Climate and Nature Symposium for parish, town, district and county councillors

Friday 11th Oct 2024
9:30 am – 3:30pm

The Council Chambers, South Hams District Council,
Follaton House, Totnes, TQ9 5DQ

Inspiration and connection for councillors to support more activity for climate, nature and adaptation in their communities.

South Hams parish, town, district, and county councillors are invited to this interactive event hosted by Sustainable South Hams and South Hams District Council. The day has been designed following conversations with councillors from across the district and will showcase projects for climate, nature and adaptation. We'll also further explore specifc requests for support material that will be most useful for councillors.

If you would like to exhibit or speak at this event, please email ruthlw@sussh.org rather than booking a ticket.

Spaces are limited and offered on a first come first served basis. You may want to come with a colleague as elements of the programme offer parallel opportunities.

Proudly supported by:

Event goals

  • Connect with other councillors who would like to support and catalyse more action on climate and nature in their communities
  • Discover what support is available to you and leave armed with a wealth of practical ideas and resource links for your community
  • Learn about great examples of action in other South Hams Parishes
  • Take inspiration from speakers taking practical grassroots community action
  • Explore key themes in workshop topics chosen from our research with councillors
  • Meet representatives from a range of organisations that can support you
  • Inform us about what ongoing support would be helpful to you

Programme

9:30am

Arrival & registrations 

Our initial meeting will be outdoors, so please bring weather appropriate clothing.  
9.45am

Introductions & scene setting

As well as hearing about the aspirations and plans from South Hams District Council for climate and nature, we'll hear the feedback from the interviews that we ran with parish councillors over the summer. We'll gain a better understanding about what councillors believe the barriers and opportunities are for climate and nature action.  
10.30am

Quickfire Round - Councillors

Who's in the room and a chance to share reasons for coming, inspirational ideas, local projects and requests for help.  
11am

Break & networking

11.15am - 12 noon

Keynote speakers

Inspiring and easy actions that could be taken in every parish.
Sune Nightingale
Chair Dittisham Parish Council

Sune will set the scene by sharing some of the ideas that are working well at Dittisham Parish Council.

Katie Wilkinson
Devon Wildlife Trust - Practical projects for nature recovery

People, places and nature - creating wilder communities across Devon.

Devon Wildlife Trust

Isabel Carlisle
Bioregional Learning Centre - Climate Adaptation film

We will show the new video that synthesises the findings of the Learning Journey for Climate Adaptation that BLC led in the first week of June. This has action points in it for both councillors and local communities and is the first step in a climate adaptation strategy for South Devon.

Bioregional Learning Centre

Phil Baker
South Hams District Council Planning Department

A brief introduction to the role that planning can play in carbon reduction and and biodiversity net gain. A full workshop will follow at a later date.

12 - 12.15pm

Quickfire Round - Exhibitors  

Hear from each exhibitor about how they can help councillors take more action for climate and nature
12.15- 1.45pm

Exhibition, networking and lunch

Learn from exemplar projects. Connect with providers, mentors and support organisations.   Lunch will served during the exhibition time by Food In Community.  
Please note: Our exhibition is evolving and we will add to this list in the lead up to the event. Would you like to exhibit? Get in touch!
Devon Wildlife Trust - Wilder Communities
Katie Wilkinson & Emma Smith

A wilder community is a group of people that have come together to take positive action for wildlife where they live, learn, work, or play. If you want to start a local project that helps nature and involves others in your community, we can help grow your ideas.

The Wilder Communities team at Devon Wildlife Trust is here to support you to tak action for nature where you live, learn, work or play.

We believe communites have the knowledge and skills to do amazing things! With support and guidance from the team we can help grow your ideas. This includes councillors!

Do you need greenspace advice? Is your council a large land owner and do you need advice? Do you need help with connecting and galvanising your local community?

We're here to help so please get in touch: wildercommunities@devonwildlifetrust.org

devonwildlifetrust.org

South Devon National Landscape
Rob Skinner & Roger English

Nature makes a particularly important contribution to the natural beauty of the South Devon National Landscape. Given today’s state of nature, accelerating Nature Recovery is essential - conserving and enhancing habitats, landscape features and their associated fauna to create a connected network of wildlife-rich places.

Life on the Edge is SDNL’s flagship collaborative nature recovery project. It will give rare and threatened species a sustainable future, supporting farmers, gardeners, communities, and businesses to make more space for nature along the coast, targeting the needs of our rarest species with measures that also help our more common wildlife.

