Technical Notes 2025, Issue 5 - East Dunbartonshire Climate Action Hub

• The Scottish Government has been providing funding to community groups to support the establishment of a network of Climate Action Hubs. As of December 2024, a total of 24 hubs have been set up across Scotland and a total of £5.5 million has been allocated in 2024-25 for Climate Action Hubs alongside a support package for delivery
• Climate Action Hubs are a key aspect of the Scottish Government’s programme for community-led climate action and have been designed to support communities make the transition to low carbon and climate resilient living
• The Climate Action Hubs provide communities with resource, including staff time and seed funding, to stimulate community-led climate action and drive wider behavioural change by:
  • Building awareness and widen participation
  • Empowering communities to develop local solutions
  • Allowing an approach that reflects local circumstances and priorities
  • Building local partnerships & collaboration
  • Providing a voice to communities, supporting our just transition
  • Supporting strategic and coordinated action
• In order to provide a strategic regional approach to climate action, the Scottish Government is supporting community climate action through the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network (which supports and develops volunteer networks) and the Circular Communities Share and Repair Network, to support the circular economy locally
• While Councils are not directly involved in the establishment, management or oversight of the Climate Action Hubs, Officers from the Council and EDVA met Scottish Government officials to explore how they could support the establishment of a Climate Action Hub to ensure that East Dunbartonshire benefits from the enhanced community funding and capacity that a Climate Action Hub would offer
• Following an expression of interest from Twechar Community Action (Healthy Living and Enterprise Centre), the Council’s Sustainability Team and EDVA offered support to Twechar Community Action in applying to establish a Climate Action Hub in East Dunbartonshire
• The Scottish Government announced that Twechar Community Action was successful in their application to establish a Climate Action Hub for East Dunbartonshire and have begun taking forward the development of the Hub. Read the Empowering local climate action on the Scottish Government website. East Dunbartonshire Climate Action Hub and Scottish Government have agreed the following outputs:
  • Develop Community Climate Action Hub for East Dunbartonshire which supports increased networking and connectivity of community organisations, climate action projects and learnings, and that helps its members to grow community climate action in the region
  • Increase and grow understanding of community climate action taking place in East Dunbartonshire
  • Increase the number of, and build capacity within, community organisations in East Dunbartonshire engaging in climate mitigation, adaption and resilience activities ensuring that the groups are representative of all parts of society
  • Increase community climate actions in East Dunbartonshire
  • Increase diversity of groups/organisations engaged in climate conversations or involved in climate action to ensure that all communities in East Dunbartonshire are represented in the Community Climate Hub
• These outputs have been set with the aim of achieving the following outcome:

Normalise climate action across East Dunbartonshire and build communities that are empowered to take climate action

• East Dunbartonshire Climate Action Hub is offering grants of up to £500 to community groups and local organisations as a seed fund to help to start up or deliver a climate action or engagement project

Applications for the grants close at 5pm Friday the 31 of January 2025 and the following criteria applies to the funding:

• • The project must be delivered within East Dunbartonshire
  • The fund should be used to cover the cost of delivering the climate action project / or community engagement event
  • Each project will be required to complete a brief end of project report no later than 28 March 2025 which should state in detail the project’s impact on its community and evidence of project expenditure
  • The organisation / community group must have its own bank account and be able to provide a copy of its most recent bank statement
  • All projects must be completed by 24 March 2025.
• To request a seed grant application form, please contact info@twecharhlec.org.uk