A year of Community Climate Action in Bristol
As we move into the final year of delivery of our National Lottery funded Community Climate Action Project, we wanted to take this moment to reflect on some of the achievements from the last year.
Over the last 12 months, communities and local residents have hosted a wealth of events and activities to help progress their climate action plans and to reduce their overall environmental impact, with 190 tonnes of carbon saved this year alone. Five more communities have produced their own plans and a further six have joined the learning and mentoring programme. The Inclusive Transport Vision was launched, we’ve started a new Climate and Disability programme, the Community Leadership Panel has consulted on several citywide initiatives, and we’ve just launched a collection of short films creatively exploring a just transition.
And if that wasn’t enough, over £1 million of additional funding for community climate action in Bristol has been leveraged thanks to the project!
Local climate and nature action
Our five cohort 1 community partners completed year 2 of their demonstrator projects, here are just some of the highlights:
- Ambition Lawrence Weston have engaged local residents in creating gardens at their new community hub along with Avon Wildlife Trust. They have also created a new community fridge, food share and zero waste store for the community, as well as a community cookbook.
- Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust held a pond building and maintenance day with partners, significantly improving the wetlands at the sports centre this summer. They also ran many events where residents learned about local wildlife, including Lockleaze Nature Festival in July with around 100 residents attending.
- Heart of BS13’s flower growing and composting social enterprise enjoys continued success. Over 200 people participated in compost tours and 60 completed compost workshops. They have also involved over 250 volunteers in planting a 1.8 mile pollinator trail.
- Eastside Community Trust have launched a Climate Leadership Programme, where 26 residents are creatively engaging with their communities on climate action. They also worked with Bristol Energy Network to train even more Warm Home Champions, who’ve created energy advice films in a range of languages.
- ACH’s cookery entrepreneurship course with Coexist Community Kitchen, has supported several more individuals to start new sustainable food businesses. They’ve also had four cohorts of refugees and migrants graduate from their training on green employment and sustainable business, working with Bristol Waste to support people entering employment.
Our new Climate and Disability programme
Earlier in 2024, we launched our Climate and Disability strand, supported by Associate Emma Geen. As part of this we created a Climate and Disability forum which meets every two months to champion and update the climate action plan for Bristol’s community of Disabled people and offer feedback and advice to climate change projects and groups. The programme also includes a a disability and energy research programme with CSE, strategic roundtables with Sensing Climate, and a new food and nature project with Redcatch Community Garden.
More community climate action plans
In April 2024, cohort 2 of our learning and mentoring programme partners launched their climate action plans. In total Bristol now has ten community climate action plans to draw from to empower community climate action, support nature recovery and bring benefits to local people.
Cohort 3 joined the project in May 2024 with six more community organisations now working on their climate action plans which will launch in 2025.
An inclusive transport vision for Bristol
Our Inclusive Transport Vision for Bristol was launched in July 2024, along with an animation. This vision is based on the desires and priorities identified by residents from across the city, and compiled by Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership and Praxis Research. It imagines a city where sustainable transport is usable, accessible and safe for everyone.
Our new Inclusive Transport Advocate Florence Grieve (based at Sustrans), is building on this work to advocate for positive changes that support an inclusive shift to low carbon transport.
A commitment to the vision was included in a recent motion passed by Bristol City Council to make Bristol a highly accessible city.
Creative commissions
This year we commissioned film-maker Euella Jackson to creatively explore the theme of a just transition and have recently launched her short film Capsule. Capsule explores the concept of a just transition through the bond between a child and their grandparent and delves into our collective responsibility to each other, while capturing the power of dreams. To develop the film, Euella held community engagement events and conducted interviews, which have been captured in this ‘making of’ film.
We’ve also worked with Climate and Disability Associate Emma Geen who held a forum theatre event exploring the barriers to Disabled people using buses, and potential solutions. Forum theatre is an interactive theatre form where audience members can explore different outcomes. The event was captured in this short film; addressing disability and climate change in Bristol.
Community leadership panel
Our Community Leadership Panel on Climate Change and Just Transition, launched in Autumn of 2023 following a series of pilot sessions last year. The panel has since met three times and provided strategic community influence on important climate and nature planning and decision-making.
We’ve recently recruited five new panellists to further diversify the insights and experience of the panel, and developed a case study sharing insights and learnings to support and inspire the creation of similar panels across the UK.
As we enter into the next year of the Community Climate Action Project, we’re continually grateful to and inspired by all the fantastic partners we work with and the impact they and their communities are making. We’re looking forward to sharing more learnings and insights from the project so keep an eye on our channels. And save the date for a special community climate action city gathering on Wednesday 18 June 2025.
Share to
