Over the last few months VONNE and the other members of the VONNE Climate Action Alliance (VCAA) have been working hard to engage and discuss with others in the North East VCSE sector about how we can create and support a movement of organisations to take climate action by:
- increasing their knowledge and understanding of the topic
- supporting them to make organisational changes and,
- supporting them to develop climate action activities in and through their work.
This week the Going Green Together website has been launched by the VCAA and can be found: www.goinggreentogether.org
We’ve also published our first newsletter with news about our launch, funding opportunities and opportunities to share the work that organisations are doing as part of the Carbon Stories project.
This work has been supported through the Catalyst and National Lottery Community Fund COVID-19 Digital Programme. Through the Discovery and Definition programmes earlier in the year, we explored and articulated the problem we are setting out to address, carried out lots of user research with organisations, built a prototype website and carried out testing and conversations on some tools that we could develop to support the sector.
The majority of organisations we spoke to said they need help to start to take their first steps to address the climate emergency and that they also wanted to learn more about the issue and how they could or should respond.
In July we were successful in receiving funding and support through the Development phase of the programme. This enabled us to work alongside digital & design partner SIDE Labs and communications agency di:ga communications to co-develop and design a web-based engagement and action tool - Going Green Together. The website enables and encourages organisations to find and take their first steps in a variety of topic areas - office, travel, energy, food, engagement and waste. The website also encourages organisations to share and inspire others with the actions they have taken. Di:ga Communications have worked with us to develop a communications and engagement strategy, to not only promote the new website but to continue to build our network to create a real movement of change in the sector.
Do visit the website and tell us what you think. This is just the first iteration, we’d love to hear your thought on it, whether it is useful and what else you’d like to see. Please drop us a line at [email protected]
Next steps
For the VONNE Climate Action Alliance, the first iteration of the Going Green Together website is also just the beginning. We’ve got a long wish-list of other things that we’d love to add and implement to the site. However, we have learnt a lot of about design thinking in recent weeks through the Catalyst programmes. We know that we need to pause where we are, test and trial what we have developed with users, see what needs to be improved and then iterate, prototype and test again.
Beyond digital tools, the VCAA have developed plans and are currently seeking funding for a wider programme of support for VCSE organisations wishing to develop their climate action further. This programme, which we hope to launch in early 2022, will include events, workshops and training sessions, the development of resources and toolkits, subsidised access to the Investors in the Environment framework and SmartCarbon carbon calculator and seed funding for climate action projects. Watch this space!
Join Us
Join our Going Green Together network so we can keep you up to date about these developments, funding opportunities and events.
We can help you to learn, take your first steps in climate action, and share your successes with the community to help inspire others. Connect with us and others by joining our network.
Posted: 16 September 2021 by Carol Botten
VONNE Climate Action Alliance launches Going Green Together
Over the last few months VONNE and the other members of the VONNE Climate Action Alliance (VCAA) have been working hard to engage and discuss with others in the North East VCSE sector about how we can create and support a movement of organisations to take climate action by:
This week the Going Green Together website has been launched by the VCAA and can be found: www.goinggreentogether.org
We’ve also published our first newsletter with news about our launch, funding opportunities and opportunities to share the work that organisations are doing as part of the Carbon Stories project.
This work has been supported through the Catalyst and National Lottery Community Fund COVID-19 Digital Programme. Through the Discovery and Definition programmes earlier in the year, we explored and articulated the problem we are setting out to address, carried out lots of user research with organisations, built a prototype website and carried out testing and conversations on some tools that we could develop to support the sector.
The majority of organisations we spoke to said they need help to start to take their first steps to address the climate emergency and that they also wanted to learn more about the issue and how they could or should respond.
In July we were successful in receiving funding and support through the Development phase of the programme. This enabled us to work alongside digital & design partner SIDE Labs and communications agency di:ga communications to co-develop and design a web-based engagement and action tool - Going Green Together. The website enables and encourages organisations to find and take their first steps in a variety of topic areas - office, travel, energy, food, engagement and waste. The website also encourages organisations to share and inspire others with the actions they have taken. Di:ga Communications have worked with us to develop a communications and engagement strategy, to not only promote the new website but to continue to build our network to create a real movement of change in the sector.
Do visit the website and tell us what you think. This is just the first iteration, we’d love to hear your thought on it, whether it is useful and what else you’d like to see. Please drop us a line at [email protected]
Next steps
For the VONNE Climate Action Alliance, the first iteration of the Going Green Together website is also just the beginning. We’ve got a long wish-list of other things that we’d love to add and implement to the site. However, we have learnt a lot of about design thinking in recent weeks through the Catalyst programmes. We know that we need to pause where we are, test and trial what we have developed with users, see what needs to be improved and then iterate, prototype and test again.
Beyond digital tools, the VCAA have developed plans and are currently seeking funding for a wider programme of support for VCSE organisations wishing to develop their climate action further. This programme, which we hope to launch in early 2022, will include events, workshops and training sessions, the development of resources and toolkits, subsidised access to the Investors in the Environment framework and SmartCarbon carbon calculator and seed funding for climate action projects. Watch this space!
Join Us
Join our Going Green Together network so we can keep you up to date about these developments, funding opportunities and events.
We can help you to learn, take your first steps in climate action, and share your successes with the community to help inspire others. Connect with us and others by joining our network.
Category: Community/Public Engagement, NEECCo News, Regional Case Studies, Partner News, VCSE Sector, News, For VCSE & not for profit organisations, Just transition, Climate emergency, Ecological breakdown Tags: VCSE, sustainability, community, climate action
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