Introduction

The Capacity Building grants programme was born out of an acknowledgement that there are many infrastructural barriers that may prevent communities from being able to lead on (climate change) research equitably and have their research listened to. This can include systemic issues such as short timescales for funding cycles that don’t always allow for meaningful community engagement, limited access to resources such as knowledge dissemination platforms, and hierarchies within both academia and the policy landscape around what ‘counts’ as evidence. 

There was also an acknowledgment that wider societal issues can prevent communities from being able to get involved in climate change research and action, with the following crises having a significant impact on the day-to-day existence of individuals and communities alike: 

• the cost-of-living crisis; 

• third sector burn out; 

• restructuring of universities and ongoing precarity of within academic institutions;

• consultation fatigue; 

• the cutting of essential services. 

While it is clear that the issues above cannot be overcome within the course of one small community grants programme, and that money alone cannot solve the problem, the Capacity Building Grants programme sought to start addressing them by having a clearer understanding of the specific barriers, as well as potential opportunities for support. By designing a tailored training programme with external stakeholders as delivery partners, this programme also sought to identify and connect communities/researchers with other support programmes in place across the Highlands & Islands to allow for longer-term and place-based support. 

To better understand these needs, a series of drop-in workshops were scheduled with funded community-researcher partnerships to explore the issues and shared challenges that had emerged over the course of the programme so far, including those which had been raised at the in-person Community of Practice held in September 2023. Following several conversations and consultation with the groups, six issues were identified in response to specific and general needs and a bespoke training programme was designed, with external training providers being commissioned to develop interactive training sessions. These sessions were then open to others working in the sector to help build wider capacity across the Highlands & Islands. 

The six topics identified were: 

1. Navigating Challenging (Climate) Conversations; 

2. Policy, Impact & Community Engagement; 

3. Measuring Environmental Impact; 

4. Community Leadership Skills & Managing Volunteers; 

5. Burn-Out Recovery & Prevention; 

6. Funding & Sustaining Community-Led Research.

Below is an overview of the issues and needs which the training programme was designed to address, as well as a description of the training sessions which were commissioned and delivered in response. All of the training sessions were recorded and then developed by delivery partner Science Ceilidh, via their Community Knowledge Matters network, into shareable resources with accompanying worksheets. These can be accessed via the Community Knowledge Matters network. The final session on Funding & Sustaining Community-Led Climate Action had to be postponed due to the availability of the training providers. 

Navigating Challenging (Climate) Conversations

The Issue

Throughout our Communities of Practice, a space facilitated and held by Science Ceilidh to encourage peer learning throughout the programme, a common theme that emerged was the sensitivities of community engagement around research and how to build trust, especially in cases where communities may have not had positive experiences of engaging with research previously. Over-consultation is a huge issue across rural communities where many feel that they are being asked to repeatedly contribute to studies and consultations, and yet often feel as though their answers aren’t necessarily being listened to. Particularly difficult is when those instances of engaging research or conducting consultations have not gone well or have been seen to be insensitive to local needs, such as the (2023) Highly Protected Marine Area consultations which were seen as very controversial amongst many communities across the Highlands & Islands. How can new projects plan around the legacy of previous projects or research? How to engage the disengaged, especially when they may have previously disengaged for good reasons? 

Moreover, many of the funded projects were not just facing dilemmas about how to engage their communities in the concept of ‘research’ in general, but with research about climate change in particular. Climate change is an emotive topic for most who encounter it, and the existence of climate grief and eco-anxiety is a very real issue which many of us will likely face at some point in our lives. This is especially the case in communities across the region who are facing the effects of climate change first hand. But there are also still very different opinions about the causes and nature of climate change across our society, with climate change denial and defensiveness still a common response. How to engage in conversations about climate change when the other person doesn’t agree with you? How to interact with communities who feel as though they have been scapegoated within wider discourses around the causes of climate change, such as farmers, crofters or older generations? 

The Training

In response to these questions a training session was commissioned around ‘Navigating Challenging (Climate) Conversations’. This was delivered by two experts in climate psychology, Kate Adams and Nadine Andrews, from the Climate Psychology Alliance which provides psychotherapeutic support and research on emotional responses to the climate crisis. The training session was both theory based and interactive, including an explanation of the common physiological responses to perceived threats, which can often emerge when engaging in a challenging climate-related conversation, and the role of the nervous system in determining the nature of our interactions. Practical tips were explored for managing emotional responses, and being attentive to those of the other person, with discussions around our ‘windows of tolerance’ and developing adaptive defences and coping mechanisms to regulate our emotions in such situations. The session closed with a discussion on how to create frameworks for engaging in difficult topics, and how to facilitate conversations in a way that builds trust and allows for marginalised voices to be heard, with tips including identifying common values and finding points of connection with those who may have differing perspectives, in order to build trust and a shared understanding. 

