Climate Action Ting
The Online Vote!
If you’re new to the Climate Action Ting project, please check the project page for background on our work with Shetland community groups since Autumn 2025.
We received many applications to Climate Action Ting, our Green Participatory Budgeting process for Shetland. Applications closed on 11 February 2026 with 14 applications and a total funding ask of £89,499. A panel of our funders and Hub staff selected 12 projects to progress to public vote. The total funding request of those groups selected to progress is £69,999 and it is now up to the people of Shetland to decide who is funded.
The final Climate Action Ting event is in person at Mareel on Saturday 14 March 2026. We’d love to see you there, but if you can’t attend you can still vote on how the £60,000 fund should be allocated. All successful projects will be announced at the event.
Please review the list of shortlisted projects and vote for your top five as first to fifth preferences. You can find the voting form here and it is linked in each of the project pitches below.
ONLINE VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED.
This project was made possible by National Lottery players, the Coastal Communities Fund (Shetland Islands Council), and Zenobe, administered through Foundation Scotland.
Projects
Unst’s Sky Trail by E-bike
Wild Skies Shetland
The project will introduce a new electric bike for community use and create an online guide designed specifically for exploring the Sky Trail by bike. Local volunteers will help test routes and provide feedback to shape the updated digital guide, which will be ready ahead of the busy summer season.
Increase bike availability for locals and visitors at peak times
Encourage car‑free exploration of Unst
Raise awareness of Wild Skies Shetland’s work
Enhance visitor understanding of Unst’s history, culture, and landscapes
By promoting cycling and reducing car use, the project supports low‑carbon tourism and helps people experience Unst in a more sustainable way. It also highlights the potential of e‑bikes for enjoyable, environmentally friendly travel around the island.
Total funding requested: £2893
Environment & Climate Change
Shetland Youth Voice
Shetland Youth Voice is a youth‑led organisation empowering young people across the isles to influence local decisions and take action on issues that matter to them. In 2026, members chose environment and climate action as a key priority.
The project will install beach cleaning stations at selected beaches across Shetland. Each station provides easy‑to‑use litter‑picking equipment, encouraging quick, simple clean‑ups from anyone visiting the coast.
Empower young people to lead environmental action
Make community clean‑ups easier and more accessible
Increase awareness of marine litter and environmental responsibility
By reducing coastal litter and encouraging everyday positive habits, this project helps protect local wildlife and supports a cleaner, more sustainable future for Shetland.
Total funding requested: £7440
Coastal Erosion Project
Sandwick Community Council
Sandwick Community Council represents local residents and helps ensure community needs are heard in decisions about the area. Increasing coastal erosion has become a growing concern, and the community has identified the need for action to better understand and respond to the issue.
The community council plans to commission specialists to map and survey the coastline around Sandwick. This work will help identify risks, understand how the coast is changing, and explore practical options for protecting vulnerable areas.
Protect at‑risk homes in areas affected by erosion
Safeguard the local graveyard, which contains around 1,500 lairs
Produce an evidence‑based report to guide future investment and protection
Raise awareness of climate impacts within the community
By addressing erosion linked to rising sea levels and stronger storms, the project supports long‑term climate resilience. Strengthening coastal areas, restoring natural defences, and improving management all contribute to protecting Sandwick’s landscape and community for the future.
Total funding requested: £6250
Stucca Community Garden
Northmavine Community Development Company
The Stucca Community Garden will transform an unused area in Hillswick into a vibrant shared space for sustainable growing, composting, and community learning. Funding will help establish core infrastructure, including raised beds, rabbitproof fencing, water butts, and compost bins. Staff support over two months will coordinate setup, manage volunteer sessions, and offer onetoone advice for new growers. Up to eight community sessions will introduce skills such as sowing, planting, soil care, and composting.