Core to the project is involving people, helping them to reconnect with nature, refreshing their sense of wellbeing and empowering them to make a difference for nature.

The result will be a National Landscape buzzing with wildlife, packed with wildflowers and a treat for the eye for residents and visitors alike.

Rob.skinner@southdevon-nl.org.uk

southdevon-nl.org.uk

Devon Communities Together
Rod Birtles

Devon Communities Together is the Rural Community Council for Devon. We are an independent charity, which works with communities across Devon to help them tackle the challenges they are facing, which at the moment are exacerbated by the Cost of Living Crisis. Our areas of work include: affordable housing for local people, access to services such as healthcare, supporting people with digital connectivity and skills, advice to people in fuel poverty, supporting Village Halls. We manage the Devon Community Resilience Forum, supporting communities to build resilience and prepare for emergencies, including those exacerbated by climate change.

Devon Communities Together

Bioregional Learning Centre
Isabel Carlisle

Isabel Carlisle (CEO) and Bridie Kennerley (Adaptation Project Manager) will be circulating during the breaks wearing BLC badges. BLC is an NGO that has been working for climate adaptation in South Devon since 2017. Operating as a local resource at the scale of landscapes and systems, BLC brings creativity into all its projects and works with both civil society and policy makers/ government.

Contact email: bridie.kennerley@bioregion.org.uk

Bioregional Learning Centre

Diocese of Exeter
.

Information about Eco Church and Living Churchyards will be on display.

Diocese of Exeter Net Zero 2030

CAG Devon
Helen Vines

Community Action Groups (CAG) Devon is here to support and empower community groups to act towards a more sustainable future. We provide community groups with a grant to cover insurance costs, guidance, training, and opportunities for networking and sharing skills with other groups. We support groups across all districts in Devon.

CAG Devon

Devon County Council 
Emily Reed and Betty Tsang

Devon Climate Emergency is a partnership of organisations including local councils, businesses, government organisations and charities working together to bring about a climate resilient net zero Devon by 2050, at the latest. The Devon Climate Emergency Project was responsible for creating the Devon Carbon Plan and Devon, Cornwall, and Isles of Scilly Climate Adaptation Strategy. Councils and councillors can come to us for advice, updates on activity across Devon and decarbonisation and adaptation resources on our website

Devon Climate Emergency

Food in Community
David Markson and Chantelle Norton

Food in Community is a not for profit whose volunteers collect local, organic and sustainably grown surplus produce. It distributes it to groups and organisations in our community making nutritious, delicious meals for all. We also work with local organisations to provide cooking sessions, where people can learn to prepare and cook healthy meals from scratch. We also glean produce straight from the field.

Food In Community

Sustainable South Hams
A host of SusSH mentors offering support

We're excited that there are so many great SusSH mentors able to help with projects.  

Mel Harvey - Community and street level composting projects

Rosa Hannaford - Community Engagement & Festivals

Lynda Kelly - looking to sign up village shops for a new pilot scheme for local food producers

Sune Nightingale - supporting parish councils on emergency declarations and plans for climate and nature

Mike Hodges - working with SHDC and SDCE to advise on surveying energy efficiency of community buildings.

Tony Lyle - Director and energy specialist

Dan Parnell - Energy specialist

Sustainable South Hams

Share Shed & Network of Wellbeing
Roger Higman and Mirella Ferraz

The Share Shed is the world's first mobile library of things where you can borrow 350+ useful items at a low cost. This sharing resource connects with many communities across the South Hams, promoting a collaborative and sustainable lifestyle, saving people money, space and resources, and inspiring people to engage in social change. Share Shed are looking for new sites to visit in the South Hams.

shareshed.org.uk

South Hams District Council
A wide range of officers and district councillors will be coming including

Cllr John McKay: Lead Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity

Rebecca McKee: Food and Farming Officer

Rob Sekula: Principal Natural Resources and Greenspaces Officer

Adam Williams: Principal Climate Change Officer

Phil Baker: Principle Planning Officer

Gemma Bristow: Lead Active Travel Officer

Andrew Elliot: Principal Economic Development Officer

Chris Shears: Head of Place and Economy

South Dartmoor Community Energy
Jemma Jewkes & Mark Skinner

South Dartmoor Community Energy (SDCE) works to empower local communities by promoting sustainable energy solutions and reducing carbon emissions. We offer guidance on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon reduction strategies tailored to the needs of households, businesses, and public sector organisations. We support those in fuel poverty, those eligible for grants and also those who are self-funded.  Councils can collaborate with us to develop and implement local energy strategies, promote community engagement in sustainability projects, and address fuel poverty through targeted advice and support. We can assist with public consultations, deliver energy-saving workshops, and support the installation of renewable technologies in community spaces.

www.sdce.org.uk

Sustrans
Ian McDonald, Michael Owen & John Pope

Details coming soon...

