Bobby Pembleton

How is ELCAN membership changing for groups and individuals?

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ELCAN membership is changing. We are opening membership to individuals.  Our new status as a registered charity (SCIO) is an exciting opportunity to grow the network, increase representation, and enable involvement at an individual level. It is part of giving more power to the individuals engaged with climate action in East Lothian – within the […]

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Now Hiring: East Lammermuir Community Development Officer

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The East Lammermuir community has developed an ambitious Local Place Plan, shaped through extensive community engagement and a built on through a series of themed workshops. This has resulted in four key community priorities: biodiversity restoration, active travel, energy efficiency, and community transport. These priorities are supported by five detailed reports, which provide the evidence

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‘What do the area partnership level support organisations of East Lothian Climate Action need’ Ingredients Clear collective vision Like minded people Friendship / trust Keeping people motivated Spreading the load Recruitment People with expertise and commitment Knowledge and understanding of the issues Good facilitation Convening expertise One or more key people who will commit to make it happen and drive it A space Energetic, enthusiastic founder volunteers Quick win project / campaign A understanding with and connection to the local area Learning People need to be continuously motivated An action plan is good as it allows you to achieve and celebrate little steps Celebration of accomplishments is important Networking with other groups in other sectors is important and you learn a lot from getting in a speaker from another group It is important to match the right people to the right projects, including a good leader for projects Organic growth by personal contacts is most effective long term Professional expertise in a project area is helpful You have to be careful of a small number of the same people doing too much Getting the word out for projects is important, and can create positive feedback loops It is important to go to where people are. If someone is enthusiastic and skilled, but doesn’t get matched to the right project, they may lose enthusiasm Communities are the experts on what is needed and going on in their own places Once an idea is started an early communication and scene setting message is important to encourage and maintain momentum Future Need Ways to learn from other groups In the future we should be focused on legacy, ensuring that groups don’t fold as their core members age We need funding to cover the core costs of running the organisation We need to be well organised Funding may come to communities via East Lothian Community Benefits from renewables and this needs strong links to grassroots projects Each area needs its own physical, visible Hub that the community can see and interact with to get involved with community climate action This physical hub should be accessible to a wide range of people and receive ongoing and regular funding We should be better about tapping into expertise and networking with orgs like DTAS CES CWA CLS etc We should have our climate action cafes We must keep people motivated in these hard times Evolution should be organic The Climate Hub and the groups it supports need long term funding Our conversations should move on to community resilience for the climate changes to come We could provide something like a funding application mentoring service We should budget in for volunteers time Community climate action including community resilience and adaptation simply needs more funding

What are the ingredients for a successful community climate action ‘umbrella’ organisation, and what’s next?

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In January, as part of Building Sustainable Action in East Lothian, a day within the wider Green Futures Festival 2026 in East Lothian, a group of leading community climate action organisers and volunteers convened to explore: What does it take to build and sustain area-wide organisations that successfully enable community climate action projects to begin

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On the Potential of Scotland’s Climate Action Hub Programme

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At the end of consultation on Scotland’s Climate Change Plan – which will shape the country’s response for the next 15 years – the East Lothian Climate Hub has published an open letter outlining their thoughts: The CCP must recognise the role of resilient communities and value of Climate Hubs in an unpredictable future  

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Work with the Climate Hubs to secure the financial future of community climate action in Scotland

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Would you like to work with the Climate Hubs to secure the financial future of community climate action in Scotland?   Please read below and click through to consider a brief for consultancy and/or strategic partnership for feasibility/development, to investigate the potential for shared ownership of corporate renewable energy projects, to generate on-going income streams

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How We Reorganised the ELCAN Board with Collectively Intelligent Decision Making

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Sociocracy, at its heart, is about making decisions together in a way that values everyone’s voice, while getting things done. With that in mind, we gathered post-its, flipcharts, and a big dose of curiosity – and set out to collaboratively understand what actually needed doing

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