We are excited to invite you to our
Annual gathering on February 4th 2017
in David Hume Tower, George Square, Edinburgh.
It will be a day packed with inspirational and informative talks, workshops, and space for you to share as well!
We will also host a social event in the same venue on the evening of February 3rd.
The day will include keynote speeches and workshops such as
- Building regional momentum – learning from Fife CCAN network - and applying it to your region
- Community Energy / Community Enterprises experiences - How we got stuff done - feeding back from existing projects
- Update and consultation - what's going on with policy in 2017?
- Adaptation projects - what are they and support for getting them started
There will also be an Open Space where you have the choice to bring and discuss the topics most urgent and interesting to you and your group.
Ticket booking will be made available shortly. You can also visit http://www.scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk/gathering2017/ for up to date information on the event.
Do you have something you would like to share at the gathering?
There will be space to exhibit information about your project/group, so please bring it along.
We're also looking for SCCAN members to be part of a small panel giving short presentations (5 minute) on one of their projects. This will be a friendly informal session for sharing learning and experience, so even if you've never done something like this before, please do consider it. Let us know if you are interested as soon as possible.
Keep your eyes open for the invitation to the gathering, and hopefully see you on February 4th!
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“Community Climate Action across Europe – 62 Portraits from six countries” presents portraits of community-based initiatives across Europe that took part in a recent study conducted by TESS. In this booklet we introduce the range and diversity of community activity taking place in the city of Rome, part of the city region of Berlin, the region of Catalunya and the countries of Finland, Romania and Scotland in Europe. They supported the research by sharing information about their initiative. You can download the booklet here. Enjoy exploring great stories about grassroot activities in Europe!
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Introducing Mull and Iona Community Trust
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We are very pleased to welcome Mull and Iona Community Trust as the most recent addition to our membership!
They are a dedicated and passionate locally based organisation focussed on improving the quality of life for the residents of Mull and Iona.
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With a long track record of delivering successful community development projects addressing problems of geographic isolation and economic and social exclusion in remote and rural communities MICT takes pride in working with many external organisations and crucially with our own community.
Why not take a look at their website www.mict.co.uk
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Communities influencing policy
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Working closely with the Development Trust Association Scotland and the Scottish Community Alliance, SCCAN convened a small workshop at the end of November to work towards producing a collective community sector contribution to the Scottish Government’s Climate Action Plan. This is the plan that the Government is required to produce to show how Scottish carbon emission reduction targets will be met. The questions that we discussed were:
1) how best to articulate and communicate an understanding of the unique and crucial role of community-led climate action and how to ensure that this becomes embedded in the Climate Change Plan (and future legislation)? and
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2) the key barriers and opportunities for communities taking action on climate change – what policies and/or programmes need to be in the Climate Change Plan?
A draft paper for submission to the Scottish Government is currently being prepared. We will make this available to SCCAN members shortly. Timescales for inputting to the Climate Change Plan are very tight but we intend that this will be just the start of an ongoing process involving SCCAN members, as well as the other Scottish Community Alliance member networks, so that we can make a strong contribution to future legislation relevant to climate action. These include the forthcoming Climate Change, Food Nation, Warm Homes, Circular Economy, Local Democracy and other bills scheduled for this parliamentary session.
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Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme
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Scottish Government is developing Scotland’s Energy Efficiency Programme (SEEP), which will offer support to improve the energy efficiency rating of all buildings over a 15 – 20 year period. This is a key element in the Scottish Government’s plans to address fuel poverty by reducing the demand for energy. It will be a co-ordinated programme to improve the energy efficiency of homes, businesses, and the public sector.
The challenge is to go much further to meet the demands of Scotland’s Climate Change Act, and the Programme for Government 2016-17 committed over half a billion pounds to SEEP over the next four years.
Owing to the great variety of buildings in Scotland based on age, building technique, purpose and location it is not possible to come up with a one-size fits all answer. As a result, the Scottish Government is investing over £9 million to support local authority pilots in 11 local authority areas. The aim of these pilots is to identify what works, what can be rolled out in other areas and where improvements are needed to the approach.
Some further information on the pilots is available here.
The Scottish Government is listening to a wide range of stakeholders as it designs the new programme. A series of stakeholder events were held in November and the views and comments of those attending will help inform the development of the programme. The proposals will feature in the draft Energy Strategy which will be the subject of public consultation in early 2017. More information is available at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/energystrategy .
