SEAD (Scottish Education and Action for Development)

Visiting the Linlithgow Climate Challenge group and afterwards talking to the group’s chair Peter Roberts, we discovered that six months ago there was no group, no strategy, nowhere for Linlithgow residents to turn for advice or support on climate issues. Now, things look very different- there’s a strong group on a big mission: to be an information hub for the local community on the threat of climate change and what they can do about it. They have six independent sub-groups and a website packed full of resources.

So what brought this sea change from individual angst to community action? The group started, Peter Roberts explains, after he and two other local residents put their heads together with SEAD and planned a series of three events for May, aimed at raising people’s awareness and bringing them together to act.

The first two meetings were for information sharing: with film showings borrowed from the Switch On to Climate Change film library followed by discussion. Peter attributes the success of these events to the ‘broad span of people who supported those three meetings.’ There were representatives from SEAD, Stop Climate Chaos, and Greenpeace, an MSP and community activists from Riverside, Stirling in attendance.

These big events attracted lots of people and energy levels were high, so when the third, action-planning meeting took place, it was very successful. It was at this meeting that Linlithgow Climate Challenge really formed, sub-groups and all.

The group’s first big campaign push is this Autumn: to work with the Energy Saving Trust getting as many Linlithgow homes as possible taking up subsidised or free home insulation. As Peter points out ‘Its all about developing a community capacity to respond to the very challenging circumstances when fossil fuel runs out- we already know there’s fuel poverty in Britain.’ This campaign seems well chosen: the fledgling community group can draw on the resources of a well established organisation, whilst the Energy Saving Trust become more effective as a result of Linlithgow Climate Challenge’s community links – all at a time when energy bills are rocketing and effective home insulation becomes increasingly urgent.

Its not all been plain sailing for the Linlithgow group. There’s a fear that their vast ambition could out strip their capacity, leading to burn out. Their solution, Peter says, is to try and keep things manageable for the time being ‘and then look at a more comprehensive programme when we have a paid coordinator who can pull forward a much more comprehensive plan for the next two years.’ This is the other big task the group is currently undertaking: applying to the Climate Challenge Fund for the cost of a paid member of staff.

Overall it’s a pretty impressive achievement for just a few months. And the future? Local power generation is the dream Peter says, either in the form of a Combined Heat and Power station, or a methane digester for waste products. ‘The key is to get people on board’ he says, ending on a positive note: ‘and show this is an opportunity not a crisis.’

To check out what’s happening in Linlithgow see their website: http://www.linlithgowclimatechallenge.org.uk

This entry was posted on 17 October 2008 at 9:54 am and is filed under SEAD News, SOCC News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.