How to start a community climate project

In this guest post, Tweed Shire Council Sustainability Education Officer Jane Moad says thinking small is the key to kick-starting a successful community climate project.

In my time working with community groups, businesses and colleagues on a range of change projects, the challenge is almost never “big picture thinking” or coming up with a vision.

It’s getting started that is the hardest part. 

Too many people feel like they need to solve climate change by tackling the project with the biggest emissions reduction or shift in community-wide behaviour. So, while the lofty goal may be your desired future state, how do you translate that grand vision into a series of achievable steps?

The answer is to think smaller. 

Be hyper local. Start with the places and people that you know. If your idea works on a small scale, you can copy, expand or multiply your impact. 

With that in mind, these are the steps I follow when working on a community-led project:

1. Grab a friend

Two heads are better than one; a group is even better. Don’t underestimate the importance of sharing ideas, getting feedback and providing encouragement when things are tough.

2. What's the problem you're trying to address?

Write this as a clear statement, using active, simple language. Add a location or describe the people you are focusing on where possible. 

For example:

1. Electricity bills are complex and unaffordable for many people in Tweed Heads. People need help to know how to reduce their bills and save energy.

2. Meat is a big part of many people’s diets. This is increasing pressure to clear trees for grazing land, contributing to climate change. 

3. Wildlife carers need to drive long distances to collect, care for and transport injured animals. Petrol cars are costly to run, pollute the environment and contribute to climate change. 

3. Describe your project

This is where you describe what will happen. Make it as tangible as possible. 

What does it look like? How do you think it will work?

For example:

1. Provide access to an expert for one on one appointments to help residents understand and make changes to their electricity bill and power usage. Fundraise to provide low-cost tools and home upgrade kits to help residents improve their energy efficiency. 

2. Run vegetarian cooking classes to educate residents about alternatives to meat-based meals.

3. Fundraise for a fleet of one or more electric vehicles for wildlife carers to use for transport.  

4. What will it achieve if successful?

This is where you can describe the outcomes of your project. Think about climate, social and any other impacts that may be relevant. Make them measurable where possible. 

For example: 

1. Awareness and understanding of energy bills increases following appointments (compared to before). Residents benefit from low cost household upgrades and consume less energy as a result. 

2. Residents increase the number of plant-based meals they consume each week. Recipes and cooking information is shared via local and social networks, increasing broader community awareness of plant-based meals and peer to peer learning. 

3. A go-fund-me campaign raises sufficient funds to purchase and register an electric vehicle for use by carers. Ideally 2 vehicles that could be strategically located in different parts of the Tweed – e.g. near to volunteer carers. 

5. Who has done this type of project before?

While I don’t believe the saying “there’s nothing new under the sun”, I do agree you have to work pretty hard to come up with a truly innovative idea. But this is a good thing!

It means it’s likely there is someone who has done something similar before. The good news is that people generally want to share their stories. If the goal is to have a positive impact for climate change, then we’re all playing on the same team.

So use the internet, AI (responsibly), word of mouth – find people who've tried something similar and reach out to find out how it worked. Ask them:

1. What did you do?

2. What was the response?

3. What did you learn?

This information is often invaluable. It can tell you where not to invest your effort, or spark a new idea.

6. Who are your stakeholders?

Stakeholders are simply people who may have an interest in your project. It shouldn’t be “everyone in the Tweed” (think small!) but a description of people with different perspectives, habits and interests. For example:

• Suppliers (of what?)

• Customers (of what?)

• School students (where, how old?)

• Builders (where, what type of projects?)

• Restaurant owners (where, what type of restaurants?)

• Council (councillors, all of Council, or a particular division?)

• Business Chambers

• Community Groups and clubs (which ones?)

• Group members, “do-ers” and like-minded people

7. What are your next steps?

Remember, start small. What are the first things you need to do? It may be to do some research, or to contact stakeholders and ask for their feedback on your idea. It could be to find a group to support you or to search for grants. 

How can you make progress on a small-scale pilot of your idea?

8. When will you check in?

This is about accountability. Set yourself a deadline for when you will take that first step, make those phone calls or complete the research. Assign tasks and set a date for your group (see step 1) to get together and report on your progress. 

When you live a busy life, it can feel like a lot to commit to a project. So, start with something achievable. Enjoy the research and discovery phase and have a go. If it doesn’t work, at least it was only a small project. If it’s a success, now you have the ingredients for a bigger impact. 

Want more?

• Download this free Climate Action Project Template

Climate_Action_Project_Template.docx

Download DOCX • 35KB

• Check out the Changeology Palette of Possibilities. It has the vital ingredients of a behaviour change project, as well as lots of examples and photos for environmental action.