Our approach: Supporting groups to unlock their potential
From creating bike libraries and community gardens to running swap shops, energy saving workshops and repair cafés – we wanted to support as many of the brilliant people bringing community climate projects to life as we could.
Along the way, we learnt that our support had to be flexible, because:
Different levels of support make sense for different people and project groups at different times,
People who are busy delivering their community projects want to be able to find the support they need when it suits them, and
Sometimes for volunteers, custom-made works best or off-the-shelf is easier.
From designing bespoke sessions delivered over several months to creating a self-service online toolkit - say hello to our Community Growbox! - our support has helped people across the city to continue to be amazing in taking climate action in ways that work for them.
“The sessions definitely helped us appreciate how far we have come to date and left us with an increased confidence in our future.”
Let’s take a closer look at the types of support we offered…
Our Community Growbox
The Community Growbox is a place where community groups can access help with personal and group development at their own pace and at a time that suits them.
The Community Growbox contains answers to questions that crop up frequently for community groups, dives deeper with audio tracks to offer fresh perspectives on some of the challenges that can emerge in community climate work and provides practical tools for community groups to work through - all still available to access here.
Digging deeper to uncover more of what’s possible
Delivered by In Our Nature partner, Amity, over 130 groups and individuals involved in the programme were able to access coaching to support them and their great work.
Bookable and informal ‘Get Unstuck’ calls were also available, to give projects a quick nudge of coaching support when needed and we also hosted a webinar series exploring topics from confidence to conflict.
Group development sessions
Our focus was helping the group behind a project be at their best - working well together and knowing ways to overcome challenges when they arise.
We took into account the diversity of groups behind In Our Nature projects - from the length of time they’d been working together, levels of engagement in their community, newness of their project, location and topic focus varying with each one - for their most fruitful development we designed sessions to move them forward with a positive dynamic.
“The sessions with Amity were a great opportunity to get everyone together as a team and I felt the sessions really helped with building teamwork skills and supporting members of the group to view each other as equal partners. Katie was very supportive and communicated with the group clearly and using comprehensive language.”
‘Caring for Your Group’ and ‘Grow your Confidence’ were popular group development topics, and with the detail co-created through alignment meetings with group members, the sessions worked for both experienced groups and those just getting started.
Future Direction CIC’s Green Superheroes give their ‘Grow your Confidence’ session the thumbs up!
“The sessions were insightful and engaging. Despite having a lot of experience working within groups I still learned a lot and was extremely grateful for the knowledge you shared with us!”
In Our Nature’s Steering Group and Community Champions were also able to benefit from group development sessions. For the Steering Group, the focus was on helping them to clarify their motivation and intention. For Community Champions the sessions focussed on helping them to share their projects with others and organise their peer support.
“I didn’t know this was going to be part of the In Our Nature Support, and I wasn’t sure what it was, and I’m so glad I found out - the sessions have been really helpful and encouraging in keeping me going”
“I feel quite emotional - I haven’t taken the time before to reflect on what we achieved because I focus on doing it - it feels amazing to see it and be able to share it with others.”
Personal development coaching
We worked with 11 individuals involved In Our Nature projects on a 1:1 basis for up to six sessions every few weeks. This level of personal and deep development got to the heart of what can keep people involved in community climate action.
The coaching was focussed on each individual’s ‘intention for coaching’ and personal challenges and hopes identified early on.
“I’ve learnt so much! I was at a stage where I wasn’t sure what my contribution was, and if it was helpful to anyone (including myself!), especially as we had major set backs with our project and group. Coaching has really helped me refocus on myself and why I wanted to be involved in community work in the first place, as well working out potential ways forward that I feel like I can still continue to contribute, but also being mindful of my own needs and boundaries.”
“For me it's felt really valuable to have the time and space to talk about the group and how we work and connect, as it feels like these are the foundations for everything else we do together. Specifically, to have those sessions facilitated around topics, ideas and practical tasks has made the time really meaningful and useful. Hopefully it means as a group we are more connected and are able to approach, adapt and succeed in what we go onto next.”