Advocates' projects 2009/2010

Low-Carbon Travel

The Advocates working on this project feel booking flights and trips to far-away destinations is much too easy compared to finding information about interesting travel destinations within Finland. They want to promote travel by public transport and give an easily accessible platform to green enterprises in Finland to promote their products and services. Interesting accommodation, locally produced food, hand-made design products... anything goes, as long as it is environmentally conscious and the place is accessible by train/bus/boat/bike/foot. The team aims to gather information about environmentally friendly local companies, products, accommodation etc and list that information on a fun, visually attractive interactive map online. The information will be available in Finnish, English and Swedish. The end product will be a clear, easy-to-use website which can be "sold" (handed over) to an entity that is motivated to continue updating it. The idea is easily replicable and will hopefully lead to similar initiatives elsewhere.

Climate impacts of housing

Energy certificates or carbon footprints of apartments, houses and blocks are not obtainable by people in search of a new place to live. Since housing is a big contributor to GHG-emissions, especially in a country of cold winters, it requires more attention than it presently gets at all levels. People say they do want to take climate impacts into account, but it is not easy for them to walk the talk, if the required information is not easily accessible. The team’s goal is to make it feasible for people to take climate impacts into consideration when choosing a new apartment or house. They will gather up all the criteria considered significant when it comes to the impact that housing has on climate change: e.g. the energy issues and carbon footprint of the apartment, house or block, the location’s proximity to public transportation and services etc. These climate criteria will then be brought alongside traditional ones like the size and price of the apartment: One of the main objectives is to co operate with the online portals for apartment search and those of major estate agencies.

Bike Consultants

The overall aim of this project is to reduce the CO2-emissions of everyday mobility by increasing bicycle use, especially by encouraging commuting through a pilot project(s) with companies. Mobility is one of the three key sectors of private consumption (mobility, food and housing) that are responsible for the majority of our GHG emissions. In addition to its great significance, mobility choices are made everyday and this makes it possible for a great number of people to try out new practices. The Advocates feel that people in industrialised countries setting a good example is important in raising the image of cycling in developing countries too. Cycling should be something cool and a desirable way to travel around. The main goal is to increase bicycle use, especially for commuting. To achieve this aim the team will:

1. Collect best practices and increase knowledge about them among companies/employees. This will be achieved by media visibility, personal contacts, meetings and workshops.
2. Work with at least one organisation to motivate them to increase bicycle use among their employees and guests too. During the process the Advocate team will help the organisation to learn about the advantages of cycling and to overcome challenges related to bicycle use.
3. Contribute on the image of cycling and cycling related infrastructure by launching an open design contest about creating a stylish bike rack.

The team have already organised a workshop and first activity with the Hub Helsinki and will continue to work with them in finding solutions to improve their bicycling facilities, practices and image. Other potential partners during the project include bike selling, leasing and repairing companies (i.e. Bike Planet), the City Council of Helsinki and Universities and institutions (especially in case of the designer contest).

Project 1: CEOs for Zero CO2

The group of advocates are interviewing various businesses and institutions in Lithuania to seek positive examples of strategy, structure and daily routine helping to prevent climate change. The published interviews will be commented on by a university professor who specializes in climate change issues. The series of interview articles will analyze, which actions are good, which are only myths and which ones truly help to prevent climate change. The purpose of the project is to inspire more companies to think climate change and develop the public understanding on how we use carbon. The project wants to address the Lithuanian business community by showing how individual companies make a difference and how businesses can put low carbon initiatives into practice. The philosophy of the project is the promotion of a low carbon mentality and knowledge-sharing. The project will pitch some of the best ideas to the broader public in an effort to make them a wider acknowledged reality.

