Community Climate Change Toolkit

Fareham Climate Change Toolkits

The Council has put together some information packs for our Residents, Community Groups and Businesses to help them on their carbon reduction journey.

While taking action against climate change often begins on an individual level, when people work together bigger changes can be achieved .

Across Fareham there are many thriving communities and community groups. No matter the size or budget of your group there are always things you can do to make a positive change.

Below we have outlined some of the ways you could take action against climate change together as well as links to some great resources full of expert advice.

Planning climate change activities in your community

Step 1- Begin the conversation

Because climate change is a global issue, individuals can often feel isolated and overwhelmed when they think about how they can help.

While we can all recognise that national and international changes are required to combat climate change, we all have a role to play as members of communities.

The first step is raising the issue within your community or community group. Conversations between individuals are a good place to start, then you could hold a meeting to help focus people's minds and discuss actions that could be taken.

• Cumbria Action for Sustainability has a great guide  for community led climate action
• General community project planning advice can be found at myCommunity 
• Cambridge Carbon Footprint also has a detailed guide  and lists of resources for communities wanting to take action

Step 2- Work out what your carbon footprint looks like

Once people are informed about climate change and recognise that they can do something to help, it's time to decide where to focus your community's efforts.

To begin with it's best to focus on a specific project rather than trying to eliminate carbon emissions from every corner of your community.  

Calculating your carbon footprint is a great way to see what activities have the biggest impact on the environment and therefore identify the areas where taking action can make the biggest difference.

• The Impact Community carbon calculator  is a great tool to see what different activities contribute to the carbon footprint of your local area
• You could also encourage individuals to use the carbon footprint calculator on our website to see how we all as individuals contribute to global emissions  

Step 3- Get creative

There are lots of things you can do as an organisation or community to take meaningful action against climate change, we have listed some examples below of projects that have been run in other communities.

• Get people talking- We can all have a big influence on others within our community and lead by example. Raising awareness of climate change within your community and encouraging others to take action within their homes is a great place to start.
  • The Greening Campaign- is a great way to get communities to come together and take action against climate change. You can find out more on The Greening Campaign website .
• Energy and heating- if your organisation has control of a building you could look into energy efficiency measures to reduce their carbon footprint or even look into renewable sources of energy.
  • The Energy Saving Trust  has some great advice on home energy that could also be applied to community buildings
  • Simple Energy Advice  also has great tips
• Waste- rubbish and disposing of it is a huge contributor to carbon emissions, could you promote a borrowing initiative in your area where people share useful items like gardening tools or sporting equipment? This can save people money and makes sure the things we buy get used.
  • Find out more about Libraries of Things 
  • You could also start small and start a sharing page on Facebook for your local area where people post what they need and what they have
• Food- Food sharing initiatives can be a great way for communities to reduce food waste. Could you set up a Facebook page where people can share their unwanted food for others to make use of?
• Community Fridges are an organisation that redistributes around 7,200 tonnes of surplus food annually and is a great way to reduce food waste. Visit their website  to find out more.
• Transport- Could you promote car sharing amongst your community? This is a great way to reduce carbon emissions and also increase community cohesion.

More Resources

Below are some resources that give more detailed advice on community climate change initatives: 

• National lottery report on Community Action for the environment   
• The Centre for Sustainable Energy has some advice on community energy 
• Shropshire Council put together a guide for communities  that has lots of ideas for actions that could be taken
• The Wildlife Trust has a webpage  with lots of actions to improve biodiversity and champion nature in your area

Funding Opportunities

• Fareham Community Funding. We fund community projects in the Borough, find out more on our webpage to see if you could apply for funding for a carbon reduction initiative.  
• The National Lottery Community Fund is a great place to look for funding for initiatives big or small find out more on their website 
• Hampshire County Council also has community grants available on their website 
• Tesco fund local community initiatives of up to £1,500 find out more on their website