New five-year project to give a voice to East Coast communities facing climate risk
A new five-year project from Rights Community Action is launching to support communities on the East Coast of England to have more say in how their areas respond to climate risk.
Thanks to National Lottery players, Rights Community Action’s Community Climate Stewards project has received funding over five years from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.
Through storytelling, local organising and practical support, Community Climate Stewards will help residents bring forward their knowledge, build confidence and play a bigger part in decisions about their area.
The starting point is simple. People living with climate risk should be involved in the decisions that affect them. Community Climate Stewards will support communities to share their experience, identify local priorities and take part in conversations about how their places respond to growing environmental pressure.
The project builds on earlier creative, community-led work on the East Coast, including public art, community mapping and local advocacy that brought more people into conversations about climate risk and the future of their places. This new phase will take that work further through people's plans, participatory budgeting for climate action, and community stewardship of land.
In the longer term, Rights Community Action hopes the project will help strengthen community resilience in three highly climate-vulnerable coastal communities, while also building a model that can inform wider work on climate adaptation. The project will also work with partners including Square Peg Community Arts Ltd, Timebank Hull and East Riding, Use Your Voice Lowestoft, Incredible Edible, CLASS Community Savers, the University of Hull and Oxford Brookes University.
The grant comes from the Climate Action Fund, a long-term commitment by The National Lottery Community Fund to support communities across the UK to act on climate change and involve more people in positive environmental action.
Dr Naomi Luhde-Thompson, Director of Rights Community Action, said:
“Community Climate Stewards begins with the people who know these places best. Communities can already see what is changing around them and what is at stake. This project is about making sure that knowledge carries weight and giving people the support they need to influence the decisions that will shape their future.”
Over the next five years, the project will bring together residents, community organisations and decision-makers to explore ways to help places on the East Coast prepare for what lies ahead. It will also share learning more widely, to show what community-led climate adaptation can look like in practice.
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About Community Climate Stewards
Community Climate Stewards is a five-year project from Rights Community Action, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. It works with communities and local partners in Hull, Skegness and Lowestoft to strengthen community voice in climate resilience planning. Through storytelling, local organising and practical support, the project helps residents share their experiences, build confidence and influence decisions about the future of their local area.
About Rights Community Action
Rights Community Action is a coalition of campaigners, lawyers, planners, facilitators, writers and scientists, united by a shared commitment to tackle the climate emergency with people, for people and for the environment.
About The National Lottery Community Fund
We are the largest non-statutory community funder in the UK, community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.
We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK.
We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.
As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:
Come together
Be environmentally sustainable
Help children and young people thrive
Enable people to live healthier lives.