Project 2: Eco Laboratory

The group decided to run an awareness raising campaign focusing on art and garbage. Artists will inventively convert throw-away items making them useful again, is it an old coat, a telephone or a broken umbrella. All can be used again and enjoyed more than before, if the old things are applied in new creative ways. It only takes a brilliant idea or a touch of an artist’s hand, and your jeans can become a trendy handbag, your used automobile tyres can bend into an armchair for park visitors. The Eco Laboratory invites artists to participate in a workshop. The project website www.ekolaboratorija.lt provides information using videos and pictures on how to make the advertised things created by the artists. Readers of a popular Lithuanian news portal have a chance to participate in the public competition of the best creative idea. The goal of the Eco Laboratory is to help prevent climate change using creativity and inspiration to fight useless consumerism.

Swopping is the new shopping

CNN.com proclaimed earlier this year that “swapping is the new shopping”. A study made by the University of Texas found that online swapping sites have grown between 100 and 300 per cent in the last couple of years. One of the teams in Norway work towards creating a user-friendly, online marketplace that allows people to swap their goods rather than throw them away. The idea is to push people to re-use old products instead of buying new ones and thus eliminating emissions from the production of new items. The project will be implemented in cooperation with an already existing online marketplace site and together with a green consumer site.

Open data and accountability

Another team of Climate Advocates work towards creating a democratic online tool which helps people find comprehensive information on climate related decision-making in Norway. The project is first of its kind in Norway, and the group has recently merged their efforts with a newly started initiative called Monitory Democracy which is part of the global movement towards greater government transparency and accountability. The open data movement will transform the way we see and discuss democracy, and ultimately the way we participate in democratic decision-making.

Sustainable Trips – Takes your Travels Further!

Scandinavian tourists will be encouraged and enlightened with what possibilities they have to contribute to a sustainable society whilst enjoying their vacation. The baseline is that this project does not promote flights, but instead recognises that Scandinavian tourists are unlikely to cut down significantly on their yearly long-distance air trips. Hence the aim is to promote environmental awareness for those choosing to travel to the other side of the world. Focus groups are tourists headed for the small island states, most vulnerable to climate change impacts. It is a great opportunity to make tourists aware that these magnificent tropical places may soon be swallowed by the sea, and encourage them towards positive action to keep these places alive.

In co-operation with a travel agency as a business partner, we will provide and develop an information package that the travel agency can use to attract customers by promoting their eco-friendly initiative. The information should preferably be visible to the customers in advertisement and flyers in Scandinavia, but most importantly be integrated as an informative part of a travel package during the whole travel experience. Let’s raise awareness to tourists about their impacts and how they can contribute to a sustainable economic development at their travel destination!

Promotion of Energy Efficient Building

The aim of the project is to promote cheaper funding for construction work, which improves energy efficiency in housing. The project will firstly do so by implementing the Salzburg model in a Danish context for new non-energy-efficient buildings and secondly by expanding that framework tohousing constructions that already exist. The project will carry out the task by providing a subsidy (to improve energy efficiency) in accordance with the energy efficiency of the actual construction project. The higher the energy efficiency – the higher the subsidy.

A short note on the Salzburg Model:

The Salzburg Model is a point-based system for the funding of energy-efficient buildings and the use of biomass and solar energy in the built environment, which takes place in Salzburg, Austria. Since 1993 there has been an incentive scheme for energy-saving measures and the use of renewable energy, where energy bonuses get the reimbursement rate of the housing subsidy. The scheme works assigning points to a building depending on its energetic and ecological quality. Every point increases the subvention that is granted by the government of Salzburg. The buildings are divided into 10 classes of standard- and passive buildings by using a simple chart, and additional points exist, for example, for the use of biomass, solar energy and controlled living space ventilation. Today in Salzburg, 70% of the residential buildings are heated by biomass and 60% of the buildings use solar energy for hot water and heating.

Health Pedallers – Changing the Commuting Lifestyle

The area of focus of the Challenge will be to change the behaviour of car commuters so that they become bike commuters instead.

-33% of households’ CO2 use can be traced back to personal transport.

-Biking improves the health and is a large part of general public health.

-Huge attention is being paid to increase the use of bikes both in Denmark & abroad.

-Denmark, especially, is focusing on bike culture nationally and internationally.

