August Newsletter
Welcome to the August edition of the Highlands & Islands Climate Hub Newsletter - reflecting on our work throughout July & upcoming plans. Summer has finally reached the Highlands & Islands, and we have been making the most of it! July has been a time of recharging & reconnecting with family, friends & nature. We are feeling energised and ready to get excited for one of the highlights of our year - the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival! Read on to find out how you can get involved in the Festival, and share in the success of our members over July.
Hub Highlights
Top moments of the month from the Team!
On all of our minds just now is the countdown to the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival, which kicks off in just 1 month for the whole of September!
The Festival is spearheaded by the Hub and an enthusiastic working group. Community groups, businesses & individuals alike are being encouraged to get involved and celebrate community climate action.
Join in on the fun this September by attending an event near you. Our Interactive Events Map is now live! Check it out here and make your plans.
See you there in September! ;-)
World Heritage Status for The Flow Country calls for a Royal celebration!
On Friday 26th July 2024, it was announced that The Flow Country has been awarded World Heritage Status. This makes it the world’s first peatland World Heritage Site and mainland UK’s first purely natural World Heritage Site.
A huge achievement, one more than 10 years in the making! We offer our significant congratulations to all involved and were lucky enough to be invited to join the celebrations on 31st July where His Majesty the King unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion. We enjoyed a lovely morning (midges aside!) with gorgeous music from Feis air an Oir, a delicious BBQ and lots of happy networking.
We're so excited to continue working with and following the work of the Flow Country to see how the newly awarded status can progress peatland restoration and so much more.
Did you miss it?
Catch up with all our news.
What’s coming up?
Join us at any of our upcoming events!
Funding News
Check out the latest funding opportunities. We’re working on the August Funding Finder as we speak and are pleased to feature the SSEN Powering Communities to Net Zero fund.
Funding Finder
Climate Action Fund
Our Climate Action Fund is officially open for 2024-25!
This year our fund will be open EVERY month on a rolling basis with decisions made each month. Funding opens on 1st day of each month, and closes on the last day.
Grants of up to £500 up for offer.
For new community organisations or new climate action projects.
Exclusive to members of the Highlands & Islands Climate Hub
Projects funded must be able to complete and report on the impact of their project by 31st March 2024.
Training & Development
Take advantage of the resources the Hub can offer you to expand your knowledge.
Food Hygiene Training
We are offering fully funded Level 2 Food Hygiene for Catering courses to our members! If you are involved in a a refill shop, community fridge, or working with food in any capacity we would love to support your work with this training. Apply here.
Past Event Recordings
Campaigning for Change with Less Waste Laura (April 2024)
Meet the Funder: Foundation Scotland (June 2024)
Community Woodlands Skillshare (June 2024)
Spotlight on our Members
This part of our Newsletter is dedicated exclusively to celebrating the successes of our Members over the last month and getting excited for their upcoming plans!
Climate Wins for Strathnaver Museum
Strathnaver Museum has been shortlisted in the ‘Land Management & Sustainable Development’ category at the UK Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards 2024!
The ‘Land Management & Sustainable Development’ award celebrates best practice in the stewardship and management of land, and in the planning and delivery of development in a way that helps achieve the economic, social, environmental, and cultural elements of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Fiona Mackenzie, Manager, Strathnaver Museum said: “It is a huge honour, and testament to the skill and knowledge of our wonderful design and construction team that our project is representing Scotland at the National RICS Awards 2024.”
The Museum has also launched a heritage sensory tour on Smartify, the world’s most downloaded museum app. The tour explores the concept of dùthchas - how the people, their culture and heritage are connected to the environment around them. The tour uses the sights, smells, and sound associated with 10 objects in the Strathnaver Collection to discuss these interconnections. Explore how the people of Strathnaver made use of reclaimed materials, dealt with scarce resources, and how they expressed how they felt about the environment in literature, song, and art.
Updates from CLIMAVORE
Are you a young person in Skye, Raasay or Lochalsh and passionate for environmental values?
CLIMAVORE are looking for a young person to join their team to help plan and deliver community engagement events over the next 6 months.
This internship is a unique opportunity for a young person to gain knowledge and experience of sustainable practice & the climate sector.
The role is 3 days a week, flexible working options are available. Get in touch - shona@climavore.org or 07800 857 146.
Coitcheann: Collective Commons
CLIMAVORE are also looking forward to 𝑪𝒐𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒏: 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔. A day of events on Saturday 31st August in Skye, looking at local food, sustainability, and stewardship of our islands' coastline in the face of the climate emergency.
Two foraging walks with Lucy aka The Wild Cooke and a community meal at An Crùbh, will explore seasonal wild foods from coastline to woodland. Read more and book here.
This is a CLIMAVORE event in collaboration with The Selkie Collective and Highland Community Waste Partnership.
The event is supported by: Creative Scotland, Gaia Art Foundation, the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation and The Pebble Trust.
