Last week I had the pleasure of a short, all-expenses paid trip to Edinburgh to present at the University. I was asked to present on Community Energy Action, along with a handful of other community representatives, some academics and agencies working in the area. North Harris represented the community perspective alongside groups from Portabello –Edinburgh and Castlemilk –Glasgow. The seminar was part of a piece of research being funded by the UK Energy Research Centre. They want to know about the motivations, barriers and opportunities for communities working on “energy” projects. The funders acknowledge that the number of community projects in the Highlands and Islands far exceeds anywhere else in the UK. Our battle for a windfarm on Monan and the subsequent hydro-turbine project, along with our Community Carbon Challenge project, fitted perfectly within the research scope.
It was interesting to hear from researchers at Sussex, Strathclyde, Surrey and Edinburgh Universities. Particular research included:
- Future community financing
- Community action to combat climate change
- Changing domestic energy use
- Community buyouts and renewable energy
The common theme being Community as a means of delivering change –helping deliver big government initiatives like Big Society and government Renewable Energy Targets.
As well as this seminar, I was interviewed by an Edinburgh University student from Canada who was researching community wind farms as part of her doctorate. She’d found North Harris on the internet and wanted to document lessons learned from the Monan project.
On my return from Edinburgh, I hosted 30 Human Geography students from Edinburgh University (coincidence?) at the Harris Hotel. All were interested in different aspects of community land ownership and community regeneration, some with a particular interest in community renewables. Trying to explain the nuances of crofting to English Students is not my area of speciality – thank goodness David Cameron made an appearance.
So… so much interest in North Harris from outside of the Highlands and Islands! We must be getting the word out there that there are big benefits to community ownership. The Directors must also be seen as a team with great stamina. Despite the great disappointment that was Monan, much of the original team are still heavily involved in Harris’ regeneration. This was a common theme with the other community groups.
With so much interest, we must be doing something right!
Tags: community, haris, harris, north harris, regeneration