Denmark has a strong tradition of cycling, especially in Copenhagen. However, smaller cities where the cycling culture is less well established need to focus more on getting the public to ride their bikes. This is why, for instance, an international alliance has formed between 11 municipalities in Sweden, Norway and Denmark to address this issue. Denmark has gone far in getting more people to bike, but there are many improvements yet to be made.

We aim to increase the number of cyclists in specific geographical areas and thereby reduce the CO2 emissions from the transport sector there. It has not yet been decided where the geographical area of focus will be, although it is highly plausible that it will be one or more of the cities that are members of the Nordic biking cities initiative.

Food for Thought

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food security as a ‘‘situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’’ (1). This project seeks to focus on "Food Security" by creating the infrastructure that allows, supports and develops a system where farmers who grow local organic produce can feasibly reach their consumers without leaving a substantial carbon footprint. Consequently, building a model that will provide a secure and reliable link from producer to consumer thereby reducing the vulnerability of urban residents who do not have access to or means to grow food for themselves. It aims to create a (market) space where consumers will have access to, and a choice of, a wide and varied range of fresh food products, along with gaining knowledge and understanding of the importance of increasing our seed varieties, supporting local production and trade of organic produce, thereby bolstering security and sustainability. The experience that this space will offer will be an attraction in itself, which will act as a stimulus for future growth. This is necessary due to the adverse affects that Climate Change will have on food availability (i.e. Production and trade), which are estimated to gradually increase in the first decades of the 21st century and escalate throughout the latter part gaining momentum as we see population swell along with greater effects on our eco systems and climate (2). The case for change - some sobering statistics (3)

• Intensive agriculture needs ten calories of energy to produce one calorie of food.
• Globally, agriculture is responsible for between 17 – 32% of the world's total greenhouse gases.
• Globally the production and use of artificial fertilisers are the largest single source of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 310 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
• To make one tonne of artificial fertiliser takes 108 tonnes of water, emits 7 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and uses one tonne of oil.
• Organic farming typically uses 26% less energy to produce the same amount of food as non-organic farming.
• In 1900, 40% of the population was involved in farming, now less than 1% of the UK population work in farming.
• Across Europe, soil erosion and degradation seriously affects near 157 million hectares (16% of Europe, nearly 3 times the total surface of France).

1. Food and Agriculture Organization (2002) The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001 (Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome). 2. Schmidhuber, J. Tubiello, F. N. (2007) Global food security under climate change. [www.fao.org/es/esd/PNAS.pdf] Accessed 02 Sept 2009. 3. The Soil Association, UK (2009) A Secure Food Future. [http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/Asecurefoodfuture/tabid/345/Default.aspx]. Online. Accessed 10 October 2009

Positive beer mats

Many people in the Czech Republic are still unaware of the fact that climate change is happening. In cooperation with one of the breweries the climate advocates would like to raise the awareness of ordinary citizens by producing beer mats with climate friendly messages on them.

LILEK - Local Ecological and Economical Cuisine

Eating local seasonal fruit and vegetables will not only reduce the impact of food prodcution and transport on climate change by up to 50%, but it is also a healthy and tasty alternative. The climate advocates are planning to organise a happening at a local market in Brno with educational activities and games for families with children that would bring attention to local food production. They also want to start a publication which would support a closer connection to locally grown food by telling stories about vegetables.

Wooden buildings

According to IPCC, the construction sector has the biggest economic potential for future mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. This project tries to promote the idea of green buildings made out of wood in the Czech Republic and strives to raise public awareness by offering educational opportunities through a seminar and excursion.

Climate Embassy Association

Advocates working on this Challenge Europe project decided to “legalise” their working relationship in the eyes of the Hungarian public administration. They are going to form an official association with around 50 members. The Association will have similar aims and objectives to those of the Challenge Europe project and will make it possible to involve more young people who care about their future and wish to act on climate change. The Association will also be able to legally apply for national and EU funding.

