Two local projects are asking for your vote as part of a £100,000 fund set up by City of Edinburgh Council to help communities to develop and choose projects aimed at making Edinburgh a greener city.
Community, voluntary and non-profit organisations from across the city have submitted over 50 proposals for up to £20,000 of funding each. These community projects have diverse aims including to reduce household carbon emissions, encourage dialogue about climate change and support the city’s net zero effort.
Two local projects have been submitted:
- Wester Hailes Summer School Farm by Wester Hailes Growing Communities
- We want to build on the success of our ‘School Farm’ projects delivered during term time at both Canal View and Sighthill primary schools by offering a ‘Summer School Farm’ project, for pupils and their parents/carers to engage with so the pupils can continue to practice the skills learnt during term time and share them with their families. This will be delivered from the existing Greenway Community Garden between Murrayburn & Hailesland. As part of the project each family would be able to register for a free growing space as well as make use of the polytunnel and communal fruit orchard around the perimeter of the garden. To support the families and deliver the activities we want to recruit two sessional workers to deliver the programme over the summer holidays. The sessions will run for two hours, 4 times per week.
- The programme would cover the basics of food growing and the benefits of growing it locally right on your doorstep, reducing food miles and food waste.
- Knowing your soil
- Growing food from seeds
- Crop shelter/protection
- Managing and growing crops
- Harvesting and storage
- Fruit and forest gardens
- We will intertwine fun climate activities for the children as well as incorporating weekly picnic events where fresh produce will be prepared into delicious meals and shared by the participants and wider community.
- Wester Hailes People’s Climate Action by SCOREscotland
- Our project aims to entice and engage diverse communities through climate literacy awareness, walking, cycling and food sharing activities. We encourage and support them to take climate action in their daily lives which would reduce their carbon footprint and have positive impact on their wellbeing and the environment.
- It will deliver along these 3 themes:
- Theme 1: Cycling
- 20 led rides for all age groups of approx. 4 hours each – 6 to12 people per ride (new and improvers). Each ride will include a brief awareness raising and information sharing session on sustainable transport, positive attitudes and climate literacy to promote lasting behavioural change to reduce car journeys. Rides will be planned according to the ability of the group. Cycle training will be available. We will capture participant’s travel data feedback and promote behavioural change.
- 10 route planning workshops to encourage to plan safe journeys to schools, work, shopping or leisure.
- 5 Free bike repair events including servicing of donated bikes to give away to low income based households to encourage them cycle more often.
- 10 Basic bike maintenance workshops: To enable people to do basic checks, clean and maintain their bikes. Being able to do puncture repair on their bikes. 8 to 12 people per workshop.
- 16 Loan bikes to young people (YP) using our existing teenage sized bikes library. We will encourage YP to loan a bike for up to 3 months and monitor their travel data.
- Theme 2: Walk & Talk
- 10 monthly Edinburgh walks with conversations on climate change to develop more understanding about climate change causes, effects and actions. This will include knowledge sharing on climate action with climate literacy professionals. The walks will help local communities engage with local area, nature and being able to go on short walks individually or with families. This will improved fitness, socialising and behavioural change to reduce car journeys.
- Encouraging adults and young people to undertake climate literacy training.
- Sharing information on local trees / indoor plants which can help to reduce carbon emissions.
- Theme 3: Food
- 20 free cooking workshops to encourage people to eat more vegetables and less meat which can significantly reduce carbon emissions also to reduce throwing away food culture. We will also show tips on reducing energy while cooking as well as dietary changes that can impact on environment.
- Good quality food sharing with local communities to reduce food poverty and food waste through our existing community fridge. We will use food items that comes to the community fridge to show them how to cook local vegetables from different recipes and cultures.
The Council would like your help to decide what gets funded by voting for your favourite ideas.
You have a total of 5 votes to use and can only vote once for a project. Please consider all the projects before making your final decision.
Voting is simple and easy. For adults, you can vote by using myaccount. This is a secure way to access a range of Scottish public services online using just one username and password. We have guidance on registering on our website.
For those under 18 wishing to vote, this can be done through Young Scot using your Young Scot NEC number. School libraries will also be offering supported voting. The minimum age to vote on the ECCF is 8 years old.
Supported voting will also be available at all public libraries across the city. Please visit your local library for more information and if you need help to vote for your preferred projects.
Find out more about participatory budgeting or contact us for further information: communityplanning@edinburgh.gov.uk
This is a chance for you to decide how Council money is spent on things that matter to you and your community.
Voting is open from Friday 3 March to Sunday 12 March.
Council Leader Cammy Day said:
The Edinburgh Community Climate Fund is a brilliant opportunity for local groups across our fantastic capital city to make their voices heard on how this money should be spent, as we deliver on our key priorities.
We have a bold and ambitious plan to become a net-zero city by 2030, alongside our wider Climate Strategy. Our citizens and communities should rightly be at the heart of this process. I am confident that in the ECCF projects, Edinburgh and her citizens will once again show the creativity, innovation, and care that we have so often seen over the years.
I am really excited at the quality and variety of the projects that have been submitted and look forward to seeing the results of the public vote.
