Creating Hope Together - sign up for training

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We’re pleased to invite you to face-to-face training for Creating Hope Together, which will take place on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd October 2024 at Scottish Community Development Centre in Glasgow (full details below).

The training will be a gentle introduction to doing your own research. You’ll get to try out one or two ways to do research on the day and the training will also be a great chance to meet everyone involved, including the other groups taking part. Lunch will be provided on both days as well as tea and coffee.

Full details

Venue: Scottish Community Development Centre, Suite 305, Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, Glasgow G2 6HJ (See map) (See directions).

Dates and times:

  • Wednesday 2nd October, 10am-3pm

  • Thursday 3rd October, 10am-3pm

Sign up

Please could you sign up for the training using this form. Everyone attending should fill the form in.



Community development and Climate - Policy overview

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What does climate policy mean for communities?

Climate action can be confusing for both practitioners and communities, however as climate activities are taking place across a number of sectors it also presents more opportunities for joint-up collaborative work and projects.

Areas where current and future opportunities exist, and practical actions could be introduced and expanded include:  

  • Transport – encouraging more active travel through community projects and activities not only lowers emissions but also improves the health and mental wellbeing of individuals and families.   The Active Travel Champions Project facilitated by Transition St Andrews shows practical actions that can be taken in this area.

  • Energy – a huge number of opportunities exist within the energy sector that relate to climate action from community benefits from windfarms to community heating programmes.  Linlith-Go-Solar is a good example of a where a community enterprise initiative is being used for the benefit of the whole town of Linlithgow. 

  • Green Homes and buildings – how we heat our buildings and insulate our homes is closely linked to climate change and reducing future carbon emissions.  It has been a topical discussion over the last few years and will continue to be in the future.  Home Energy Scotland continues to work with local groups to reduce overall energy use and encourage behaviour change within the community.  Local Energy Scotland manages the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES) which supports communities to engage with, participate in and benefit from the energy transition to net zero emissions.  The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations reported in 2021 that the majority of Scotland’s housing associations are using sustainable construction methods and will continue to do so in the future.

  •  Health – there has long been recognition of significant dual benefits between health and climate for communities with many papers and studies being published outlining these significant links.  Some interesting examples and resources include  NatureScots Green Health Projects and a briefing  for local government and partners (including local organisations) from the Improvement Service, Public Health Scotland and Adaptation Scotland outlining how our changing climate can affect health and health inequalities both directly and indirectly. 

  • Food & Agriculture – how we produce, use and consume food has close links to climate change and Nourish Scotland outline steps that can be taken to encourage a just transition to a climate and nature friendly food system.  At a local level there are numerous community food projects operating with a number of national food networks developing that detail excellent examples of activities happening across Scotland.  NatureScot is also facilitating a Farming with Nature  project which aims to support farmers and crofters to enhance nature and tackle climate change while producing high quality food.

  • Planning – community planning, locally led and otherwise, gives communities the power to tackle their own, local challenges which are increasingly including climate elements, often related to climate resilience and adaptation.  Communities can see where climate change is taking effect within the areas they live and are best placed to suggest (and at times drive) actions that can mitigate and adapt to such changes.  Much work has already been started in relation to “place and climate” and a number of toolkits and examples have been developed to help both communities and partners think about climate integration practices including a Climate Action Towns Toolkit, the Place Standard with a Climate Lens Tool and the Climate Ready Places Resource.

Click to enlarge: A diagram showing some of the key policy drivers around climate policy.

 

Climate policy timeline

Climate policy has developed and evolved over a number of years,. This timeline outlines how this has happened.

The climate change (Scotland) Act 2009 set out the requirement to have both national Climate Change Plans and Climate Adaptation Programmes.  

In 2019, following Scottish Government’s declaration of a climate emergency, amendments to the original legislation were introduced through the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019.  These amendments included the commitment to net zero emission of all greenhouse gases in Scotland by 2045 and the introduction of Just Transition principles.   

The climate change plan spans a period of 14 years (2018-2032) and was updated (and amended) in 2020 to reflect the changes in legislation.  It will still run until 2032.

Rolling Climate Adaptation Programmes have been in place since 2014 – legislation requires that such programmes are prepared as soon as reasonably practicable after each round of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment which includes a national summary for Scotland. 

Adaptation programmes normally span approximately 5 years and in Scotland the next adaptation plan will run from 2024-29.  It is currently under development and is scheduled to be launched later this year – information on the previous plan is here and information on the recent consultation for the next iteration (SNAP3) is here.  

The Climate Change Plan for Scotland contains ambitious policies and proposals - the adaptation programmes are designed to support these.  The Climate Change Plan as it stands includes over 200 policies and proposals.  This in itself indicates what a busy landscape climate is becoming, one that is touching every sector and individual in society. 

