The Great Collaboration Knowledgebase
The Great Collaboration Knowledgebase
  • Welcome!
  • Introduction to the Great Collaboration
    • How to use this site
    • RESOURCE PACK
      • Promote
        • Promotion Resources
        • Social Media Templates
        • Toolkit Actions (Images)
      • Plan
      • Declare
        • Full resources for Declaration
      • Case Studies
      • Stunning climate photography - Climate Visuals
  • 1. Housing/Buildings
  • 2. Transport
    • Low-Carbon Vehicles
  • 3. Energy
  • 4. Food
  • 5. Biodiversity
    • Model Biodiversity Policy
  • 6. Money/Funding
  • Adaptation
    • Buildings (adaptation)
      • How to save energy in your community building
    • Transport (adaptation)
    • Community (adaptation)
    • Land Use (adaptation)
      • Farm Carbon Toolkit
      • Monitoring Environmental Change
      • Run Your Own Bioblitz
      • Creating a Community Woodland
      • Trees and Woodland Strategy Toolkit
      • Creation of a Community Orchard
    • Energy
      • Energy - various
      • Community Energy Switching
      • We Want Wind
      • Carbon Calculators
      • Energy - cooling system works on gravity instead of electricity
      • Association of Local Environmental Records Centres
      • Future Energy Landscapes
    • Community
      • Community Climate Projects
      • Health and Wellbeing
      • Community - various
        • TheEco-Hub, Gamlingay
        • Kendal Climate Change Citizens' Jury
      • Community Climate Action Plans: Virtuous Circle
    • Carbon Copy's 25 "Big Local Actions"
  • Mitigation
    • Buildings (mitigation)
    • CapturingCO2
    • Repair cafe and carbon calculators
  • Events
    • Banter sessions (inc table of all sessions)
      • Banter 68: 07May25 Libraries working to Net Zero, Anna McMahon
      • Banter 67: 30Apr25 Corsham Climate Plans for Net Zero by 2030, with Garry Ford
      • Banter 66: 23Apr25 Nature Park, with Martin Harrison
      • Banter 65: 16Apr25 Bats, with Daisy Finniear
      • Banter 64: 09Apr25, De-carbonising Community Buildings, Andrew Maliphant
      • Banter 63: 02Apr25 Manchester, first Carbon-Literate City?, Linda Foley
      • Banter 62: 26Mar25 Community Land Trusts, Tom Chance and Janet Cobb
      • Banter 61: 19Mar25 Green and Healthy Frome, Becky Lovegrove
      • Banter 60: 12Mar25 Climate Change Gardening, Clive Boase
      • Banter 59: 05Mar25 Local Climate and Nature Action Plans LCNAP), Matthew Lipton
      • Banter 58: 26Feb25 "Phosphates" with Andrew Clegg
      • Banter 57: 19Feb25 creating a parish Environment group, by Graham S-S
      • Banter 56: 12FEb25 "Smart" Net Zero approach, with David Morgan-Jones
      • Banter 55: 05Jan25 Wight Community Energy
      • Banter 54: 29Jan25 Climate Emergency declared 5 years ago in Charlbury - what has happened since?
      • Banter 53: 22Jan25 "Harbour Farm and LNRS"
      • Banter 52: 15Jan25 Knowledgebase -what parishes need to know, how to create a climate change roadmap
      • Banter 51: 08Jan25 - DESNZ Call for Evidence
      • Banter 50: 18Dec24 Food Resilience, Daphne Du Cros
      • Banter 49: 11Dec24 Really Helping and Enabling Personal Environmental Action, Bob Earll
      • Banter 48 : 04Dec24, Carbon Literacy Project, Abby Charlesworth
      • Banter 47: 27Nov24 Climate Action in the world of Sport by Laura Baldwin
