Resource Pack

A set of tools, images, videos and guides to help you make the most of the Great Collaboration. Specifically aimed at parish/town councils. Select documents, images, templates from the left menu

Local Council Handbook v.1.2 December 2024.docx

523KB

Open

version updated 25Jan25

You may download a copy of the handbook from the link above, or review its text below. Note that the menu to the left links you to the resources themselves, to help you in these actions:

• Plan

• Promote

• Case Studies

• Declare

• Photographs

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Local Council Handbook

How to use The Great Collaboration Toolkit

to support climate and environmental action within your local council area.

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Contents

1. Four Simple Steps

2. Accessing Resources

   • 2.1 Email Support

   • 2.2 The Local Council Resource Pack

3. Declare

   • 3.1 Preparing a Declaration

   • 3.2 Considerations

   • 3.3 Biodiversity Policy

4. Promote

   • 4.1 The More People Using the Toolkit, the Better

   • 4.2 Communication Channels

   • 4.3 Social Media Engagement

   • 4.4 Promotion Schedule

   • 4.5 Understanding Your Audience – Residents

   • 4.6 Understanding Your Audience – Businesses

5. Plan

   • 5.1 The Range of Planning Guidance

   • 5.2 Preparing a Carbon Reduction Plan

   • 5.3 Reviewing the Carbon Reduction Plan

6. Report

   • 6.1 Getting Reports from the Website

   • 6.2 Using the Reports

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Four Simple Steps

The Great Collaboration Toolkit is a website at https://www.greatcollaboration.uk. Your residents and businesses can use the Toolkit right now. The more that use it, the more accurate the data produced.

To really get the benefits for your community, follow these four steps. You’ll find more information about each step in subsequent sections.

Expect to review the last three steps annually.

Declare

Have your local council make a policy decision.

Promote

Use the promotion resources provided to inspire your residents and businesses to get involved.

Plan

Write down what you will do actively to support a handful of The Great Collaboration’s actions over the coming year.

Report

Use the reports from the website to inform the local council so that you can make policy decisions.

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Accessing Resources

Email Support

If you need any help establishing The Great Collaboration in your local council, please email us at [e-mail] and we’ll be happy to help.

The Local Council Resource Pack

You can access the Local Council Resource Pack on the For Local Councils page of our website. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button.

The Resource Pack is organised into four sub-folders, one for each of the four steps:

• Declare

• Promote

• Plan

• Report

We’ll be adding to the Resource Pack as time goes on, so please check back regularly to see what’s changed.

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Declare

Preparing a Declaration

Take a copy of the Local Council Climate Emergency Declaration Template.docx file from the Declare folder in the Resource Pack.

Edit the document using Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or similar, making appropriate changes to the parts highlighted in pink, including renaming the document and/or its title to be appropriate to your Local Council, as well as any further changes to the document required for your local situation.

Present the amended document to your Local Council colleagues for review and approval. Once it is approved by the full council, have the chairman sign it.

Considerations

The suggested Community Carbon Calculator (https://impact-tool.org.uk) is supported by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero and the Centre for Sustainable Energy amongst others, and it publishes its methodology.

It gives parish and small community-level information, so it makes sense to use the results from this calculator as your starting point, even if in future years a wider range of tools become available.

Biodiversity Policy

Another option in line with every local council’s duty to consider biodiversity in everything they do is to adopt a biodiversity policy using the template in the Resource Pack.

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Promote

The More People Using the Toolkit, the Better

The local data produced by the Toolkit paints a powerful picture of what’s happening in your community—if a good proportion of your residents and businesses are using it.

Encourage people to register and record their actions. It may be helpful to set a target, such as 10% of households using the Toolkit. Once reached, set a new target… and keep going!

Communication Channels

Some channels you might use:

• Notice boards

• Local magazines

• Newsletters

• Websites

• Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

• Community events

Social Media Engagement

The Great Collaboration has an active social media presence on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegreatcollaboration1.

Ways to engage:

• Like

• Reshare

• Follow

• Tag in relevant posts

• Reply

The Promote folder of the Resource Pack contains a Promotion Ideas spreadsheet with:

• Toolkit Actions: Text and images for social media posts.

• Environmental Days: Upcoming national/international days with ready-to-use content.

Promotion Schedule

Decide on a promotion frequency that is realistic yet effective. Example:

• 1 Blog per week, posted on all channels.

• 2 Facebook posts per week.

• 1 Newsletter per month.

• 1 Community event per quarter.

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Plan

The Range of Planning Guidance

The Plan folder in the Resource Pack contains guidance and templates for:

• Environmental Planning Guidance

• Climate Action for Smaller Councils

• Commenting on Local Planning Applications

• Simple Guide to Biodiversity Net Gain

• Local Councils’ Powers & Opportunities around Climate Change

• Funding Sources for Climate & Environmental Action

Preparing a Carbon Reduction Plan

Take a copy of the Local Council Carbon Reduction Actions Template.docx from the Plan folder.

1. Rename the document.

2. Edit using Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

3. Choose a handful of actions to focus on.

4. Be specific about what you will do.

5. Use Toolkit reports to prioritize actions.

Reviewing the Carbon Reduction Plan

Review the plan annually to keep it relevant. Mark completed actions as DONE IN to maintain a historical record.

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Report

Getting Reports from the Website

Log in to The Great Collaboration Toolkit to find reports under the Insights page.

Using the Reports

• The Insights reports track user engagement.

• The Local Council Report provides detailed data for policy decisions.

• Reviewing the Local Council Report annually is more effective than reviewing it at every meeting.

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The Great Collaboration is supported by funding from MCS Charitable Foundation.