The Isle of Eigg is set to receive £300,000 from the Big Green Challenge Fund as one of four winners in a competition to reduce CO2 emmissions.
The Eigg community has managed to reduce their carbon emmissions by 32% in the last year and aims to use the prize money to make even greater cuts. The Eigg project has set out to try and show that other small communities in all parts of the country could use some of the same techniques to reduce their carbon footprint.
In all, four community groups have won NESTA’s Big Green Challenge – a £1 million prize fund backed by the Mirror. The winning communities, announced today by Lord Puttnam, Chair of the judges are: The Green Valleys based in Brecon Beacons in Wales, the Household Energy Service based in Ludlow, Shropshire and Isle of Eigg in Scotland. Low Carbon West Oxford is a runner-up. All winners will receive a share of the £1million prize fund.
Over 350 community groups, involving thousands of people from across the UK entered the competition. The winners, picked from ten finalists, were judged on their achievements in four areas: CO2 reductions achieved; the innovative nature of their initiatives; the longevity and scalability of their project and their level of community engagement.
Lord Puttnam commented: ‘Whilst Copenhagen showed just how difficult it is to reach consensus amongst governments, the Big Green Challenge shows how local efforts can triumph. When people are empowered and are given intelligent support they can make the world of difference in the fight against climate change’.
Jonathan Kestenbaum, NESTA’s Chief Executive says: ‘The Big Green Challenge has shown that communities are a vital force in solving some of society’s biggest problems. We can no longer afford to pay lip service to the importance of local solutions – now is the time to support communities to make a real difference.’
The awards are the culmination of a year-long experiment to test whether a Challenge Prize can be used to unlock the power of communities in responding to climate change. NESTA developed a rigorous target and evaluation mechanism – something which is lacking in many initiatives to date. The Big Green Challenge has attracted international interest in how to stimulate civic action, including from the X Prize Foundation in the US, which inspires people to develop technological breakthroughs.
On the Isle of Eigg the entire island community is working together to reduce carbon emissions through a wide range of projects, from generating renewable electricity and installing insulation and solar panels to producing local food and developing low-carbon community transport schemes.
The Green Valleys is a community renewable energy scheme in Wales which has reduced carbon emissions by 20 per cent. Reductions were achieved across 155 households and 4 community buildings, including personal and community transport and the installation of a number of hydro schemes.
Household Energy Service (HES) is a free environmental survey service for local households in Shropshire, which has reduced carbon emissions by 10 per cent. Reductions were achieved through the provision of a home energy auditing service carried out by community volunteers and the subsequent energy efficiency actions carried out in 460 participating homes.
Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) was highly commended by the panel of judges. It is an environmental project featuring a range of community-owned renewable energy initiatives, which has reduced CO2 emissions by 28 per cent. These reductions were achieved across 55 households, including personal transport and community/ commercial buildings.
For more information about the Isle of Eigg project see their website.