      • Banter 46: Biodiversity Net Gain, with DEFRA
      • Banter 45: 3Nov24 Communication to save the Planet, Katie Clubb
      • Banter 44: 06Nov24 Climate Anxiety with Linda Aspey
      • Banter 43: 30Oct24 Experiences with an EV, with Ian Graham
      • Banter 42: Home Insulation Efficiency by Design Graham Stoddart-Stones
      • Banter 41: Share more, Waste less,16Oct24, Harvey Mcgivern
      • Banter 40: Water Efficiency at home, 09Oct24, Beverley Rogers
      • Banter 39: Postcode Revolution, 02Oct24, Jack Cooper
      • Banter 38: Why not underground?, 25Sep24, Graham Stoddart-Stones
      • Banter 37: Waste and Recycling Regulations, 18Sep24, Matthew Coulter
      • Banter 36: Bringing Solutions Together, 11Sep24, Paul White
      • Banter 35: Biosphere Reserves, 04Sep24, Chris McFarlina
      • Banter 34: Hay Community Resilience Initiative, 28Aug24, Mike Eccles
      • Banter 33: Climate Change and the new Government, 21Aug24, Ed Gemmell
      • Banter 32: Sustainability in Sport, 14Aug24, Claudine Pearson
      • Banter 31: Peterborough Accelerated Net Zero Project, 07Aug23, Gemma Birley
      • Banter 30: Programme Review, 31Jul24, Andrew Maliphant
      • Banter 29: Younity and Community Energy, 24Jul24, Michaela Cryar
      • Banter 28: Funding our Future, 17Jul24, Joolz Thompson
      • Banter 27: Creating Biodiverse Woodlands (& ESG), 10Jul24, Michael Cunningham
      • Banter 26: Messages, 03Jul24, Andrew Maliphant
      • Banter 25: Earthwatch Fresh Water, 26Jun24, Sam Frith
        • Banter 26: Messages, 03Jul24, Andrew Maliphant
      • Banter 24: Solar PV and batteries in your Parish, 19Jun24, Alex Templeton
      • Banter 23 Friends of the Earth, 12Jun24, Toby Bridgman
      • Banter 22: Energy and Low Carbon activities, 05Jun24, Adam Birchweaver
      • Banter 21: Child-led,Eco-refill workshops, 29May24, Lizzie Gimblett
      • Banter 20: Food Security, 22May24, David Dixon
      • Banter 19: CCA workshop 15May24 Joolz Thompson
      • Banter 18: MotherTree, 08May24, Dan Sherrard-Smith
      • Banter 17: Parish Online and Great Collaboration, 01May24, Chris Mewse
      • Banter 16: Resilience, 24Apr24, Chris Adams
      • Banter 15: Twenty is Plenty, 17Apr24, Dilys Gartside, Belinda Bawden
      • Banter 14: The World Game, 10Apr24, Graham Stoddart-Stones
      • Banter 13: Biodiversity Net Gain, 03Apr24, Andrew Maliphant
      • Banter 12: CSE "Future Energy Landscapes", 27Mar24, Dan Stone
      • Banter 11: Carbon Copy, 20Mar24, Ric Casale
      • Banter 10: Great Collaboration website update, 13Mar24, Sarah Battarbee, Graham Stoddart-Stones
      • Banter 09: Carbon Literacy, 06Mar24, Belinda Bawden
      • Banter 08: Education and Climate Science, 28Feb24, Maddie McGregor
      • Banter 07: Sustainable Transport, 21Feb24, Jools Townsend
      • Banter 06: EV Charging Points, 14Feb24, Sarah Battarbee
      • Banter 05: Beneath the Surface - River Evenlode, 07Feb24, Jennifer Lanham
      • Banter 04: Community Climate Action Plan, 31Jan24, Joolz Thompson
      • Banter 03: Climate Change and Digital Mapping, 24Jan24, with Graham Stoddart-Stones
      • Banter 02: Floods, with Bob Earll, 17Jan24
      • Banter 01: Biodiversity, with Andrew Maliphant 10Jan24
Powered by GitBook
On this page
Export as PDF
  1. Adaptation
  2. Community

