Presentation to:Climate Change Commission for Wales 

March 6th 2014

WELSH GOVERNMENT PATHFINDER PROGRAMME:

‘Community Action on Climate Change’

Review of Learning Journeys: Key Findings and Recommendations 

 

Alex Franklin

Supporting community action on climate change

• Wide variation in type of support needs– Tailored support (group, project, community & place)

• Acknowledging the challenges, as well as the opportunities of co-production 

• Sensitivity towards barriers effecting take-up of support/ co-production 

• Respecting volunteering status • Working with the rhythms of community action• Building a social connection – acceptance of ‘slow practice’

– ‘Becoming’ as critical friend

• Avoiding erosion of Community ownership – combining of ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ practice

Supporting community action on climate change

• Ongoing review of support needs of a community group– Assessing capacity for co-production

• Advice based on understanding of the ‘bigger picture’– ‘From the outside looking in’

• Genuine interest in ‘feeding into something bigger’– Credibility/ validation (external facing)

• Scaling up & ‘tying threads together’… but only where and when possible

• Role of ‘key intermediaries’ in reducing the disconnection between community groups and local government– ‘Professional informality’– ‘Passionate neutrality’

Supporting community action on climate change

• Community action for climate change: social, economic, environmental

Generic principles of good practice, but also specifics:– Allowing for the multiplicity of motivations for engaging in 

climate change action– Importance of environmental expertise... & enthusiasm ... 

balanced with a sensitivity towards the operating context (group, project, community & place)

– Sustaining, but also managing community enthusiasm & motivation to act

– Supporting access to technical information, rules and regulations

Evaluating community action on climate change

• Primary focus on ‘learning’– Limitations of a Success v’s failure model

• Evaluation of (internal group) process as well as outcome– Qualitative as well as quantitative outcomes– Learning Histories

• Working with the rhythms of community action

• Facilitating progress along the ‘learning curve’  of community action… but also of supporting  community action– Ongoing reflective evaluation 

Q. Is there anything you would like to add?

Q. Is there anything you would like to add?

A. “Oh just I would say thank you to [the PO] for all [their] efforts” (CG06).

Policy Recommendations

1. Groups often gather to achieve wider environmental and sustainability outcomes for their communities; capitalise on this by funding integrated policy outcomes.

2. Note of the impact on other funding streams when developing new ones - continuity builds trust and can maximise effectiveness

3. Community groups have an appetite to influence policy and become part of “something bigger”.

4. Design programmes that fit both policy, funding and electoral cycles, but with timelines sensitive to community groups’ timescales, schedules and rhythms.

5. Provision of ‘independent’ development officers to act as trust agents6. Utilise and develop the resources of key development officers as ‘key 

intermediaries’ between community & government7. Seamless support - ensure that other funding routes are available to 

support the activities which group’s value8. Develop a shared understanding of behaviour change

Policy Recommendations

9. Build capacity for appropriate Monitoring and Learning activities – prioritise needs of community groups in understanding and refining their own practice

10. Build stronger links with local government, including community councils

11. Ensure continuity of development officer support12. Move beyond notions of success or failure for understanding groups’ 

contribution – value continuous learning as highly as ‘hard’ outcomes13. Use flexible evaluation approaches, including story-based tools that 

identify achieved goals but also support learning at community group level

14. Incorporate a culture of continuous learning and refinement into all commissioned programmes

15. Ongoing development of mechanisms for increased knowledge exchange and shared learning for development officers as well as for practitioners