A recording of the training session can be viewed here, and a copy of the accompanying resources and worksheet – with guided activities – can be requested through the Community Knowledge Matters network.

Policy, Impact and Community Engagement

The Issue

Another aspect of communication and the sensitivities around community engagement was also identified by many of the groups, in terms of engaging with different types of stakeholders including policy makers. With many of the groups having produced their own evidence and knowledge around the subject they were exploring, with support from their researcher partners, they were then facing the challenge of what to do next with it and how they could use this for greater impact. Who are the key audiences for this research? Is academic publication the most useful means of dissemination, and how accessible is this to everyone (both in terms of access to publishing and readership)? Is communicating about the research with the communities affected more important, and what form should that take? And what should happen with all the momentum a community may have for doing research once the project has formally ended? 

In particular, many of the funded communities were facing the challenge of how to approach policy-makers and other stakeholders who may not consider community knowledge, or community produced research, to be ‘valuable’ enough evidence to listen to. What forms of evidence are policy-makers looking for, and is it the responsibility of communities to produce the types of evidence that policy-makers are explicitly expecting to see, or is it the responsibility of policy-makers to value different forms of evidence in the same light? Ultimately, what is the impact that communities are wanting to make through leading on research about climate change, and how to communicate those desired outcomes to communities involved in research whilst managing expectations, especially when change is slow? 

The Training

In response, the co-directors of the Scottish Policy Research Exchange (SPRE), Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin and Dave Blackbell, were invited to deliver a training session on ‘Policy, Impact and Community Engagement’. SPRE works with those based in research, knowledge exchange and decision-making to improve how evidence and expertise shapes policy. They also sit on the steering group of the Community Knowledge Matters network. The training used a mix of storytelling techniques and interactive activities to explore questions of power dynamics, community engagement and policy influence, highlighting opportunities for using different forms of knowledge in policy engagement. The personal stories helped illustrate the messy and dynamic nature of policy engagement and the activities helped participants to visualise and discuss the complex web of relationships and influencing factors that can shape policy decisions. This included space for reflecting on the dynamics and issues that influence their own projects. Ultimately, the trainers highlighted the importance of being aware of the broader context while reflecting the importance of co-creation and the need for flexibility in research processes. They also emphasised the need for transparency and awareness in navigating power dynamics and the importance of inclusive and participatory approaches that can prioritise building trusting relationships. Activities around ‘goal power’ and a ‘strengths mapping’ exercise provided tools for reflecting on who gets to define the goals or outcomes of a project and what resources and opportunities we already have in our own communities to affect change. 

A recording of the training session can be viewed here, and a copy of the accompanying resources and worksheet – with guided activities – can be accessed through the Community Knowledge Matters website. 

Measuring Environmental Impact

The matter of measuring impact within a project or through research is as practical as it is philosophical. Funding applications, which determine much work done in both the third sector and academia, typically include questions around how to measure and ‘evidence’ their impact. What are the metrics used to measure this, who defines them, and how accessible or relevant are they? What if the metrics developed for a predominantly urban context don’t make sense in a rural setting? And what role can communities play in shaping these metrics?

This takes on a particularly interesting dimension in the context of measuring environmental impact, where metrics are so often standardised at a global level, nevermind national. Yet with incentives placed on communities (and individuals) to track their carbon footprint in the race to achieve ‘net zero’, what opportunities are there for communities to measure their environmental impact in a way that is both accessible but also relevant for specific communities? What data is available to them and what can they meaningfully do with that data once it's been gathered?

The Training

Three specialists in the area of carbon auditing, community-led environmental projects and environmental systems change were invited to deliver a joint training session in response to these issues. Cameron Duff from Community Energy Scotland shared learning from his experience working on the Carbon Neutral Islands Project, emphasising the importance of local knowledge and community engagement in the process of carbon auditing. Providing an overview of the different ‘scopes’ of carbon emissions, defined by global greenhouse gas protocols, he offered insights into the pros and cons of using different types and sources of data when measuring carbon emissions. He argued strongly for the use of locally sourced data and other forms of community knowledge as much as possible. Working closely with communities and gaining their trust is not only important to ensure the accuracy of these findings, he argued, but is necessary when it comes to making sure that the audit is accepted and acted upon by the community once it has been completed.  

Becky Ford, also from Community Energy Scotland, and who works as a part-time academic exploring the role of ‘community as a decarbonisation technology’, shared insights from the Island Centre for Net Zero, highlighting the importance of community-led approaches in decarbonisation. With an understanding of the role that shared narratives and storytelling play in creating communities, Becky reminded us to be mindful of the stories we are telling, how we are telling them, and who we are telling them to. With examples from her academic practice as well as working closely with communities across the Island Centre for Net Zero project, she stressed the need for ethical research practices that are shaped by the ones at the heart of the narrative, in other words, members of the communities themselves. 