More local, climate friendly food growing
Reduced waste through active use of rainwater harvesting and composting
Stronger community skills and involvement in climate action
A long term, resilient growing space protected by durable infrastructure
The garden will reduce food miles, divert waste from landfill, and support lowinput, naturefriendly gardening. By offering visible examples of sustainable practices from rainwater harvesting to composting,the project encourages everyday climate action while strengthening local resilience
Total funding requested: £2576
Fair Isle Goes Under Cover
Fair Isle Development Company
Fair Isle Goes Under Cover will establish the island’s first community Polycrub, creating a sheltered, productive space for growing food. It will host curriculumlinked sessions for children and volunteerled activities for all ages. Themes will include increasing yields, trialling hardy crop varieties, and exploring composting methods, while the nearby community hall will host shared meals and harvest events.
Stronger community connections and reduced isolation
New gardening and climateaware skills across generations
Improved food security through local growing and reduced costs
Better health and wellbeing through activity, fresh produce, and shared spaces
By producing more food locally, reducing food miles, and promoting composting and sustainable growing, the project supports Fair Isle’s ambitions to become a lowcarbon community. The Polycrub will also offer a therapeutic, weathersafe space that helps ease climate anxiety and brings residents together in meaningful, practical climate action.
Total funding requested: £7500
Blown Away
Bressay Development Limited
Blown Away will explore how small wind turbines have performed across Shetland. A project researcher will review planning records, map turbine locations, and interview turbine owners to understand reliability, costs, and real world performance. The work will run from spring through summer and will result in a detailed report supported by maps, photos, and community friendly information.
Clear, accessible insights into which turbine models perform best in Shetland
Knowledge sharing between communities interested in small scale renewables
Skills development through a paid internship for a young person
Greater confidence for groups considering their own wind installations
By gathering and sharing real evidence on turbine performance, the project will help communities make informed decisions about renewable energy. This supports local climate action, encourages investment in proven lowcarbon solutions, and strengthens Shetland’s collective understanding of what works in its unique environment.
Total funding requested: £7000
Common Thread
Bigton Collective
The Common Thread programme will run monthly “patch and mend” sessions, giving people the chance to learn visible mending, repairs, and creative customisation using sewing machines, handweaving looms, and ironon patches. A designated mending space at Hymhus will also be available for dropin use.
Alongside this, the Hymhus Score Exchange will let community members donate and borrow secondhand music books, helping reduce waste and increase access to musical resources.
Stronger social connections through shared, creative activities
Confidence and new skills in practical repair and mending
Reduced waste and lower costs by extending the life of clothes & music books
A local model for circular economy practices
By promoting repair culture, sharing resources, and reducing unnecessary purchases and shipping, the project supports lowwaste living and encourages sustainable habits. It helps foster a community where reused, repaired, and wellloved items are valued—and where creativity plays a key role in reducing environmental impact.
Total funding requested: £6995
Community Growing in Sullom
Northmavine Community Development Company
Community Growing in Sullom will create a welcoming shared space where residents can grow food, learn new skills, and connect with one another. A new 5×3 metre polycrub and outdoor raised beds will provide sheltered growing opportunities and a simple honesty box will make surplus produce accessible to everyone. Alongside food growing, the space will offer a warm social area where people can share conversations, heat food, and take part in small community activities. The project focuses on gentle, everyday climate action through planting, composting, and skill sharing.
Greater confidence and skills in growing food locally
Better access to fresh produce for households facing high food costs
A strong sense of shared ownership and pride in a visible climate action project
Increased awareness of how local food links to carbon reduction and resilience
By encouraging local food growing, reducing food miles, promoting composting, and sharing surplus produce, the project helps residents adopt low carbon, sustainable habits. The polycrub provides resilience in difficult weather while giving the community a positive space to learn, grow, and support one another.
Total funding requested: £7500
BOAG Growing & Outdoor Activity Space
Bressay Outdoor Activity Group
(subgroup of Bressay Sports Group)
This first phase will prepare the site by levelling the ground, laying foundations, securing materials, and building accessible paths. It will also install a new polycrub growing space and essential services—forming the base for a larger outdoor activity hub. Future phases will include allotments, biodiversity planting, social spaces, and facilities that support sports events and island exploration.