New Office space for Partnerships for Wellbeing
After 20 years in the city centre, Inverness charity Partnerships for Wellbeing has outgrown its attic offices in Wells Street and has moved to their new home at Cradlehall Business Park. Their offices at Cauldfield House are adjacent to the active travel path linking Cradlehall to the UHI campus and beyond. The Health Walks team - led by Jayne Preece and Marie Law - has already been making the most of the new location to train volunteer walk leaders. Also, coming soon, look out for their new 'Easy Wheelers' project as they persuade small groups to have fun on their bright orange electric bikes. Yes, we said 'Easy Wheelers' not 'Easy Peelers'.
Additional bespoke services from Green Hive thanks to new equipment
Green Hive, supported by HIE have been able to secure equipment which allows them to offer new services to their community utilising waste collected during beach clean ups.
They’re pleased to have produced the pictured memorial bench dedicated to the memory of Mr David Bunker Main, father of local resident Dawn Main. This unique bench, situated at the Harbour, is crafted from recycled plastics collected during beach clean-ups in Nairn, symbolising both a tribute to a beloved individual and a commitment to environmental sustainability.
Train to be a Community Climate Coach!
Community Climate Coaches Training with SCCAN and the Permaculture Association
Free Community Climate Coaches training is being delivered as a partnership between SCCAN and the Permaculture Association, and includes four parts:
An online self-study Foundations of Community Climate Coaching course
A preparatory online call
a 2 day in-person deep dive training in Stirling
follow up online sessions to plan your next steps in community climate action.
The training takes place in early September in Stirling. Learn more and book your place here.
All systems GO for Mallaig Community Hub & Shop
With shelves full and the sign up, Mallaig Community Hub & Shop are thrilled to officially say they’re OPEN and invite us to pop in for a browse, a chat or a wee sit down.
The Community Hub & Shop is open 10am-5pm weekdays.
Funding win for Boleskine House!
The Boleskine House Foundation SCIO, a registered Scottish charity, has been awarded £250,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The investment will support capital work to complete the interior restoration of Boleskine House and will also enable a wider programme of community engagement, supporting the vision of Boleskine as a community and nature hub that has been at the core of ambition for the future of the historic property.
New recruit for the Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation
The Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation (HIEF) are excited to welcome Louis MacMillan to their team! As Project Co-ordinator, he is looking forward to visiting many of the projects that the HIEF supports and raising awareness of their inspiring approaches to nature protection and restoration.
Join the Highland 2024 Big Pollinator Count - 7th - 13th August 2024
Participate in the Highland Big Pollinator Count to support climate action and biodiversity! Join an organised ranger event or visit a local wildflower meadow to observe and count pollinators.
Submit your findings through a handy online form. Your data helps to understand the impact of climate change on pollinators and supports conservation efforts. Together, we can make a significant impact on our environment and community health. For more information, use this link. Let's protect our pollinators!
Meet Hope in Ullapool!
Meet the newest member of WDC, thier life-size inflatable whale called Hope on Monday 5th August at the Lochbroom Leisure Centre, Ullapool.
Hope measures 13m long and 8m wide, similar to a real-life humpback whale. She also looks like a real-life humpback whale.
Going inside Hope gives you the opportunity to learn about the internal anatomy of humpback whales, from breathing to feeding as well as the impact of plastic pollution.
Look out for ranger events planned around Hope’s visit such as low-tide explore drop-in, story session for wee ones and a trail taking you between Lochbroom Leisure Centre and West Shore Street.
Free returnable packaging pilot launches for Highland Businesses
Did you know that 83% of people in Highland said they are likely to choose to avoid packaging when the option is available to them?
The Highland Community Waste Partnership has launched its latest intervention to reduce packaging waste and promote more #ConsciousConsumption. Building on the success of the Highland Cup Movement, this pilot will give businesses the chance to try a returnable food and drinks packaging scheme for free.
By allowing customers to access reusables at the point of sale, schemes like this make it easier than ever to #ChooseToReuse and reduce the waste and litter created by single-use packaging.
The pilot is available between now and December 2024 and Highland businesses are invited to sign up, on a first come first served basis. Learn more here.
Join the Highland Repair Directory
The Highland Community Waste Partnership is building a free, interactive map of repair services in the Highlands.
The map aims to make it easier for people to share & repair items, instead of sending broken ones to landfill and buying new. If you offer repair services, have a repair cafe or a particular repair niche, submit it to the map.
The map will be launched during the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival in September!
Have your say!
Beyond a Grid Contrained World - A series of workshops in the Scottish Islands that is making it's way to Skye on the 2nd August!
Go along to the Skye & Lochalsh Archive Centre between 10am & 2pm to discuss Decentralising the energy grid and decision making in the Scottish Isles.
Objectives of the workshop include
Brainstorm and formulate solutions to overcome current limitations and injustices of the central UK energy grid as experienced on the Islands;
Engage island communities in conversation about current problems to the central grid, the solution envisioned and the challenges encountered;
Bring in the relevant stakeholders to understand technical, legal and/or financial restrictions to local grid solutions and decision making;
In dialogue, explore the possible ways forward in overcoming restrictions and to shape a more sustainable and just transition;
Produce Policy Recommendation to be delivered to stakeholders, local and national decision makers.
Join us! Become a Member.
If you are passionate about climate action, and want access to our funding, support & collaborative environment, why not join us a Member?
Membership is free and open to organisations and individuals. We look forward to working with you soon!