Carbon Roundtable

This project’s aim is to form a new type of network in Hungary allowing advocates to broaden their own networks and gain visibility in different fields. They decided to gather young decision makers from different professions (e.g. business, media, environment etc.) to sit together and exchange ideas about climate change and low carbon-related issues. This project is filling a gap in that these people would not normally communicate with each other. The first discussion is planned for January 2010 and the topic will follow COP 15 issues.

Expanding the Climate Office Network

In March 2009 the advocates opened the first Climate Office in Hungary at the Szent István University in Gödöllő (more information here: http://challengeeurope.britishcouncil.org/index.php/news/57-opening-of-hungarian-climate-office) This year the biggest university in Budapest, ELTE is going to be the next host of a Climate Office, opening the office in January 2010. In a similar way to what was done for the Gödöllő office, advocates and volunteers from the university will work to bring the office to life, eventually offering a range of services such as workshops, an internship programme and a matchmaking service for companies and students.

Green Food Project

Making a green recipe calendar for 2011, and initiating a dialogue with wide-spread cooking magazines on the topic of climate/environment and food. The aim of the project is to reduce the negative climate/environmental impact from food consumption in Sweden. We want to achieve this by making it easier for people to cook sustainably in every day life. More specifically, the food calendar should be a reliable source of environmentally aware, tasty, and attractive recipes, that one can follow all year round without having to worry about how to be an aware consumer. It should be easy to eat sustainably! Knowing that the recipes are made with serious environmental considerations, the consumer is spared moral dilemmas when planning the dinner shopping. There are few other cooking books on the Swedish market taking both climate and other environmental aspects into consideration, and none of them offers a full-year solution of attractive recipes.

Green Projection: Projecting the future

Green Projection is an initiative aiming to both reduce CO2 emissions and making society more aware of global warming. During one week in March 2010 we will organize a public building projection in the center of Stockholm. The projection will contain interactive elements communicating a clear message about the issue of global warming. In the projection, a selected amount of organizations and companies will be given the opportunity to communicate their work and contribution to stop global warming. Both ordinary people and organizations/companies will also be able to donate funds to a selected biogas project reducing CO2 emissions.

Creating a web portal for climate entrepreneurs - a dedicated resource network to accelerate the start-up process and create sustainable innovations for a low carbon economy

The vision with the web portal for climate entrepreneurs is an online platform that fosters change and helps entrepreneurs move from words to action. The interactive web platform comes loaded with valuable information and relevant contacts that enable climate action through entrepreneurship with the overall goal to facilitate the start up process within the climate field. The target is to launch an interactive platform that transforms policies and ideas into viable businesses.

The web portal can be described as a one stop shop containing everything that the entrepreneur needs - information on how to start a company, who to contact, what distinguishes a “climate company”, investor- and media contacts, big and small corporations, environmental organizations, government funds and universities. Users will also find project management tools, blogging tools and the ability to set up user profiles and communicate with other entrepreneurs, creating an environment where ideas, best practices and opportunities can be exchanged.. The target group is the climate entrepreneur with business ideas in the first conceptual stages as well as people with ideas on how to decrease global warming and combat climate change.

Building the Enterprises of Tomorrow

There has been much talk in Northern Ireland, Ireland and internationally about the Green New Deal (GND) which aims to build the economy through green business. If the Green New Deal is adopted in NI/Ireland, there will be a huge demand for businesses specialising in the development and deployment of renewable technologies and infrastructure. During recession times, entrepreneurism increases by leaps and bounds as people are made redundant from their jobs and take the opportunity to start new initiatives. However, there are challenges in terms of access to funding. As such, advocates in this project group aim to facilitate the development of low carbon enterprises on the island of Ireland through a three-phase approach.

