ACT Now The ACT Now Project began in April 2020 with the purpose of supporting Mid-Argyll communities to adopt strategies to tackle climate change by reducing their impact on the environment. The initial stage of this project was supported by the Scottish Governments Climate Challenge Fund and the full report of this phase of the project, from April 2022, can be found here. Working closely with the community has enabled The ACT Now Project to build networks and deliver schemes that now target the needs of wider Argyll and Bute residents, businesses, organisations, as well as the climate. Why this is important: Argyll & Bute is the second largest Scottish Local Authority by land-area, divided by its geography, including 23 inhabited islands. Travel routes are long, weak infrastructure is subject to weather disruption, public transport is poor and climate change is a lived experience. 23 islands inhabited by 17% of the population 20% of Scotland’s coastline (4000 miles) of which 84% will be eroding by 2040 43% live remote rural 27% over 65 45% in fuel poverty Click on the logos below to find out all about the various ACT Now projects: The aim of the ABCAN Hub is to support every Argyll and Bute resident and community face the challenge of climate change. It will identify, facilitate, and give a voice to localised community led climate action, to raise awareness of our carbon impact, and mitigate key climate themes that will work towards a net zero Argyll & Bute. With Scottish Government climate action hubs funding, and overseen by a collaboration between ACT, Argyll & Bute Third Sector Interface and Time for Change Argyll & Bute, the ABCAN Hub has established resources to coordinate and build on current climate activities, deliver carbon literacy training, facilitate climate conversations, provide seed funding for climate mitigation, engage with hard-to-reach groups and identify opportunities for partnership working across the region to ensure that Argyll & Bute has a cohesive approach to tackling climate change in our communities. Update June 2024: The ABCAN hub is engaging with community climate action across Argyll & Bute. Find the ABCAN Website here! This is the platform to contact our area teams, highlight local climate action, access network membership, find resources and training opportunities and seek climate action support, and this will also host a community led Green Map. £48,000 so far has been awarded to 39 community groups to support community led action on climate change. A new round of seed funding will be launched soon. Watch this space! CARBON LITERACY. We have created an Argyll & Bute Specific Carbon Literacy Training Course. This certified training is available to all local residents and incorporates locally relevant themes. This training package can also be taken in part to create less formal, though equally important, ‘climate conversations’ within communities. A SUSTAINABLE FOOD NETWORK FOR ARGYLL & BUTE Sustainable Food Places is a national network of food partnerships which are driving innovation and best practice on all aspects of healthy and sustainable food. Following on from a series of events exploring food networks and sustainable food issues in Argyll, the vision is for all members of our communities across Argyll and Bute to have access to sustainable, nutritious and affordable food. We are really keen to hear views from anyone with an interest in this. We've put together a wee survey to gather ideas for the next steps. We'd love to hear your opinions and would so appreciate if you could take a few minutes to fill this out. https://forms.gle/PF5XeHXgdQguVxK68 ENERGY - continuing the work started at the Energy Assembly in March. Two models surfaced as part of the assembly that are now being developed for Argyll: COMMUNITY SHARED OWNERSHIP WORKING GROUP. The opportunity for shared ownership in Argyll is significant. The challenge of transitioning Argyll to net zero while at the same time addressing issues like fuel poverty is the motivation for this working group to explore bridging that gap between the opportunity and the challenge. ENERGY LOCAL CLUBS are a way for renewable energy generators to sell electricity directly to community members at cheaper tariffs than suppliers. These locally defined clubs have the potential to reduce electricity bills by 30% and help tackle fuel poverty. There are currently no Energy Local Clubs in Scotland so we are working to help build momentum around the idea. ABCAN is keen to hear from any interested individuals, groups, and organisations in Argyll and Bute who want to know more. We are keen to grow and build the network so please get in touch with [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ACT Now project contact If you would like to get involved or would like more information please contact the ACT Now Project Manager, Jamie Joyce: [email protected] 07943020241.