The update to legislation in 2019 also sets out a statutory requirement (and monitoring framework) for annual monitoring against the Climate Change Plan.  This monitoring includes sector by sector reports on progress and the inclusion of matters relevant to a just transition.  The most recent report was 2024 

Due to fluctuations in global targets a further “Climate Change Targets Bill” is scheduled to be laid before parliament before the end of 2024.  This will affect the dates of the Climate Change Plan.  A updated climate change plan has been out for consultation – this update will extend the current plan and roll on to cover from 2024-2040.

Click to enlarge: A diagram showing some of the key climate milestones, from 2008 up until 2024 around climate policy.

 

Climate Resources

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This page features resources, useful organisations and other information related to community responses to the climate crisis.

  • The Communities Channel Scotland features a range of resources and links to further information around community climate responses in Scotland.

  • Community-led health and climate justice - In this briefing, CHEX make the links between community-led health and climate action.

  • Scottish Communities Climate Action Network support community-led action in Scotland to address the climate and nature emergency and are the Transition Network Hub for Scotland – part of the wider, global Transition Network. 

  •  Regional Community Climate Hubs have been developing since 2021 and there are now over 20 in operation across Scotland.  The hubs exist to; build awareness of the climate emergency and actions local groups can take; support groups to develop climate action projects and embed climate solutions into local plans; help groups take up funding opportunities; facilitate networking; and ensure a joined-up approach to tackling climate change at a regional level. 

  • Nine Climate Action Towns were supported to explore the delivery of relevant, place appropriate climate actions. There is a helpful toolkit which steps through the processes and methodologies used by the Climate Action Towns team at Architecture and Design Scotland.

  • Ready Scotland have published national guidance on community resilience very recently called Building Resilient Communities.  

  • The Place Standard with a Climate Lens has been developed to help people understand how climate change might play out in a local area and support them to design their future place with climate in mind. It builds on the core Place Standard tool and is designed to support a joined up, collaborative, and participative approach to climate action within a place. 

  • SCVO’s Growing Climate Confidence initiative support charities, social enterprises and community groups across Scotland to take action on the climate emergency, support nature and biodiversity and ensure a just transition to a low carbon future for our communities. 

  • This briefing from Public Health Scotland aims to increase awareness of how climate change and adaptation responses can affect health and health inequalities. It also sets out evidence-based public health principles that support a whole-system approach to achieve climate resilience, health and equity. 

  • Adaptation Scotland have worked with partners to produce the Community Climate Adaptation Routemap, a practical guide for communities to adapt to climate change. The Routemap is split into three distinctive stages to launch then drive climate resilience in local areas: ‘getting started’, ‘understanding climate change in your community’, and ‘taking action’.  

  • These Climate Ready Clyde Climate Vulnerability Maps the postcode areas within the Glasgow City Region that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and provide information on where to target resources towards the most vulnerable communities, supporting Climate Ready Clyde’s focus on just resilience.  This resource is good example of vulnerability maps, and similar maps from other parts of Scotland will be added in future.

  • This Climate Change Guide from Keep Scotland Beautiful is a useful starter guide to climate change, explaining clearly the fundamentals of climate change and its effects, and would be particularly useful for working with communities where there is need to build capacity for informed participation in local climate projects. 

How can communities take action on the climate emergency?

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With an issue that’s so global, and indeed overwhelming, it’s easy to feel that many of the communities we live in and work with are too far from power, influence and the ability to affect the large-scale change around climate issues we urgently need. 

And yet, we shouldn’t resign ourselves to inaction. Community development is built upon collective action - people coming together to take action on the issues important to them. Whether that’s anti-damp campaigns, or action to address the cost-of-living crisis, collective community action has brought remarkable energy, innovation and concrete changes around significant issues that affect people’s lives.  

We’re already seeing how these approaches are supporting climate action. In Dundee, the Gleaning Project works with local growers to harvest produce that is either surplus or unsellable. This food is then distributed to local community food projects, reducing waste and helping provide nutritional food to those who need it. 

There are examples just like this up and down the country, demonstrating that when communities are supported and resourced, they can make significant progress,

 
 

The change we need to see 

The challenge remains how we can enable communities, both individuals and groups, to carry out activities that can make positive climate impacts as part of their everyday work.

One recent example saw a group build a beach clean into a family event that was part of their usual summer programme of activities. These small steps can make a significant difference, alongside larger programmes and measures. 

And while communities can take significant steps towards this action themselves, we need to ensure that this activity is happening in an equitable and fair way – and not simply making existing inequalities worse. 

 
 

Building skills, knowledge and confidence

We hear clearly from our work that support in building the skills, knowledge and confidence of communities facing these inequalities is vital. Linked to this capacity building is the vital role that collaboration between agencies and with communities. We need to take a joined-up approach that supports community priorities, with effective community engagement and resources to help enable action to take place. 

We know that community-led climate action can make a real difference in reducing climate impact, anxiety and inequalities. But it’s also overwhelming and not always easy to grasp. That’s why collective community development approaches are vital if we’re to understand people’s priorities and see these take shape into the positive action we so urgently need. 

Read more about community development approaches to climate change