Town and Parish Council’s across Warwickshire will be supported to create their own climate emergency action plans thanks to the Warwickshire County Council Green Shoots Fund.
The Warwickshire and West Midlands Association of Local Councils (WALC) were successful in their Green Shoots bid for £4950 in funding to provide two action planning days in January and March 2022 for Warwickshire’s Parish Councils to assist them in producing their own climate emergency action plans and to launch their own climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.
The three key outcomes that will be delivered by these planning days are:
- Warwickshire’s Parish Council’s will gain a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding climate change and the climate emergency;
- Council’s will understand the difference between climate change adaptation and mitigation activity and how these can be delivered; and
- Council’s will understand the importance of climate change action and communication planning and be empowered to deliver their own.
The first of these sessions will take place on Wednesday 19 January 2022 and the second on Wednesday 30 March 2022. These sessions will be run by the Centre for Sustainable Energy who WALC has commissioned.
The action planning days are just part of WALC commitment to support parish council’s to rise to the challenge of the climate change emergency, they are also holding a 2-day conference that will begin on Friday 22 October and, cover 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.
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.”
Cllr Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Climate and Culture, said: “It’s great news that WALC have such an active programme of activity helping our town and parish councils in Warwickshire to play their part in facing the global challenge of climate change.
“The potential of these action days to inspire our parish councils to deliver meaningful action plans and activity over the coming years made it such an attractive prospect for Green Shoots Funding. I am certainly looking forward to hearing about the outcomes of these events and seeing increased activity in this area from our vibrant Town and Parish Councils over the coming years.”
Further information about the Local Council Climate Action Day organised by WALC can be found here: https://www.walc.org.uk/events-list/952-climate-action-day
Further information about the Warwickshire Association of Local Councils, visit: https://www.walc.org.uk/
A full list of projects that will receive Green Shoots Community Climate Change funding can be found here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/news/article/2324/green-shoots-will-soon-be-springing-up-across-warwickshire-as-projects-set-to-receive-a-share-of-wcc-s-1-million-community-climate-change-fund-are-announced
For more information about the Fund, visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund
For more information about how Warwickshire is facing the challenges of the climate change emergency, visit: https://www.warwickshireclimateemergency.org.uk/
Get the latest news about how Warwickshire County Council and partners are facing the challenge of the climate emergency and how you can get involved: http://eepurl.com/hrk-zf