Local authorities are playing a key role both in getting the UK to net zero and ensuring their areas are ready for changing conditions. Local authorities across the country have already shown bold leadership by setting Net Zero targets that are years ahead of national legislation. But local authorities cannot do this alone. To do this in a way that is effective and fair, they will need to engage the public. That’s why we and others developed the Local Climate Engagement programme.
Local Climate Engagement report and executive summary
The first stage of the Local Climate Engagement programme worked with 21 local authorities from across England. The programme combines intensive training, drawn down mentoring, peer learning and hands-on support to assist local authorities in engaging their local communities, which was generously supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
We have launched the evaluation report for the first stage of the Local Climate Engagement programme, produced by Sally Cupitt, our external evaluator. The report outlines the achievements and outcomes of the programme and its work with 21 local authorities across England, plus our key learnings and recommendations for future programmes working on climate engagement with local authorities.
Dive into the reports
Check out the Executive Summary on Issuu below, and see the full report here:
LCE Evaluation Report
What the report contains
The full report contains seven chapters, covering the following:
- Chapter 1: Introduction – what the Local Climate Engagement programme is and summary of findings;
- Chapter 2: The Local Climate Engagement programme offer and take-up, recruitment and different elements of the programme;
- Chapter 3: The Project Group and what they achieved;
- Chapter 4: The Coaching Group and their outcomes;
- Chapter 5: What participants thought of the Local Climate Engagement programme;
- Chapter 6: Learning from the Local Climate Engagement programme including the nature of the programme, approach to capacity building, context, and people and culture change;
- Chapter 7: Recommendations for future programmes;
Reflections and learnings from project partners
You can also check out a series of blogs from project partners reflecting on their learnings from the Local Climate Engagement programme.
- Nine things I learnt from leading the Local Climate Engagement programme by Carly Walker-Dawson, Director of Capacity Building and Standards at Involve
- People’s everyday concerns should be at the heart of how local authorities talk about climate change by Emma James, Researcher at Climate Outreach
- Helping local authorities work with the public on climate: capacity building challenges and learnings by Sally Cupitt, programme external evaluator
Find out more
We have a package of Local Climate Engagement support options for local authorities. Find out more by emailing Carly Walker-Dawson at [email protected].