‘You have a right to be heard’: Community Climate Stewards project launched

ENGAGEMENT: From left, Louis Dorton, Kate Macdonald and Andrew Dorton

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A new community group is urging people to use their local knowledge to identify climate change risks, and to help influence local decision making.

Community Climate Stewards is a new Rights Community Action project supporting communities on the edge across the East Coast of England to shape local responses to climate risk.

Working with partners in Hull, Skegness and Lowestoft, the project will support residents to share their experiences, build a collective voice and make change happen in their local areas.

‍Organisers say the project is rooted in a simple idea: people have a right to be heard, to be involved and to decide what happens in their own communities. Their knowledge, priorities and ambitions should help shape what happens next.

‍Thanks to National Lottery players, Rights Community Action’s Community Climate Stewards project has received funding over five years from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.

‍The Hull project, which launched yesterday, brings together local residents, community organisations, academics, councillors, local authority officers and other partners to reconnect, share learning and explore how communities and institutions can work with each other to respond to climate change and build a more resilient future for the city.

‍One of the first opportunities to put this approach into practice comes as Hull City Council today begins consultation on its new Local Plan, setting out the long-term vision for how Hull will develop and change up to 2045, including where new homes, jobs and infrastructure should be located.

Community Climate Stewards will encourage residents to contribute their knowledge and experience as part of this wider conversation, alongside many other opportunities over the next five years for communities to help shape how their places respond to climate risk.

‍To help people get involved, the project is running a series of community mapping workshops around the city. The first will take place on August 8 and 10 at Ground Gallery in Beverley Road, with residents invited to take a walk around the local area and think about and discuss the community’s environmental resources and challenges, share local knowledge and identify priorities for the future.

Kate Macdonald, joint coordinator of the Hull project, said: “Local people know where flood water gathers in their areas. They know where the green spaces are that need protecting. More than that, they have a stake in their neighbourhoods – it’s where they work and shop, and where their children go to school. But all too often, people think that decision making is out of their control.

“We want to change that – to recognise that local people are the experts and to show them how they can get involved in these important decisions that are shaping their communities’ futures.”

Joint coordinator Louis Dorton said: “I love Hull – the land, the people, the rivers. For me this project is about collaboration across political, economic and even species divides – we all need to be involved in decisions about our future.

“A lot of us have had our heads in the sand when it comes to floods, droughts, housing, food – all these connected issues. This project is about our right, as the people who live here, to look after the place we call home, building skills and processes to survive, thrive, adapt and be healthy, and to shape the world we want to live in.”

‍One example of the kind of conversations Community Climate Stewards hopes to support is already taking place in North Bransholme, where residents and friends are exploring ideas for how their area could respond to future climate challenges. Their discussions include affordable low-carbon housing, opportunities for food growing and community energy.

Group member Andrew Dorton said: “We really want it to be affordable, and if people are involved in building their own home, that’s one way to lessen the cost. We’d also want to plan in as much electricity generation as possible, to make the houses environmentally efficient and just have one area for parking, rather than cars being all over the place.”

‍‍For more information about the mapping workshops taking place at the Ground Gallery next month, or if you are interested in hosting a similar event, email info@timebankhullandeastriding.co.uk or text 07545696007.

The current Local Plan for Hull was created in 2017 and the city has undergone significant change since then. The new proposals are intended to shape its future over the next 15 years.

Councillor Paul Drake-Davis, city council portfolio holder for economic renewal and housing, said: “The Local Plan will directly affect the lives of everyone in Hull for many years to come.

“The ideas and opinions of the public are crucial to shaping the new Local Plan to ensure we meet the priorities of those in our city. I urge everyone with a connection to Hull to take part in the public engagement exercise.”

The public consultation will run for six weeks.

The council’s project team will be at various events to offer information and provide support to those wanting to complpete the survey.

More information is available on the Yoursay page here. The survey can be completed here. The closing date for surveys is August 26.