Council’s Climate Change Working Group to confirm focus
When it meets of Friday one of the topics The Highland Council’s Climate Change Working Group will be discussing is a new vision for the Climate Change & Energy Team that includes key focus areas and values and how these can be taken forward.
In November 2020, following the recruitment of the new Climate Change and Energy Team Manager, a project team was assembled to develop and produce a Strategic Control Plan; a significant piece of strategic work which has sought to understand previous challenges in order to enable a refreshed approach to be taken towards the team’s role within the Council, the development of conceptual projects, and applications for funding.
The Plan has been developed to help other Council teams, as well as potential funding partners, better understand what the Council’s direction of travel is and to help clarify the types of work it will support in transitioning the Council to a net zero future.
The overarching aim of the Strategic Control Plan is the application of structure and control to the project development and funding bid process, with three pieces of interdependent work undertaken in developing the plan:
- Vision: a point of reference – something to substantiate proposals and bids
- Structure: pragmatic governance with appropriate control, support and scrutiny (including performance management)
- Funding: shaping funding opportunities for the climate change and energy agendas through effective relationships and credible project proposals
Chair of the Working Group, Cllr Trish Robertson said: “The meeting on Friday will give us an opportunity to drill down into some of the details and discuss priorities and the important role the new Climate Change and Energy team will play when it comes to implementing the Strategic Control Plan. A lot of good work has been done to get to this stage and as a Council we are fully committed to making a difference, so I look forward to the discussions.”
Following on from the CCWG meeting on 29 January, the Climate Change and Energy Team will focus on translating the strategic vision, developed collaboratively amongst the team and senior service managers, into deliverable work packages through a series of workshops and sessions with operational managers and subject matter experts (SMEs).
ENDS