Collaborative Learning for the Hub
At the start of June, our team gathered for a few days of learning. We took part in a valuable “Train the Trainer” session delivered by Paul from Place at the Table and Chiara from Imagine If focused on climate adaption tools. Katy, one of our Community Development Officers, led a Climate Fresk and we explored the Place Standard. It was a productive few days and great to connect as a team!

Climate Cafe® Network celebrates 10 years
June marks 10 years of Climate Cafe®, which empowers communities to talk and act on climate change. Fiona, Community Development Officer, was delighted to attend the anniversary celebration in Dunkeld. We are pleased to support the growing number of Climate Cafes® across Highland, Orkney and Shetland. Learn more about the Climate Cafe®Network and impact on their website, here.

Celebrating Cairngorms Pride
We are thrilled to celebrate the launch of Cairngorms Pride, which is bringing together local LGBTQ+ groups and allies to create a more inclusive society by connecting with nature. Fiona, Community Development Officer, was delighted to attend the launch and celebrate its work as an eco-Pride. Find out more about the mission of Cairngorms Pride on their website, here.

Highlands & Islands Climate Festival returns for 2025!
We’re excited to announce that the Climate Festival will run from 13 September to 8 October 2025, celebrating community-led climate action across Highland, Orkney and Shetland. Two funding streams are available for community groups: a flat-rate event contribution or support for a marketplace-style event. Excitingly, the Festival will culminate with the Highland Climate Conference in Inverness on the 8th October. Find out more about the HICF 2025 on its website, here.

Highland Climate Conference 2025
We are very excited to open to pre-registrations for the inaugural Highland Climate Conference on Wednesday 8th October in the Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness. 

The day will be the culmination of the month long Highland Climate Festival and provide an opportunity for changemakers from our community, public and private sector to come together in innovative and collaborative discussions and networking. Our Conference aims to provide answers to the question we hear nearly every day, "how do we work better together?" through the themes of People, Place, Power and Partnerships. 

We would love to see you there, please take the opportunity now to pre-register your interest here to be the first advised of places being available. 

Orkney Circular Economy Network Launches
In June, we celebrated the launch of the Orkney Circular Economy Network which will help connect Orcadians to local repair shops, charities, and community projects. We were pleased to work with the Orkney Community Planning Partnership, Orkney Waste & Recycling Team, Islands Centre for Net Zero, Greener Orkney and Orkney Zerowaste to create this opportunity. We are now inviting local communities to view the Directory to make sustainable choices, and likeminded organisations, charities, and businesses to join the Network to connect and share knowledge. View the directory and add your service here.

HCWP Impact Report
In March we celebrated the legacy of the Highland Community Waste Partnership, which was funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund, and coordinated by Keep Scotland Beautiful to bring together eight community groups to reduce waste and promote more sustainable consumption. Keep Scotland Beautiful has now published the HCWP Impact Report, which captures the far-reaching and long-lasting impact of the partnership. Read the report here.

Nairn Books and Arts Festival 2025
We are looking forward to this year’s festival, and delighted to be supporting as a partner. This year’s celebration takes place from the 30th August to 7th September and is inspired by the coastal and maritime themes. The Festival programme is now live here featuring a 'tide' of workshops, exhibitions, live music, special events & more taking place.

Funding Finder
Read the latest Funding Finder for our members, which totals funds over £3.7 million. Find the May edition here.

Highlands & Islands Climate Festival Funding 2025
The Highlands & Islands Climate Hub is thrilled to have launched two rounds of funding for this year’s Climate Festival - a flat rate event contribution and marketplace style event funding. The deadline for applications is Thursday 19th June at 5pm. The full criteria and applications can be found on the Festival website, here.

CSGN Growing Together Fund
The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) ‘Growing Food Together’ Fund is once again offering a cash boost to community growing projects across Scotland. Grants start at £5,000 and supports the creation and expansion of growing spaces, training and education opportunities, infrastructure development, and projects which benefit people. The application deadline is Friday 4th July, full guidance can be accessed on their website here.

Life’s A Beach
Sunday 27 July - 1-5pm - An Crubh
Sleat Nature Group and Loughborough University’s 50-Years-of-Litter-on-Skye project are partnering to raise awareness for the impact of marine litter on Skye. Come along to understand its impact on marine life, and ways it can be reduced & removed. Local and national organisations working to reduce marine litter will be there to share their work too.

Members Events Map
Along with being able to see what's coming up at the Hub, you can now see what's coming up from our members. Our members are invited to share their events on our new dedicated events map on the Hub’s website - an exclusive membership perk. See & add to the map here.

Sustainable Spaces
Transform your community building into a sustainable space with an environmental policy & action plan, supported by the Hub’s Team of Development Officers. Support & training available now.

Food Hygiene Hero
The Hub offers training hose wishing to undertake our fully funded Level 2 Food Safety & Hygiene for Catering course. Suitable for staff or volunteers involved in the delivery of a food waste project based in the Highlands or Northern Isles. Apply here.

Tich Access tackle invasive species
A grant from the Women in Forestry Training Fund covered the cost of pesticide application and stem injection training for Tich Access, a small Highlands business that handles invasive species in awkward and steep places. This funded training enabled their registration as a user of professional herbicides; which is an important step in the responsible management of invasive species such as Rhododendron and Japanese Knotweed.

ALIenergy 25th Anniversary Tour so far
ALIenergy’s 25th anniversary tour has taken them across the Highlands, from Thurso to Fort William and over to Skye. Each stop has provided an opportunity to interact with amazing support organisations across their working area. Whether its local community hubs, foodbanks, roadshows, or drop-in sessions they’ve met wonderful and dedicated people. Follow the tour’s continued progress on their Facebook page, here.

Powered by People on Orkney
Stromness Museum’s new exhibition celebrates Orkney’s renewable energy journey. It features new technology, artefacts and personal stories to prompt conversations around energy fairness, innovation, and community impact. The exhibition runs until April 2026. More information here.

Highland Energy Community Partnership
Gairloch and Loch Ewe Action Forum (GALE) are recruiting a Community Energy Officer and Administration Assistant for the Highland Energy Community Partnership. These position are exciting opportunities to play a pivotal role in the partnership, and are the final staff posts to fill within the partnership project. Find out more and apply on the GALE website here.

Cairngorms Core Paths Plan Review
The National Park Authority is undertaking a review of the Cairngorms Core Paths Plan. The Core Path Plans is a mapped network of paths that ensures people can exercise their access rights across an area. As part of the review, the National Park are inviting anyone to feed into an informal consultation, which is live until 31 August 2025. They are eager to hear feedback on the proposed changes and new suggestions to the network. You can review and contribute on their website here.