West Midlands Association of Local Councils
Green Shoots Case Study: Parish Council Climate Emergency Action Planning Events
Warwickshire Town and Parish Councils received support to create their own climate emergency action plans thanks to Warwickshire County Council Green Shoots Funding.
The Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils (WALC) were successful in their Green Shoots bid for £4,950 to provide two action planning days in January and March 2022 for Warwickshire’s Town and Parish Councils to assist them in producing their own climate emergency action plans and to launch their own climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. WALC commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Energy to run the events, which set out to deliver three outcomes for the local councils:
- to gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding climate change and the climate emergency;
- to identify the difference between climate change adaptation and mitigation activity and how these can be delivered; and
- to understand the importance of climate change action and communication planning and be empowered to deliver their own.
The action planning days were part of WALC’s commitment to support local councils to rise to the challenge of the climate change emergency. They also held a 2-day conference in October 2021 that covered a huge range of topics, including:
- Increasing biodiversity and returning native wildlife;
- Supporting communities to reduce their carbon footprint
- 20 actions Parish and Town Councils can take on the climate and nature emergency;
- Working with flood action groups; and
- Meeting 21 Century rural transport need in a sustainable way.
Before the events, John Crossling, County Officer for WALC, said: “We have put together a wide-ranging programme of talks and workshops all connected in some way to addressing the climate emergency. Our focus is very much on practical steps that Town and Parish Councils will be able to work on with their communities. We hope it will give them ideas that they will be able to turn into firm action plans at the two planning sessions in the New Year which will be led by the Centre for Sustainable Energy that have been made possible by the Green Shoots funding.”
Further information online about the Local Council Climate Action Day.
Further information online about the Warwickshire Association of Local Councils.