Community Climate Projects

PreviousCommunityNextHealth and Wellbeing

Last updated 6 months ago

There has been much discussion over the years about climate concerns, but there are many local projects to benefit the environment that also carry other community benefits:

• Planting more trees helps to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere but fruit and nut trees also provide us with a better diet. New community orchards are becoming popular - see more at the .

• More locally grown fruit and vegetables improves the quality of the food that benefits our health, as well as reducing food cost and reducing pollution due to food imports from overseas (“food miles” - the UK currently imports 50% of our food). Growing our own food means more exercise as well!

The background to climate concerns is that the increase of so-called “greenhouse gases” (particularly carbon dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere is preventing heat from escaping into space, and the subsequent global warming is causing increasing changes in weather patterns.

The UK Met Office has published this chart of measurements from several different sources, showing that average global temperatures have increased by at least 10C in the last 70 years - and we are certainly seeing increasingly wild weather patterns around the world.

There have been some claims that the visible symptoms of global warming are no more than part of a natural cycle, but the recent sharp increase in carbon dioxide levels measured by America’s National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NASA) throws doubt on this idea. There was indeed more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere millions of years ago, but it took a long time to develop, not just within 70 years.

Those ancient levels did not support human life as we know it today, and certainly date long before our current levels of world population with more carbon dioxide being pumped into the air daily than the earth can readily absorb.

There are twin concerns currently being discussed:

  1. Global warming and its many impacts are increasing faster than previously expected.

While new technology is being developed, there is as yet no horizon as to when it may resolve the climate crisis on its own. Governments have the power to respond in different ways, but again, there is not enough money to resolve matters without a lot of personal decision-making and voluntary support.

Community climate projects can be our contribution to make the future more bright.

This version dated 25th September 2023 © Copyright 2023 SLCC Members may use and adapt this document within their own councils on the understanding that the copyright remains with the SLCC. The Society of Local Council Clerks is a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company registration number 10566132.

Creating new allotments can help with all of this, one of the few statutory responsibilities for English town and parish councils – see more information at .

Less food waste saves everyone’s pockets, and community larders can be one response to that. Ventures such as the can also spread more joy at special times of the year such as Christmas.

Further community action such as setting up repair cafes and other sharing and recycling can also help save money, rather than everyone always buying new goods – find out more at .

Less use of private cars through car sharing and car-pools makes our streets safer for the young and elderly as well as reducing local air pollution which is hazardous to health – you can find more advice on the.

Involve people with and promote public transport, such as engaging with national events like , , or , and/or running stand-alone events/schemes like try the train trips with local colleges or green travel roadshows.

More home working where appropriate means less commuting, with a similar benefit of less car transport and potentially greater support for local shops and businesses – advice on home working is available from the Government’s (ACAS).

Many people are isolated in their own homes for a number of reasons, with no private transport to help them get about. A locally-run minibus scheme can help improve people’s lives while also keeping down the use of private cars – see more at the .

Greater house insulation together with a shift towards home-produced energy such as installing solar panels also reduces household bills. Retrofitting public buildings is one possible approach to showing the way – the Centre for Sustainable Energy is currently updating its guide to.

Case studies and more “how to” guidance covering an increasing range of community climate projects can be found via the website.

SLCC have an Environmental and Sustainability Advisor contactable via the SLCC members’ , and One Voice Wales also have a. Other advice is available from a range of organisations, including:

• (CSE)

• (CAT)

•

•

•

• (NALC)

Ultimately, making gradual changes in the way we live and work should make life more bearable and positive for our children and grandchildren – and in the immediate future is likely to cause them less stress. A 2021 by the BBC found three-quarters of young people felt the future was frightening. Positive local action with and for our community can help us all in so many ways.

The causes of global warming have been investigated by the ) since it was set up by the United Nations in 1988. Their latestare unequivocal that the recent increase of carbon in the atmosphere is due to human activity.

Despite a sequence of organised by the United Nations, the response to this crisis has been much slower than expected.

The National Allotment Society
Ottery Larder
Repair Cafe
Parkers website
Catch the Bus Month
Walk to School Week
Cycle to Work Day
Community Rail Week
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
Community Transport Association
improving energy efficiency in community buildings
The Community Works
Advice Service
Local Places for Nature officer
The Centre for Sustainable Energy
The Centre for Alternative Technology
Carbon Copy
Friends of the Earth
Keep Wales Tidy
The National Association of Local Councils
survey
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC
reports
international conferences
Orchard Network
444KB
Community climate projects 25.9.23.pdf
pdf
Hulme Community Garden Centre
Global-average temperature records - Met Office
Evidence | Facts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)