The climate emergency will impact everyone including individuals, families, businesses, community & voluntary sector and other organisations within the Forest of Dean. This sub-group will enable FEP Board and FEP Stakeholders to actively participate in:
- Raising awareness of current and proposed legislation
- Consultation activity
- Countywide and local project development & delivery
- Disseminating information on funding availability to decarbonise, improve energy efficiency & waste reduction, adapt to climate change and identify scope for biodiversity improvements.
- Sub-Group budget monitoring
The subgroup members include representatives from a range of local institutions, including Hartpury University & College, Forest of Dean District Council, Two Rivers Housing, and many local independent businesses, all passionate about seeing a greener Forest of Dean.
Projects the CANZ subgroup are overseeing include the Forest Business Climate Charter and the ForestCollab tool (formerly known as the FACCT Tool), a FEP led initiative to encourage collaboration and reduce wastage in the Forest of Dean - watch this space for more on ForestCollab, and the Forest Biosphere application.
The subgroup have recently supported Forest of Dean Community Action Partnership (FODCAP) to develop an easy to use guide to installing solar panels. This has been created to specifically support small businesses, charities, community groups or similar to explore ways they can use greener energy sources. It is often these smaller organisations that struggle with accessing technology like solar panels, as they do not have support available to homeowners or the means to access expert advice as a larger business would. This guide is available for free to use on FEP and FODCAP's website. Read the guide here
Chairing this subgroup is local sustainability expert David Trevelyan, founder of SustainYou business consultancy. David is involved in a number of various projects across the district and county, both as a representative of FEP and a private businesses, including taking part in an interview by the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) as part of their study around the resilience of rural electricity connections. This project is designed to ensure rural communities like the Forest of Dean do not get left behind as the country advances towards net zero due to the unique challenges districts like ours face, such as low population density or older buildings complicating retrofit. Find out more about this project here or join the subgroup to keep up to date.