If you’re interested in discussing SEEP and how your community might be involved, we invite you to contact us.
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Get your community growing with MyParkScotland
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MyParkScotland is Scotland’s only crowdfunding site specifically for parks and greenspaces. On 6 February 2017 they will launch a community growing and food campaign to support projects looking for funding, and they are inviting SCCAN members to join!
The community growing theme will promote the idea of community growing in our greenspaces and parks. Projects could include funds to prepare land for growing, help community groups purchase tools and equipment or to put on a community event. MyParkScotland will offer support to groups including marketing and promotion guidance, mentoring and training sessions scheduled in January-March.
Being part of the campaign will raise profile and increase coverage and donations to your project. Creating a “buzz” around the theme will allow for better promotion, social media and press both locally and nationally. It’s a great opportunity to not only raise much needed cash, but also to promote your group and the work you do. There is a good chance you will attract new volunteers or members as the campaign develops. Projects can be big or small, the campaign will work best if there are projects of varying sizes and outcomes so potential donors can find a project that meets with their interests – so join us now! More information here https://www.mypark.scot/get-involved/campaigns/ or from Ian Goodman email: ian.goodman@mypark.scot
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Bags of Help is Tesco’s local community grant scheme where the money raised from the 5p bag levy in Tesco stores is being used to fund thousands of community projects across the UK. The projects must meet the criteria of promoting community participation in the development, use and/or improvement of outdoor spaces. Bags of Help is administered by Groundwork and supported in Scotland by greenspace scotland. Each month three projects in each of the Tesco regions will be awarded a grant based on a public vote: first place receives up to £5000, second place up to £2000 and third place up to £1000. The scheme is open for applications on a continuous basis. More information here.
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Funding for technology projects
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Knowledge Exchange Network (KEN) programme have £525k available to fund low carbon or SMART technology projects. The company must be:
Registered in Scotland or have significant operations / impact in Scotland
Under 250 members of staff
Be working on a low carbon or SMART technology project
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What can they get:
Up to £20k of funding towards their low carbon / SMART project. This funding can be used to pay for Academic time or use of our research facilities (the company are not given the cash directly). The companies contribution of 30% of the amount funded can be ‘in kind’ such as staff time, rather than an invoice for 30% of the cost. Companies can access this funding more than once providing the projects fit the criteria and are unrelated to each other.
Companies will be assisted with the funding application process, match them to the best resource and manage the process from start to finish.
Delivered by Energy Technology Partnership, the programme will run for the next 3 years and funding is immediately available.
More information on the programme and funding.
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SCCAN sometimes gets requests for internships. It is not something we can provide in our core organisation, but perhaps a project in our membership could? On the request of some members, we are experimenting with what an internship programme might look like. If you are interested, get in touch, and we can help to set up the internship and forward contact details to possible future interns.
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Transforming our World: Responding to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals through Education
19 January 2017 1pm - 4.30pm
Moray House School of Education
Edinburgh
Learning for Sustainability Scotland will hold their popular AGM with the theme this year being around the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information and to book, click here
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Local Energy Challenge Fund Showcase 2017
15 February, 11:30am – 4:30pm,
The Academy, Cochrane Street, Glasgow
The Local Energy Challenge Fund is holding its first free-to-attend showcase event, where you can hear from current and completed projects at the forefront of local energy.
The day will hear from the inspiring projects, and will cover the policy context and the value of the local energy approach. There is then an opportunity for you to meet the project teams, ask questions and see (and even touch or smell!) some of the innovative materials, equipment and software used in the projects.
This will be a very popular event so register your interest now!
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Making It Happen - SCCAN's annual gathering
4 February 9.30am-5pm
(with social event evening of 3 Feb)
David Hume Tower, Edinburgh
Join us for our annual gathering to take part in inspiring and informative workshops, meet and get to know other members, and get support for your projects. It will be a day packed with workshops and exchanges, but also space for you to make your unique contribution. We will also meet for a social event in the same venue on the evening of February 3rd. Tickets will be available shortly. In the mean time, up to date information can be found here.
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We regularly update our facebook page and twitter with the latest news and events, make sure you are following us!
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Invitation to contribute to our next newsletter
Do you have a project, event, or story that you would like to share here? Please email us on info@scottishcommunitiescan.org.uk with your text and image before January 6th |
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