The first phase will be the development of a research report that defines who the low carbon enterprises are, what enterprises should be developed/enhanced nationally and the type of support mechanisms available for these enterprises to succeed, along with the advocates’ recommendations for change. In the second phase, the group will disseminate their findings through a website and workshops, as well as the creation of a web ring with enterprise spaces for entrepreneurs to link together. The final stage, if time permits, will include the creation of a matching service on the website between potential investors and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurism is the back-bone of the island of Ireland, and this trend should be encouraged to continue. NI/Ireland has an opportunity to create a new boost for its economy by bringing in green businesses and developing the support structures for low carbon enterprises. The advocates’ research will fill a void for companies and government agencies allowing them to determine the potential growth areas for low-carbon businesses, as well as identify which ones have the highest potential of success in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The group’s actions will help bridge the gap between start-up enterprises and investors to hopefully build a stronger green economy on the island of Ireland.

Promoting Urban Sustainability

In October 2009, Belfast City Council (BCC) passed a motion committing the Council to engage with the Northern Ireland Department for Regional Development, and other relevant agencies, to investigate the possibility of introducing a low cost bicycle rental scheme in Belfast City. Although the motion has been passed, advocates recognise it will take considerable time and effort for the various stakeholders to cooperatively introduce the cycle rental scheme. The group’s aim is therefore to assist delivery of the rental scheme and, by achieving a SMART commitment by April 2010 from key stakeholders, to introduce the bicycle rental scheme into Belfast. This area is of significant importance due to the quantity of energy consumption and green house gas emissions associated with the transport sector. Recent studies show that in Northern Ireland the transport sector has increased its CO2 emissions output by approximately 30% compared to figures recorded in 1990. Government statistics also indicate that in 2008, 82.7% of people in Northern Ireland travelled to work by car. The introduction of a bicycle rental scheme will aim to provide commuters in Belfast with an alternative to the private car.

If implemented correctly the rental scheme should also link-up with public transport services to provide a network of sustainable transport options in the city, thus helping to reduce the number of cars on the roads and the overall level of CO2 emissions generated from transport in the city. The advocates’ project will involve research into the benefits which a cycle rental scheme would deliver, principally improved health and reduced CO2 emissions. This research will include a comparative study of the various bicycle rental schemes that have been launched in cities around the world, focusing specifically on Dublin but also including Paris, Lyon, Blackpool, Montreal, Copenhagen and Strasbourg. The group will also conduct a survey to gauge the level of public interest for a bicycle rental scheme in Belfast and will present the findings of their research to government bodies and other relevant stakeholders in spring 2010. Following this, the advocates would hope to secure a time bound commitment from the key stakeholders for the introduction of a bicycle rental scheme in the city.

The Big Transition (The Big Grow and Big Lunch)

The food environment on the island of Ireland has changed dramatically over the past two decades. Although a large amount of food and food products are produced locally due to trade, economic, seasonal and consumer demand, a large amount is also imported into Ireland and Northern Ireland. In fact, between 2002 and 2007, the quantity of foods imported has increased by 18 per cent, the equivalent in value to €1.5 billion (£1.4 billion). Food production presents a range of environmental and social justice issues, whether in relation to imports, transportation, agriculture and land use or meat consumption. As such, building and strengthening local community is a vital component of acting both politically and locally to address food production issues. Only through collective action will we reduce carbon emissions, minimise the impact of climate change and effectively address energy and food security issues. Within this context, the Big Transition aims to empower communities to take collective action on climate change. In Spring 2010, advocates will run a national day called the Big Grow.

On this day they will invite as many people across the island of Ireland to come out and plant food across their communities, in their gardens, schools, workplaces, homes, etc. This food will be grown through the spring with the purpose of being harvested for another national day, the Big Lunch, in the summer. The Big Lunch (concept developed by the Eden Project), on July 19^th 2010, will see as many people as possible self-organise and sit down in their local communities – streets, work places, flats, community centres – and break bread together across the island of Ireland and beyond. The Big Lunch will be a low carbon lunch aimed at encouraging everyone to prepare and share homegrown, slow, organic, local and unprocessed food. Advocates will also create and launch an online communication platform and website to support communities with the Big Transition, as well as develop a media campaign around the initiative. The Big Transition is both creative and ambitious and as such, advocates hope it will encourage a wider appreciation for the environment among communities and will help build momentum towards wider social change.

