Warwick District Council have been awarded funding as part of a ‘Project Group’ programme to develop and deliver their rural community engagement programme. The first stage has seen them develop and deliver a training programme on community engagement practices with local community groups, key officers and Members. They are now in phase two of the programme, which will see them take this same programme and deliver it to rural communities.
The challenge
To be able to meet net zero targets and ensure that the world does not exceed the target 1.5C increase in global temperatures, local government needs to not just develop climate policies, but ensure that our residents see the value in such policies, feel that they are involved in the decision making and delivery of these policies and through doing so choose to change their behaviours.
If the above is to happen, local government must effectively plan, commission and deliver high quality public engagement in their climate decision-making. Ensuring that all public engagement is delivered in a way that benefits both them and their local communities.
The solution
The rural community engagement programme brings together Warwick District Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils (WALC) to work with Involve and other UK100 engagement specialists to develop a package of training, mentoring and hands-on support.
The training aims to bring together groups of parish clerks, local environmental groups and residents to deliberate climate change issues and to agree local actions. Training a team of local people from across the partnership and parish councils to form an ever-evolving facilitator team.
The impact
The programme is helping to shape how the District Councils address climate change by listening to local ideas and concerns. This has happened through enabling local people to have been given the time, support, and expertise to help them consider and act upon local climate change opportunities. In doing so it has allowed the councils involved in the training to focus on developing local engagement methods and tools that enable them to understand and deliver practical action for climate change that has local residents support.
Eventually, a self-sustaining support mechanism, will be developed, which they can use across their region to develop an iterative approach to local community engagement for all future climate action planning. In the long term this will enable all local communities work to deliver local actions which make a real difference.
How is the new approach being sustained?
One of the outputs from the programme is the development of a self-guided resource for councillors to support them in participatory and deliberative public engagement. This will enable all members to ensure they can work with their communities when considering and developing new climate policies and programmes.
The programme will also enable council staff to feel confident in delivering community engagement work. This should embed a community first approach going forward, ensuring that all communities are able to be a part of deliberating climate change issues and to agreeing on local actions.
Lessons learned
The Council are currently delivering the second phase of the scheme and once this is completed they will update this case study with the lessons learned.
Contact
Alice Ellis: [email protected]