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Wrapped: 100 Days of the Green Transition

Publication: The Local Storytelling Exchange

Looking back on the 100 Days of the Green Transition project, this partnership between The Scottish Beacon and the Local Storytelling Exchange highlights how communities across Scotland are driving sustainable change.

Recently, we reached the end of our 100 Days of the Green Transition project, which was a partnership between The Scottish Beacon members across Scotland and the Local Storytelling Exchange.

The Exchange is non-profit that’s dedicated to finding and telling stories of the green transition in communities across the UK. As Scotland Lead, my brief is to seek out stories of how the move towards a cleaner, greener future is playing out in neighbourhoods across the country.

Working with the Beacon members – everywhere from the Glenkens in Dumfries and Galloway to north Lewis – has been a brilliant insight into the range and diversity of independent news publications, as well as how important they are to represent and report on communities.

It’s fair to say that there’s activity happening just about everywhere to help tackle the climate crisis; whether that’s from families ditching the car and cycling to school instead, or groups of local people banding together to grow their own food and nurture green spaces.

Whether these efforts are led by a concern for the climate, or simply are a way to come together, save money, and improve health – the end result is the same. It’s a sense of getting things done and making lives better for our neighbours.

That’s not to say that the move towards a more sustainable future doesn’t present challenges. There are major questions in most, if not all of the communities represented by Beacon members around how we ensure people are at the heart of our renewables boom, for example. And it is clear that those in power must do a whole lot more to support people who are already working for a better future.

There were many standout articles generated as part of the partnership – I invite you to take a look through them either here on the Scottish Beacon website, or over on Local Storytelling Exchange’s story map.

Perhaps this piece from Ryan Nicolson writing for the Shetland News Online Ltd. sums it up. It’s all about ordinary people getting on and making a change for the better – frustrated by lack of action from government, and keen to have their voices heard.