PRESS RELEASE: Climate FORTH Local Resilience Plans unveiled to safeguard heritage.

Four new Local Resilience Plans have been launched as part of the Climate FORTH project, which outline community priorities for heritage and working towards a more climate-resilient future. These plans, developed for Fallin (Stirling), Bainsford and Langlees (Falkirk), Hawkhill (Clackmannanshire), and Kincardine (Fife), are based on community consultation workshops and online surveys held throughout the spring and summer of 2024. 

The consultations revealed that local people are increasingly concerned about the impacts of climate change on their communities and heritage assets - and that they are eager to take proactive steps to protect them.

Climate FORTH worked in conjunction with community development consultants at Glic to co-design the workshops delivered in each area.   Three workshops were delivered in each community and focused on a key theme to help shape and produce a bespoke Local Resilience Plan for that specific community.  These themes included ‘Our Heritage and Future,’ ‘Climate Change and What is at Risk’ and ‘Actions for a Fair and Resilient Future.’ 

The next phase will see communities voting on which actions from the plans will receive the £45,000 of available funding per area. Voting will take place both in-person and online (details at end).

The goal of the Local Resilience Plans is to make heritage assets more resilient to change, strengthening their importance within the community. It is hoped that the plans will function as a step towards other planning efforts, such as Local Place Plans and Community Action Plans, and empower communities to engage with Local Authorities and other decision makers to set the agenda for their future. 

Participatory budgeting, a democratic process allowing community members to directly decide how to allocate a portion of a budget, is being used to ensure that the actions delivered by Climate FORTH, and its funders, reflect local needs. 

This Climate FORTH activity is supported by funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional contributions from the UK Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Fife Council, Stirling Council, Falkirk Council, and Clackmannanshire Council, as well as NatureScot and community crowdfunding efforts.

Alice MacPherson, Community and Youth Development Officer for Climate FORTH said:

“We are very excited to see the launch of Climate FORTH’s Local Resilience Plans. Since September 2023, we have been privileged to work with communities throughout the Inner Forth area and engage in discussions about their past, present and future. We hope that communities will be very proud of these Plans and use them as a roadmap to a brighter, more climate-resilient future. A huge thank you to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Lottery players, along with NatureScot and UK Shared Prosperity Fund, who have made it possible for local people to come together and share their hopes for the future of their places.”

Neil Taylor, Chair of Fallin’s Community Voice said:

“Fallin Community Voice was approached by Climate FORTH in regard to a local resilience plan.  Climate FORTH, through thoughtful and structured planning, allowed us to positively engage with the residents of Fallin, through fun and interesting workshops to best understand what we in Fallin term as heritage - either legacy or future.  We look forward to continuing our work with Climate FORTH and see this as a massive positive for the community of Fallin”.

“Hearing stories from members of these four communities has been both an honour and a pleasure. The conversations we’ve had over the last few months highlight the wide range of what people consider ‘heritage’. The reoccurrence of preserving spaces for communities to gather and the desire to document local history shows just how much heritage is entwined with community resilience.

“By putting these heritage assets through the lens of climate change, we hope that the co-designed Plans support not only the resilience of these places but the communities that value them, too.”

VOTING INFORMATION: 

Bainsford and Langlees – Voting took place in person at the Children and Teenagers’ Festival, Dawson Centre on 6th September 2024 and can still be done online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/b_l 

Kincardine – Voting took place in person at Kincardine Community Centre on 17th September 2024 and can still be done online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/kincardine_f 

Fallin – Voting takes place between 18:00 – 20:30 at Fallin Church Hall, Tuesday 24th September 2024 and online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/fallin_s 

Hawkhill – Voting takes place between 10:00 – 14:00 at Hawkhill Community Centre on Thursday 3rd October 2024 and online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/hawkhill_c