[PDF]big-green-challenge-booklet

Foreword



Climate change is one of the toughest issues facing today's society and it
is clear that although politicians, technology and top-down institutions
offer some of the solutions, they alone do not hold all the answers.

We can all help to tackle big issues. We have the capacity to innovate, to
change things and make a difference. Our contribution, especially as part
of a wider community, can be just as important as that of governments,
scientists, or big businesses.

Unlocking the potential of community innovation to address the
challenge of climate change is what the Big Green Challenge is all about.

I am pleased to introduce this publication, which celebrates the
achievements of all of the Finalists who have developed their own
community innovations over the course of the Big Green Challenge Year.

This booklet showcases the sheer breadth of ideas and imagination
offered by all the Finalists, and the hard work they have put into
developing their ideas into an impressive array of projects.

Jonathan Kestenbaum
Chief Executive, NESTA
November 2009



Contents




NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.




Our aim is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We invest in early-stage companies, inform
innovation policy and encourage a culture that helps innovation to flourish.



About the Big Green Challenge



The Big Green Challenge, launched in October 2007, is NESTA's £1 million challenge prize designed to
stimulate and support community-led responses to climate change.

Through the Big Green Challenge, it has been our aim to unlock the potential power of community-led
innovation. We hope to uncover the type of support communities need to transform their bright ideas into
viable solutions that will improve all of our lives.

A share of the £1 million prize will be awarded by an independent judging panel, as the Big Green
Challenge year draws to a close and the final assessment takes place.

Background

The Big Green Challenge was open to formal and informal not-for-profit organisations and groups. More
than 350 groups came forward with a wide range of imaginative and practical ideas. We then selected 100
of the most promising groups, who received support from the Big Green Challenge team and partners to
develop their ideas into detailed plans. From this group, we shortlisted the ten Finalists who are featured
in this publication.

The Finalists have been putting their ideas into practice throughout the course of the Big Green
Challenge Year, and the Challenge team and partners have continued to provide support to the projects
and to capture learning to share with others.

We hope to see the most successful ideas grow and replicate in different communities throughout the UK
to achieve larger reductions in C02 emissions.



www.nesta.org.uk/big-green-challenge

H



Low Carbon West Oxford www.lowcarbonwestoxford.org.uk



Investing in community renewables



Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) is a network of local people
working to reduce their individual and community carbon
emissions by taking practical action on renewable energy,
traffic, food and waste. The group was spurred on to tackle
climate change by the devastating floods which have become
a regular occurrence in the region.

Renewable energy installations

LCWO is developing a range of community-owned renewable
energy initiatives through the Big Green Challenge, including
placing solar panels on the roofs of local businesses, installing
wind turbines at a secondary school and developing a micro-
hydro scheme at a local weir. LCWO will sell the electricity
generated from these projects and use the income to help
local households make energy savings. The group's emphasis
is on providing the means to take action alongside the call
to action.

Ruth Mayne, Chair of LCWO, explains:

"We're aiming to create a self-sustaining income stream from
renewables which we will then reinvest in the community to
make further cuts in C02 emissions. Initially we looked for
government grant funding to kick-start this process, but as
it isn't currently possible for us to access these grants, we
decided to launch our own Community Renewables
Provident Society and sell shares to local people and
friends of the community, and recently we installed our
first solar panels on the roof of a local business."

"The response from the community has been really
positive," says Ruth.



The LCWO team provides one-to-one personal and tailored
advice to 38 pilot households who are testing a variety of
carbon reduction strategies. Regular workshops and surgery
sessions give the pilot households an opportunity to provide
feedback on what is and isn't working.

Maintaining focus

The demands of managing multiple renewable energy
projects mean that it's important for the LCWO team, who are
all volunteers, to stay focused on their objectives. "We review
our strategic priorities at meetings throughout the year and
maintain a work plan that covers all of our activities,"
comments Ruth.

"We receive a lot of interest from other groups and
organisations that want to find out more about what we're
doing and while we're keen to share our experiences, for the
time being our focus needs to be on developing the project.
This Big Green Challenge has helped us to test our ideas and
to reach some conclusions about what works and
what doesn't."