Let’s do DecarbMinistration

CALCULATING CARBON FOOTPRINT OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN SLOVAKIA - lead by example. Energy use in buildings in general is responsible for about 30% of global carbon emissions. As the climate advocates think that public institutions should be the flagships of energy efficiency, the project team plans to measure the carbon footprint of selected public bodies predominantly in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava, as well as in its second city Kosice, Candidate city for European City of Culture 2013. They will address ministries, embassies, municipalities and universities and ask for feedback. With help of experts, clear, well defined and simple methodology will be used concentrating on a few of the most important indicators. The advocates will put together a ranking list and in the end highlight and publicize best practise.

Service for local administrations
The aim of this project is to develop a specialized information web portal on climate change for municipalities in order to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of climate-friendly measures at municipal level.
The site is aimed at local decision making leaders such as mayors, town parliament members, and other representatives and employees of the municipalities working in the fields of environment, development, project planning, resource and property management. They do not currently have ready access to this sort of information and know-how, all interpreted in a simple, non-scientific, practice-oriented way in the Slovak language.
The planned web site will contain information, overviews on the topic, tips and guidelines on how to implement the climate-friendly measures in numerous local government activities. It will promote energy saving and efficiency, use of renewable energy sources, sustainable land use, etc. It will show tips ranging from the quick “household level” improvements (e.g. change of light bulbs), through to bigger investments in technologies (solar water heating for schools), to long-term conceptual and strategic approaches (e.g. public awareness raising, green procurement, energy autarchy). There will be guidelines and tips on practical implementation and financing these measures too. The web will give examples of best practice and thus will assist networking, knowledge sharing and cooperation.
The portal will be developed and operated in cooperation with The Friends of Earth/CEPA.

Pathways to green areas
Trees absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. But people need to realize the importance of having trees and green areas in their immediate surroundings in order to make an impact globally.
The aim of this project is to inform people about the positive effects that green areas have on life in cities, towns and villages; encompassing social, economic, aesthetic and environmental aspects.
The methodology advocates will use is based on real experiments that show the impact of green areas on economic and social aspects of life in urban areas. Using a town as an example, a measurement of meteorological characteristics will be carried out to enable a comparison between those locations without nature, and those with more natural areas to make it clear how trees and green areas influence a city’s climate.
Other steps will include support for citizens who want to protect green areas in settlements. They also plan to offer a set of instructions – a manual that will help people to learn more about their options to question and influence public life in the area where they live (such as access to information; involvement in a planning process and decision making process). This manual will target different groups from children to grown-ups and therefore its form will vary from a puzzle, to a PC game or a facebook page to virtual guidelines.

Waste reduction
Waste recycling and reduction have an immediate and significant impact on our daily life and environment. Even simple and small behavioural changes to everyday habits can bring about big positive results. The project team have expert knowledge and experience in this field and will also strive to raise awareness about the consequences of consumption and waste accumulation on global warming.

Green partnerships
Connecting potential stakeholders from public sector, private sector, and third sector and attaining their commitments for future actions in order to achieve sustainable development and fight climate change. The project hopes that public commitments will help to turn obstacles into opportunities and success. With this project, cross-sectoral partnerships will be encouraged thereby facilitating future projects, raising awareness of climate change, and obtaining commitments to act on climate change.

 

Earth at the Crossroads

The web portal addresses hot issues in the global climate change debate and targets audiences with diverse views, backgrounds and scientific knowledge. It is available at http://ziemianarozdrozu.pl/.
Created in co-operation with Our Earth Foundation (Fundacja Nasza Ziemia), thanks to the project partner’s strong support, it is a unique place on the web. Polish citizens using the Polish language do not have an easy access to more advanced climate change resources, and the portal solves part of the problem. It contains highlights of the most valuable pieces accessible on-line, news, as well as original articles by co-operating authors.