Climate Challenge Fund client update
10th January 2011
Climate Futures is working with three CCF projects, in Callander, Fife and Neilston, in a variety of ways.
First, carbon baseline and evaluation
All aspiring CCF communities must estimate the carbon impact of their proposals, and if successful, calculate a baseline footprint and then evaluate carbon reduction months or years later.
Climate Futures is helping all three communities calculate their carbon footprints and evaluate success in driving carbon reductions. This includes extrapolation of survey results using spreadsheets. For Callander and Neilston, we have analysed and developed the findings of 'off the shelf' software, Reap Petite, to produce a series of graphs of carbon emissions in understandable and helpful ways. For the Fife Diet, a bespoke footprint calculator, developed from questionnaire responses on personal behaviour and pledges (eg number of meat meals per week, organic and local food, composting, cutting food waste) was constructed from scratch, road tested and used.
Detailed and clear reports, with findings, discussions and recommendations have been produced for submission to the Scottish Government.
These footprints were complemented with analysis of responses on behaviours and motivations - helping to refine the approaches for communication and incentives.
See more about the footprint findings here:
Full Fife Diet report: http://www.fifediet.co.uk/reading/
Scotsman article: http://news.scotsman.com/health/Fife-Diet-cuts-carbon-emissions.6513578.jp
Callander results: http://www.climatefutures.co.uk/news/Callandermid-marchupdate.htm
Second, personal profiles
Two communities are engaging individuals with their own carbon footprints, to help them understand the impacts of their behaviour and pledged action. We developed our own profile software, based on answers to a number of simple questions, and tested it with community members.
For the individual, the dry carbon numbers and facts have been brought to life with colourful graphics, comparisons with national averages and pithy statements about collective action. These one page profiles have been designed to be easily printed for the kitchen wall or emailed as a pdf.
Third, fifteen-year vision
Callander is developing a low carbon and energy resilience programme, in line with its objective of a 4% annual carbon reduction. The plan and document will tread a careful line between being complete (including, inter alia, energy in homes and public buildings, food, transport, biodiversity and waste), yet accessible and easy to read.
Our role includes a review of external influences (such as grid decarbonisation, feed in tariffs, landfill diversion targets), crunching the numbers for intended activities (home insulation schemes, community gardens and local transport plans), developing scenarios based on numbers participating and drafting some of the vision. We are consulting widely and working with a number of groups across the community to ensure it is realistic, achievable and fully embedded in people's minds.
The resulting vision will help engage and bring together the community behind the plans, fundraise and feed into other local policy, such as the Lomond and the Trossachs National Park plan and District Council plan.