A




Household Energy Service, Ludlow www.h-e-s.org



Helping households to become energy efficient

Household Energy Service (HES) is a community-based energy service company that helps households to reduce carbon
emissions, improve energy efficiency and save money on fuel bills. It does this by providing free energy surveys - conducted
by volunteer energy surveyors - that identify practical energy-saving measures along with estimates of the financial savings
they could generate. At the start of the Big Green Challenge year HES was available to around 1 ,500 homes, mainly in the
community of Bishop's Castle in Shropshire. The service has since expanded to cover other communities in Shropshire,
Herefordshire, Radnorshire and Montgomeryshire - increasing its reach to 15,000 homes. In each case, HES collaborates
with local groups to achieve its aim of liberating communities to tackle their own energy efficiency needs. Together they
plan to create a sustainable community-owned social enterprise that will support householders on their journey to a
low-carbon future.

Tackling the 'hassle barrier'

"Our energy surveys give people access to good quality information about cutting household emissions and fuel
consumption," explains Adam Kennerley, Chief Executive of HES. "We've found that people respond really well to the
reports, but don't necessarily go on to implement the energy-saving recommendations. We've realised that if we are to
deliver real reductions in carbon emissions, we need to minimise the hassle involved in taking the next steps."

The HES team is now developing a range of services to help householders take practical action, from providing assistance
with small tasks around the home such as draught proofing, to brokering deals on renewable energy equipment such as
solar-thermal and biomass heating. They're also exploring options for providing financial support for people who want
to install energy-saving or renewable energy equipment in their homes.

Developing local volunteers

Developing relationships with individuals in the community and with existing community networks has
been an essential part of building up trust and interest in the service. "One of the things we've learnt
is that people want a reliable, trustworthy and most important of all, a local service," explains Adam.

"Our professional energy advisors are on hand to provide expert support, but much of our
work is delivered through local volunteer teams - we've found that people are really keen to
do practical things for their community."

HES currently has around 50 active volunteers and offers an ongoing programme of training
and mentoring for its volunteer energy surveyors. With each volunteer developing valuable
new skills, the HES team is also looking into possibilities for making its training programme
a stepping-stone to employment in the energy efficiency sector.

8



St Bede's High School, Lytham



www.easy2begreen.co.uk



Laying the foundations for sustainable education

St Bede's Catholic High School in Lytham is aiming to become one of the first ever carbon neutral schools by installing
renewable energy equipment and creating a green culture throughout the school. Staff and pupils are involved in a wide
range of carbon reduction initiatives, from recycling and reducing water wastage to growing fruit and vegetables on school
allotments. The school's overall goal is to become a centre for sustainable education. Headteacher Phil Grice explains:



school grounds as a resource to help pupils learn about climate, agriculture, biodiversity and other environmental issues.'




Reviewing energy use

St Bede's worked with an energy consultant to assess all aspects of the school's energy use and identify steps it could take
to reduce carbon emissions and save money. "We've already implemented a number of quick no-cost and low-cost measures,
such as improving insulation, switching off lights and using recycle bins," says Phil.



"Renewable energy sources will definitely play a big part in the school's future - we've got plans to install two ground
source heat pumps and we're also looking into options for installing solar panels."



Creating cultural change

Phil explains that changing the school's culture is a critical part of the project:



e knew from the outset that we'd need to initiate a shift in culture to achieve a long-term commitment
to sustainability and reducing our carbon emissions. Our projects offer something for all students, whether they're
interested in taking practical action, raising awareness of climate change issues or influencing the future development
of the school. We're seeing a growing commitment to sustainable practices across the whole school community."



Sharing insights




St Bede's has developed a website to help other secondary schools make the move from recognising the need to take action
on sustainability to implementing real change. The website enables pupils to calculate their carbon savings at home and to
compete to win prizes amongst their classes and year groups. The site will also provide teachers at other schools
with useful resources such as tips on how to fundraise and install renewables. Phil comments:



"In the past year we've learnt a lot about embedding sustainability into school life and we want to share our insights with
other schools. Our aim is to collate all of the advice and resources that we would have loved to have had access to at the
start of our project, to give other schools a head start on their journeys."



