Community Energy Scotland (CES) with the support of the Scottish Islands Federation (SIF) are excited to invite you to a series of online engagement events focused on knowledge sharing and information gathering to inform the Carbon Neutral Islands Replicability Strategy, with the aim of ultimately accelerating islands’ decarbonisation journeys.
There will be three of these events held on three different days over the next month, each focusing on a specifc topic:
13 Feb I 10:00-11:30 I Online
This first event will focus on transport:
- Developing EV infrastructure in rural and island communities: Matthew Glennon & Gemma Robinson, HiTrans
- CNI community ebike project: Kim Dobrzynski, Community Development Officer for Hoy
21 Feb I 10:00-11:30 I Online
This session will focus on Islay solar farm project: Neil Gow, Community Development Officer for Islay
13 March I 10:00-11:30 I Online
This final event will focus on landuse:
Land use date ground truthing on Islay: Tom Skinner, Community Development Officer for Islay
Land mapping and land use date work for the CNI project: Joy Gowland – Aquaterra
The Carbon Neutral Islands (CNI) project is a Scottish Government commitment that aims to demonstrate the climate-resilience and low carbon potential of islands by 2040. Six islands were initially identified and included in the CNI project: Barra & Vatersay, Cumbrae, Hoy, Islay, Raasay, and Yell. The project is led by the island communities to determine their own pathway and each island has now produced a Community Climate Action Plan based on the ideas and priorities identified by the people living there.
For more information see: Carbon Neutral Islands
In November 2023, we hosted a successful online meeting with over 50 participants representing 26 islands, sharing ongoing projects, the challenges and opportunities within the net zero sphere, and the support that islands need to decarbonise.
There were many valuable suggestions and ideas for how Scottish islands could be supported with four main themes emerging:
· Capacity building on each island
· Regular forums and communities of practice sessions
· Training and upskilling
· Advocacy
We are now hoping to gather more detail on project specific challenges that are being faced, and better understand the preferences that islands have in prioritising options within these support themes. This is a valuable opportunity to have your say as the information gathered from this engagement will inform the replicability strategy report that CES delivers to the Scottish Government by the end of the financial year.
The events are an opportunity to input into the CNI Replicability Strategy, hear about the projects that are taking place on the CNI islands and participate in insightful discussions on transport, energy and landuse – pivotal themes in our shared commitment to sustainable island living. Please feel free to join us for one, or all, of these events!