Hands on growing opportunities to help people learn how to cultivate edible and flowering plants
Improved community resilience by increasing access to locally grown produce
Better facilities for sports events, visitors, and local groups
A central hub for outdoor activities and learning about Bressay’s nature, routes, and heritage
The project supports sustainability by reusing materials, composting organic waste, using natural resources like collected rainwater, and encouraging biodiversity. With a strong focus on shared skills and local knowledge, it promotes lowcarbon living, community resilience, and practical climate action on the island.
Total funding requested: £7500
Decarbonising Heat at Scalloway Youth & Community Centre
Scalloway Youth & Community Centre
Decarbonising Heating at SYCC is the next major step in transforming the building into a lowenergy, netzeroaligned community facility. The project will install a solar panel array, a battery storage system, and an airsource heat pump to replace the outdated heating system. These upgrades follow earlier improvements including new double glazing and modern insulation. Together, they will significantly lower the centre’s reliance on grid electricity and cut longterm running costs. The project will also support continued environmental learning activities for young people and community groups.
Reduced energy use and carbon emissions while maintaining a warm, comfortable community space
Lower energy bills, improving the centre’s long term financial sustainability
Increased community awareness of modern, low carbon energy solutions
Support for wellbeing and inclusion, offering a warm, affordable social space that helps tackle fuel poverty
By replacing inefficient 30 year old systems with renewable and low carbon technologies, the project takes meaningful climate action while demonstrating practical solutions to local residents. It positions the centre as an example of sustainable community infrastructure and ensures the building remains accessible, warm, and affordable for all ages.
Total funding requested: £7500
North Yell Community Growing Areas
North Yell Development Council
The Cullivoe Community Growing Space will include four polycrubs offering allotment areas, a shared social space, and a dedicated tunnel for an Intergenerational Community Growing Club. At least ten sessions will run throughout 2026, bringing people of different ages together to learn growing skills, experiment with new produce, and share knowledge. Produce grown in the tunnels will be shared locally through veg boxes and used to support the community lunches.
Funding will be used to build raised beds, potting areas, seating, and accessible flooring, with support from the Whalefirth Men’s Shed. Once complete, the space will support around 25 growers and benefit as many as 100 people through shared produce.
A vibrant community resource with more people using local growing spaces
Reduced food miles and carbon emissions for residents and community lunches
Lower food costs for households accessing allotments
Skills development and learning across generations
By increasing local food production, reducing reliance on imported produce, and encouraging seasonal eating, the project supports longterm climate resilience in North Yell. The growing space will enhance the community’s ability to respond during weatherrelated emergencies and inspire further climatepositive actions through handson participation.
Total funding requested: £7500
Sandwick Rewilding & Meaningful Opportunities
Sandwick Social & Economic Development Company
Sandwick Rewilding and Meaningful Opportunities will create hands on, nature based activities that support both environmental improvement and community wellbeing. A new Project Coordinator will work with landowners, local services, and voluntary groups to identify areas for rewilding, tree planting, wildflower sowing, and small scale peatland restoration. From May to October, weekly sessions will offer meaningful, supported outdoor activities for people receiving Self Directed Support, with volunteers helping deliver the programme. Each session will focus on practical work such as planting, landscaping, and erosion prevention, followed by social time at the Hoswick Visitor Centre.
Environmental improvements across Sandwick through rewilding and restoration
Meaningful opportunities that support confidence, wellbeing, and social connection
Greater community engagement in land management and climatepositive action
Local employment and volunteer involvement within a sustainable pilot model
The project supports climate action by increasing biodiversity, expanding tree cover, restoring degraded areas, and encouraging wider community involvement in environmental care. Through practical, visible improvements and regular participation, the programme aims to inspire more local people to take climatepositive steps in their own lives and neighbourhoods.
Total funding requested: £6845