions and speakers from DECC illustrated some of the impacts of climate change and possible solutions that could be implemented to ensure a resilient community.
Using PlanLoCal exercises, an in-depth technology specific workshop examined technologies chosen by attendees beforehand,
Feedback from the event was very positive and slides from the day may be downloaded here:
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Renewable energy and green roofs leaflet
A leaflet on Renewable Energy and Green Roofs has been developed by Daventry District Council and the Environment Agency to provide information on micro-renewable energy technologies and green roofs for new homes, buildings and extensions. The leaflet aims to provide particular guidance on building regulations and planning permission with regards to renewable energy technologies and green roofs as this is something that is regularly queried along with the government's recent financial incentives of the feed-in-tariff scheme and forthcoming renewable heat incentive. The leaflet is available in pdf format and can be made available in Word for other local authorities to tailor to their need. For more information, please contact Alice Ellis at Daventry District Council on 01327 871100 or email [email protected].
More details on Renewable energy and green roofs leaflet