10



The Green Valleys, Brecon www.thegreenvalleys.org



Developing a local energy market

The Green Valleys is aiming to make the Brecon Beacons
region a net exporter of energy, by developing community
renewable energy schemes and supporting communities
to reduce their carbon emissions. All revenue from
community-owned installations will be reinvested in
community-based carbon reduction projects such as
electric bike sharing or community woodlands that provide
managed wood fuel. One forthcoming community-owned
hydro electric installation will generate around 80 per cent
of the electricity needed by the local community. Combined
with five privately-owned installations (which The Green
Valleys are also developing), it will drastically reduce the
community's carbon footprint.

A grassroots approach

The Green Valleys project manager Grenville Ham explains
that an intensive programme of 60 evening lectures helped
to get the initiative off the ground.

"I already had a good knowledge of the local area but I knew
it was important to spend time in the different communities
to get to know people, gather feedback and drum up support
for the project."

"The lectures were a really rewarding experience as the ideas
clearly struck a chord with local people - they were inspired
by how the project could empower them to come up with
their own solutions to energy and sustainability issues."



Using local expertise

Harnessing local skills and expertise has been an essential
part of the project. "Our regional steering group is made up
of volunteers with a wide range of skills and knowledge,
covering areas from ecology to engineering and
accountancy," says Grenville.

The Green Valleys team is now working with statutory
organisations in Wales to help other communities develop
the skills and expertise needed to run similar projects.

"We believe there's enormous potential to replicate our
model in other communities, but it has to be a modular
approach - each region needs to have its own organisation
and its own local supply of skills. To be successful, these
projects have to be owned and led from within
the community."

Working effectively

The regional steering group considered various company
structures before deciding to register as a community interest
company, which means that any profit that the company
makes has to be spent on furthering its objectives.

"Adopting a more formal structure has helped us to work
more effectively," says Grenville. "We've now got a
structured work plan as well as processes for agreeing new
projects which prevent us from overstretching ourselves."



12



www.meadowspartnershiptrust.org.uk



Meadows Ozone,
Nottingham

Interest-free loans for green improvements

Meadows Ozone is a community-owned energy services
company based in the Meadows area of Nottingham. By
providing local people with advice on energy efficiency and
interest-free green loans, the initiative aims to combat fuel
poverty at the same time as reducing carbon emissions. Many
local people have already benefited from its free energy
audits and access to free or discounted loft and cavity wall
insulation. Meadows Ozone is based at the offices of local
regeneration organisation, the Meadows Partnership Trust.
Ian Nicholson, Energy Advisor at Meadows Ozone, says:



Developing green champions

Meadows Ozone is developing a network of 'green
champions' to raise awareness of the project throughout the
community. The Meadows Ozone team recognises that if the
project is to be successful in addressing local needs, members
of the community need to play an active role in developing
and delivering its work. Each of the green champions has
completed a day's training in energy efficiency and behaviour
change, delivered free of charge by National Energy Action.
The Meadows Ozone team is keen to support local people in
developing green skills and finding work in the green sector.



"We spend a lot of time visiting houses and talking to
people about how Meadows Ozone can help them, but
it really helps to have a base right in the heart of the
community too. Meadows Partnership Trust is
well-respected within the community and has strong links
with residents' groups - working with an establish partner
has been a great help in establishing ourselves in
the community."



"Our green champions are all active members of the
community and do a fantastic job of talking about the
project at local events and activities," comments Ian.
"Having local ambassadors shows other people in the
community that this is a genuinely local initiative and helps
to break down the barriers that are sometimes experienced
by organisations coming from outside the area."



Green loans



The Meadows is an area of high deprivation, with many
local people affected by debt and fuel poverty. To help tackle
these issues, Meadows Ozone has developed an interest-free
green loans scheme in partnership with a local credit union.
The loans help homeowners and tenants to purchase
energy-efficient appliances or make energy-saving
improvements to their homes.

"Local residents have used green loans to install double
glazing, solar panels and cavity wall insulation and to
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