Cash-strapped and resource-depleted councils may feel they are powerless to tackle climate change, even those that have formally declared a climate emergency, but the Center for Alternative Technologies (CAT) aims to change that by providing new guidance to local authorities. situation.
Its recommendations are based on lessons learned from its UK Zero Carbon Innovation Lab, which brings people together to share ideas and discuss sustainable solutions to net zero.
This article first appeared on Revival and Ecologists Magazine, come out now.
CAT’s laboratories have worked with around 150 local authorities to date. Often, councils see their main hurdle as financial, says lab manager Anna Brun. However, while finances are “definitely an issue,” she explains, the lab takes a more systems-thinking approach.
Cooperation
“We did a thorough in-depth study to try to understand what the barriers were across the system,” she said.
“Some of the biggest barriers are political will and behavior – beliefs and mindsets. Working with us, councils can design effective and practical interventions to address these barriers and identify which factors will have the greatest impact.
“Fundamentally, the most important thing is to change the mindset and beliefs, but there are a lot of other things they can do, especially if they work together.”
The lab recently held a series of workshops with ten Staffordshire councils, looking at the barriers to achieving net zero in the current system, what net zero in Staffordshire might look like, and the potential for achieving it interventions. Participants also explored priority areas for cross-committee collaboration.
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Staffordshire councils vary in when they will reach net zero, with target dates ranging from 2030 to 2050.
There are also differences in the scope of their ambitions, as some committees aim to address their own emissions only, while others intend to include emissions from the whole place.
As a result of the workshop, Staffordshire Council now plans to work together to save money, increase productivity and have a better chance of making progress at the speed and scale needed.
Most participants reported an increase in collaboration within their councils and across all Staffordshire councils since the workshop. Not only did they have more expertise, but they received more accolades, especially among climate activists, one of them reported.
Community
The results of the workshop have been used to make recommendations in guidelines to support other committees in responding to the climate emergency.
These focus on improving governance structures, enhancing collaboration across committees, reducing silos, and empowering people at all levels of the organization.
“The old-fashioned hierarchies don’t work anymore,” says Bren. “There are some unbelievable people working in Parliament, but many don’t feel empowered to do anything because they have to go through this old chain. Individuals should be empowered to be their own leaders.”
For community groups, she added, they should ask their councils what their climate action plans are, and how to implement them, and offer to help them implement them.
Councils should be held accountable for taking action on the climate emergency, and communities should demand it.
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Catherine Early is Chief Reporter ecologist. This article first appeared in the latest issue Revival and Ecologists Magazine, come out now.
