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June 4, 2014

Sign the pledge

It’s almost 100 years since Patrick Geddes coined the phrase ‘think global, act local’ and never has it been more relevant – particularly in the face of climate change.  The Scottish Govt’s Climate Challenge Fund (CCF) has been hugely important in supporting community action specifically targeted at carbon reduction. It’s worth remembering the CCF was established only as a last minute concession to the Greens to secure their support in a Budget vote. Now communities have a new means of pledging their support to tackle climate change – and Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust have been first to sign up.


4/6/14


 

Groups and communities across the country will be invited to sign up to Scotland’s Climate Change Pledge for Communities to express their support and commitment to taking local action on climate change.

This Pledge links grass-roots, community activities into the bigger picture – contributing towards Scotland’s ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gasses and developing our collective resilience for the future.

The Pledge was announced by Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse MSP at The 2014 Climate Challenge Fund Gathering. The first community group to sign a pledge was by Kyle of Sutherland Development Trust.

They were congratulated on signing the pledge by Scottish Environment and Climate Change minister Paul Wheelhouse.

He said: “I commend the pledge, not as symbolism but because of the commitment that underpins it and as a catalyst for further action against the impacts of climate change.

Keep Scotland Beautiful is very proud to manage and develop the both the Climate Challenge Fund and Climate Change Pledge for Communities on behalf of the Scottish Government and looks forward to helping many more community groups make positive connections to take action on climate change.  

Who has been invited to sign the Pledge for Communities?

The invitation has initially been extended to the 66 CCF funded groups who have attended one of the seven Climate Change workshops run by CASP over the past six months. The majority of the groups who have attended this course agree that the content of the workshop was needed to help them communicate climate change to the rest of their communities. They are enthusiastic about taking the pledge back to their organisation and generating more interest and action.

I want to sign Scotland’s Climate Change Pledge for Communities too – what do I do?

1. You should feel confident in your ability to communicate the climate change message to a broader audience. If you feel you would like to improve your ability to communicate climate change within your community, you should sign up for one of the Climate Change workshops.

The next Climate Change workshop will be running on Thursday 29 May at the Keep Scotland Beautiful offices in Stirling. You can read more about it here. This workshop is for currently funded CCF projects only, but other dates will be announced soon. We recommend that two people from each organisation attend the workshop if possible. This means that it is not all on one person’s shoulders.

2. The Pledge is for organisations, not individuals. It will have to be agreed by your governing body and signed by an office bearer from your management committee or board. Although we are starting with the groups funded by CCF, it is open to any grass roots organisation who is serious about taking action on climate change.

 

3. Please let us know that your organisation would like to sign the Climate Change Pledge for Communities. Please get in touch with Kate Airlie at Keep Scotland Beautiful (kate.airlie@keepscotlandbeautiful.org)  We will send you a hard copy of the Pledge, personalised with your organisation’s name.

4. Finally, once your governing body has agreed and signed, send (post/fax or email) us a copy. We will be developing a map of Pledge Communities for the CCF website. We would be very interested to hear about any impacts that the Pledge has had in your project or your community so we will being staying in touch with you.