Six Scottish islands – Barra and Vatersay, Great Cumbrae, Hoy and Walls, Islay, Raasay, and Yell – were chosen to become the first Carbon Neutral Islands in 2022.

Community Energy Scotland (CES) completed carbon audits to establish each island’s baseline emissions, after which Community Climate Action Plans were developed through local engagement.

Glic was appointed to undertake a structured review of the resultant 206 actions alongside Community Development Officers. The aim was to add detail, prioritise, then develop actions into projects, and calculate costs and benefits associated with priority projects.

We designed a bespoke sifting process for the actions to score each action on strategic fit, impact and delivery.

Following a review of shortlisted actions by Community Development Officers, Glic developed the priority projects further, producing individual business plans with costs, case studies and predicted impacts. We assessed the associated social impacts through desk-based research and analysis against Scottish Government targets and legislation.

Working with multiple stakeholders across development, we liaised with project workers to adapt the priority actions based on each island community’s needs and the level of progress already achieved.

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Analysis highlighted that 20% of all proposed initiatives related to energy efficiency of housing. Glic rolled these into one macro project, and our final report included calculations of investment and impacts associated with its implementation, along with that of 13 localised projects that would improve the resilience and sustainability of each island.

The 14 projects in total are now being taken forward by the Community Development Officers on each island for further development and implementation.

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