Climate / Circular Economy Hub
A working group to create a climate and circular economy hub in the city
About this process
A process to establish a short-medium and long term Climate & Circular Economy Hub in the city.
Climate & Circular Economy Hub
Summary
The proposed Brighton Synergy Centre will support B&H Council’s efforts to move towards Carbon Neutrality and a culture of sustainability and wellbeing as an alternative to current orthodox energy intensive and materialist lifestyles.
Experience shows that having a place to gather, network, discuss and plan can significantly increase the capacity of the community and local voluntary sectors, thereby increasing its ability to raise awareness of, encourage and support their efforts to reduce their carbon footprints, both as individuals and through their networks.
Proposed Centre Facilities
- A live music, multi-media / variety arts and conscious club venue.
- Affordable workshop / dance / multi-purpose space for local groups to organize activities and meetings.
- A community art gallery and artists workshops / studios.
- A health and wellbeing space suitable for activities such as yoga, meditation, tai-chi etc
- Affordable office space for local not-for-profit organisations.
- Affordable sound and video production studios for established and emerging professional, local young people and others.
- A community café, serving vegan / vegetarian food.
- Affordable accommodation for centre crew, beneficiaries, visiting artists, volunteers and visitors.
Prospective uses
- Drop-in facilities for information about how to address climate change, such as energy conservation, waste reduction, renewable energy, healthy and sustainable lifestyles.
- Signposting opportunities for local people to formulate new ideas about how to tackle climate change, so that the premises acts as a central hub for consultation and engagement to inspire, empower and involve local people in an ongoing way.
- Exhibitions and workshops about good practice in sustainability, well-being and related issues.
- Affordable co-working space, particularly for people and organisations working in the ecological, health and wellbeing sectors.
- Outreach, engagement and community development Synergy Events to discuss, debate and raise awareness of issues relating to the Council’s Carbon Neutral 2030 agenda. These will help implement the B&H Climate Assembly‘s call for the public to be regularly consulted and engaged in discussions about how to tackle Climate Change locally and seek to enrol a wide range of stakeholders in a ‘One City’ approach.
- An online discussion and consultation platform to promote more community engagement with the policies, ideas and changes necessary to deliver the Carbon Neutral 2030 strategy. This platform will also enable local people and organisations to network, share ideas and develop collaborations.
- A community arts venue, harnessing the power of creative media to raise awareness of social, environmental, cultural and spiritual issues, and providing the many health and wellbeing benefits of participating in community music and dance activities.
- Facilities where visiting artists, be they international, regional and local, who are using their practice to promote ecological values can rehearse, record, film promotional videos and gain management support to reach a wider audience.
- A community membership scheme encouraging people seeking to adopt changes in their own lifestyles so as to ‘be the change’, rediscovering a sense of agency and social purpose, inspired by a culture of ecology, health / wellbeing and care for others and the environment.
- Using an online platform, the Community will invite people to measure their progress towards a more sustainable lifestyle by adopting steps such as giving up meat or car ownership, switching energy providers, insulating their homes etc. The Community will also operate a complementary currency to promote the exchange of goods and services within the Community and thereby grow the sustainable economy.
- Promote the development of the local circular economy, and the application of the Council’s Circular Economy Strategy, by partnering with local organisations working in the field such as Circular Brighton and Hove, Tech-Takeback, Freecycle and Freegle.
- Provide training and mentoring support for people seeking to become more active in the sustainability, health and wellbeing sectors, such as guidance in setting up a social enterprise or community group, fundraising signposting, financial management, networking and public relations etc. The Centre will therefore become an incubator of further activity in the sector, offering support and advice for other Climate Hubs elsewhere in the South East region and nationwide.
- Provide opportunities for young people, including students attending the local universities and other tertiary educational institutions, to volunteer at the centre, thereby gaining experience, raising their skills and confidence and thereby enhancing their employability. Opportunities for local emerging artists to showcase their work and get a foot on the professional ladder will also be provided.
- Support services for people suffering social exclusion and marignalisation such as rough sleepers, people with poor mental health or the long term unemployed.
Social Enterprise Model
The model is ideally suited to the current economic and social environment, in which local government is having to cut back on the services it provides, and is therefore looking to the voluntary sector to fill the gaps. Rather than relying on public funding, the Centre will operate as a social enterprise to deliver affordable community arts and social space by hosting weekend ‘conscious events’ that combine multi-media entertainment with awareness-raising of topical social, environmental, cultural and spiritual issues. The income from these events is used to cross-subsidise charitable activities that seek to tackle social exclusion through training and work-based learning and by creating an affordable, supportive, welcoming and creative environment for people suffering disadvantages such as homelessness, long term unemployment, poor mental health or substance misuse. We will also support local organisations and projects which work with such beneficiaries with affordable or free space and signposting to sources of funding and promote potential partnerships with other like-minded people, creating valuable ‘synergies’.
Share: