The Great Collaboration

24 October 2023

SLCC are working with a new organisation, The Place-Based Initiative Ltd, to help develop a free advisory service for town, parish and community councils in respect of climate and environmental action.

Climate change can seem like an information jungle, with new insights and practices appearing all the time. This new initiative aims to make the jungle more navigable by:

  • Gathering and organising information about the different elements and activities (much of which is already published on partners’ websites and just needs a link)
  • Making information readily findable through a website, to fit council size and location, including an online map of what is happening in parishes around the country
  • Supporting the development of county-based advisers who can provide a human link to local councils and their community groups

The Place-Based Initiative has taken over the Great Collaboration website, which has been developed in Herefordshire and already contains 60 actions that individuals can do. There is a toolkit on the website for local councils, and to this will be added further collective actions that councils can take in partnership with their communities.

A crowdfunding exercise is being planned for January 2024, whereby contributions can be used partly as match funding for county advisers and partly to support central costs. Before then, the Initiative would like to hear from anyone who would like to:

  • help to develop new guidance and add case studies to the website.
  • agree to be a point of contact for a particular type of action or expertise – whether climate or environmental action, nature recovery or supporting biodiversity
  • support communications with local councils, including by county

There is also a vacancy for a part-time company secretary.  For more details please contact SLCC Environmental & Sustainability Advisor Andrew Maliphant via [email protected].

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