Finally Peter Lefort from the Green Futures Network at the University of Exeter underscored the complexity of measuring environmental impact, advocating for a systemic view that includes various forms of value beyond financial capital and other metrics beyond quantitative carbon audits. He stressed the importance of viewing issues of climate change as a ‘complex’ (unpredictable) rather than ‘complicated’ (predictable) problem, giving examples of his work with communities across the country by way of illustration. Ultimately he asked: what is it that we can actually know when we're talking about impact (what can be measured)? What is enough within the context of environmental impact? And what can we do with the answers to those two questions?

A recording of the training session can be viewed here, and a copy of the accompanying resources and worksheet – with guided activities – can be accessed through the Community Knowledge Matters website. 

Community Leadership Skills and Managing Volunteers

The Issue 

With the multiple challenges facing communities, especially in a time of service cuts, funding scarcity and cost of living crisis, many of the groups raised the issue of volunteer fatigue and the difficulty of managing a team of volunteers with little resources to hand. With funding for core costs and paid positions a perpetual challenge for communities, many are turning to volunteers out of necessity, as much as in response to desire from individuals to get involved. Where is the dividing line between providing meaningful opportunities for volunteers and having to rely on free labour? How to provide a structure for volunteers so that they feel well enough supported and don’t burn out? What are the necessary safeguarding measures and policies that need to be put in place before bringing on volunteers?

Ensuring the welfare of volunteers is one thing, but managing the workload of community leaders is another, as even those in paid positions are facing widespread burn out. How to provide a supportive environment without burning out yourself? What different types of leadership skills and styles are useful in community settings and within the context of community-led research and climate action? 

The Training

In response to these challenges, development officer for volunteering Luthien Lark at the Highland Third Sector Interface, delivered a training session offering practical tips and examples of good volunteer management. She highlighted the importance of opportunities for connection and fostering a sense of belonging and value amongst volunteers, and ways to make volunteering feel fun, flexible, interesting and rewarding. The session also included practical advice on providing volunteer role descriptions, clear inductions and relevant training and regular communication. Ultimately, she encouraged community leaders to involve volunteers in organisational decisions wherever possible and to keep them engaged to ensure long-term sustainability.

Lauren Pyott, founder of social enterprise Clachworks and freelance facilitator in leadership skills, discussed how 6 different leadership styles could be adopted, and adapted, in various contexts to better support those within a community project. These covered a variety of communication styles, with Lauren outlining how different forms of leadership may be more or less appropriate in specific situations or for different groups of people. The training session concluded with a discussion of effective delegation techniques, with an exercise encouraging participants to develop skills in delegating appropriately to ensure manageable workloads for all in a project. 

A recording of the training session can be viewed here, and a copy of the accompanying resources and worksheet – with guided activities – can be accessed through the Community Knowledge Matters website. 

Burnout Prevention & Recovery 

The Issue

From the start of the programme, burnout has been a major theme for many of the community projects, as indeed it is across society. With communities facing multiple pressures as described above, and with post-covid work pressures seemingly rising exponentially, burnout is becoming a dangerously common phenomenon across the Third Sector and beyond. It’s all very well remembering the importance of self-care, but what if you don’t feel you have the necessary resources to be able to manage that? How to account for the structural causes of burnout in society, while taking care of your own needs?

Whilst burnout is prevalent across society, it has a particular dynamic in the context of climate change. Many communities or climate activists feel overwhelmed by the scale of the problem, and the existential threat which looms for many on a community level  – as well as globally – can lead to many feeling hopeless or in a state of extreme anxiety. How to look after yourself when there is so much at stake? How to recover a sense of hope and motivation when you feel as though the world is crumbling around you? 

The Training

Resilience strategist Jo Musker-Sherwood from the Rest of Activism was invited to lead an interactive workshop on preventing and recovering from burnout in the context of climate change. After sharing her own personal experience of burnout, she addressed some of the underlying causes of burnout within climate activism and the third sector, before turning to a discussion on compassion and listening to your body. The discussion was rooted in an acknowledgement of the structural barriers to this, and how we can think about care in different dimensions, including self-care, community care and structural care. The session also covered practical strategies such as meditation, self-soothing, and the significance of self-compassion in preventing burnout. Participants were encouraged to reflect on their own burnout signs and develop personalised plans incorporating self-care, community care, and advocating for structural support.

A recording of the training session can be viewed here, and a copy of the accompanying resources and worksheet – with guided activities – can be accessed through the Community Knowledge Matters website.