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Engaging Scottish Local Authorities Sharing knowledge: building impact. Enhancing local authorities’ community engagement: co-designing and prototyping strategies for carbon emission reduction. Rehema White, Hamid van Koten, Emilia Ferraro, Jennifer Franz, Justin Kenrick with
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Engaging Scottish Local Authorities Sharing knowledge: building impact Enhancing local authorities’ community engagement: co-designing and prototyping strategies for carbon emission reduction Rehema White, Hamid van Koten, Emilia Ferraro, Jennifer Franz, Justin Kenrick with Fife Council
Project Aims To cooperatively design an integrated strategy for local authorities to engage with local communities for reduction of carbon emissions based on: • sound academic theory • aligned with local authority structures • informed by external approaches and; • grounded in a network of existing initiatives and institutions
Activities Capacity building and structural appraisal Knowledge dissemination Scoping study Networking / partnerships Seminars Placements Interviews ENERGY TIME TRANSPORT FOOD COMMUNITY NOW! Strategy
Main results to date Seminars and interviews Over 150 people attended mixed group seminars (including LA staff, community members, organisation representatives, academics and overseas speakers), contributed ideas and discussed theoretical and practical aspects; over 30 initiatives mapped and interviewed; over 10 meetings/workshops attended. Sense of ‘regional community network’ developing. Emerging strategy • Conceptual: how can LAs shift from being ‘service providers’ to ‘community enablers’? • Strategic: how do LAs respond to the external context and how do they ensure cross sectoral systems thinking and action? • Action points: What actions can LAs take to build resilience as well as rapidly reduce carbon emissions? • Prototype: Twinning and exploring options in Levenmouth, Fife Dissemination – see video on http://vimeo.com/12088774 and website http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/engage/projects/communitycarbonemissions/ ; 4 presentations and several papers planned; concepts taken to relevant LA and community meetings; further funding applied for.
Issues arising for coordination/review • Relationship building takes time • The process itself is an academically grounded piece of action research • Restructuring and the financial crisis offer both constraints and opportunities • The project is a beginning, not an end; we are seeking different forms of further funding to continue the process
Acknowledgements • Fife Council – for the open engagement from so many people in so many departments • Sustainable Scotland Network – for their support and expertise • Participating individuals, communities and organisations – for their contributions, time and valuable inputs