Residents and business come together to discuss tackling the climate emergency
The Council recently joined over 40 local stakeholders and industry experts to take part in the first of a series of innovative rural ‘Climathons’ to develop key solutions which could help the Forest of Dean become a Net Zero District.
Climathons are an innovative, creative approach to help communities engage with local climate issues and the council has partnered with the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire and the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise to to bring the Climathon to the Forest of Dean.
Cllr Chris McFarling, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, said:
“It was fantastic to be involved in this Climathon event, which saw some great discussions around how we can decarbonise the district’s electricity and heat systems at scale.
“This council is committed to making the district net-zero by 2030, and having these discussions is so important in figuring out how we can make real changes to achieve this goal.
“The event provided a great forum for us to do this, so I’d like to thank officers, the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire and the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise.”
The event consisted of an initial online workshop where participants were given an overview of opportunities for energy solutions and more information about the national and local context in the Forest of Dean. This was followed by an event held at the Main Place in Coleford where potential solutions were created, discussed, and then whittled down to six potential projects.
Some of the solutions discussed included retrofitting social housing in the district, using the district’s old mines to store energy and exploring the development of community heat networks.
Following the event, a report has been produced and the solutions identified will be investigated further in collaboration with stakeholders to develop practical projects to help reach net zero. There will also be further Climathons in the coming months to explore other areas of decarbonisation, such as transport, land use and food.
To read the report and see an illustration of ideas captured at the event, head here: https://nicre.co.uk/research-and-evidence/rural-climathons-transitioning-to-net-zero/