Parklife
Keith Rennells

ParkLife South West provides opportunities for people to be involved first-hand in a wide range of climate change mitigation and landscape and habitat enhancement schemes. At a smaller scale this could be wildlife road verges, village recreation grounds, and public parks. At the other end of the scale, projects include new and existing woodlands, nature reserves and land being managed for wildlife within the wider landscape, or as part of a river catchment system.
The ParkLife team is able to provide a complete project management service. From taking and developing ideas from community groups, through planning, consultation and grant applications, to organising, coordinating and supervising work on the ground. ParkLife already works in partnership with County, District, Town and Parish Councils and councillors can engage at any stage of the process, on behalf of or alongside community representatives.
www.parklifesw.org.uk

Contact: office@parklifesw.org.uk

Resource Futures - Education Team
Alex Mack

Funded by Devon County Council/ Working with Devon schools and school communities to help them improve their recycling systems, encouraging reuse and reduce and delivering workshops, assemblies and audits in schools in Devon. More recently working with Devon Climate Emergency helping to signpost schools in the right direction to start writing climate action plans and supporting the Network of Environmental Educators in Devon (NEED).

1.45pm - 3pm

Spotlight sessions

Pick a session that most interests you! Don't worry, the highlights from each session will be shared in the plenary session at the end.
Community Engagement and the South Hams Festival  
Spotlight Room 1

How do we engage with and inspire a wider audience around climate and nature? What role can the South Hams arts festival have next summer? How can your community become involved? Join in the discussion! The Festival is to be held in June 2025, across the district in towns as well as rural areas. Paul Liengaard from NDP Circus, organisers of the Festival, plus Councillors and Officers from South Hams District Council, sponsors of the forthcoming festival will also be present.

Facilitators:

Rosa Hannaford - Sustainable South Hams / Kingsbridge Nature Festival

Jane Nichols - Sustainable South Hams

Helen Vines - CAG Devon

Paul Liengaard - South Hams Festival

Adaptation and Resilience
Spotlight Room 2

We will go deeper into what climate adaptation is and how it is currently taking place in our region, using information gathered during the Bioregional Learning Centre’s Learning Journey this summer. Together, we will consider what resources and support are available/needed to get prepared, in your community. There will be an opportunity to learn more about the findings of the newly-published discussion paper from BLC, 'Climate Adaptation in the South Hams, Devon: towards a joined-up regional strategy’.

Facilitators:

Isabel Carlisle and Bridie Kennerley - Bioregional Learning Centre

Rod Birtles - Devon Communities Together

Nature recovery - practical community projects
Spotlight Room 3

Nature focussed activities are the most universally engaging subjects that your community can initiate. Caring for and about nature is often the start of a journey around adaption and carbon reduction. This session is facilitated by Devon Wildlife Trust and will focus on simple projects that your communities may wish to become involved with. Your time will be fuelled by cake and will be very much about chatting to one another informally and discussing this topic together.

Facilitators:

Katie Wilkinson & Emma Smith - Devon Wildlife Trust Wilder Communities Team

The Wilder Communities and Wilder Learning team will be posing some questions to think about in relation to how communities can best work together to enable local action for nature.

Connecting communities with food and farmers
Spotlight Room 4

Once at the heart of communities, farmers have become increasingly isolated and detached. This session expands on the themes from the Keep It Local Symposium and explores specific ways in which local councils could support farmers in their communities. How can more local produce be sold to a local market? What are the benefits of this approach? A series of accessible and simple case studies, will be shared.

Facilitators:

Becky McKee: South Hams District Council Food and Farming Officer

Lynda Kelly: Sustainable South Hams Food Mentor

David Markson and Chantelle Norton: Food In Community

3 - 3.30pm  

Key Learnings

During this session, we'll collate the feedback and prioritise requests for follow up activity

Contact

For more information contact:

Ruth Leonard-Williams
ruthlw@sussh.org

With thanks to…

Our sponsors: South Hams District Council

And to...

All speakers, exhibitors and the extended Sustainable South Hams team, SHDC councillors and Climate Officer Adam Williams, Popo Yung and Rob Nichols for design and graphics,  Food In Community