Bristol Green Capital

The Community Leadership Panel on Climate Change and Just Transition, developed as part of the National Lottery funded Community Climate Action Project, is made up of climate leaders from independent community organisations who bring diverse insights and lived experiences and who can amplify and advocate for the priorities of Bristol communities. The panel complements other climate expert groups in the city such as the Bristol Advisory Committee on Climate Change, by bringing a climate justice lens to strategic thinking and planning around climate and nature.

The panel is a new model of community influence and leadership, developed in collaboration with Praxis Research through a series of pilot sessions in 2023. It aims to help ensure diverse perspectives from Bristol’s communities, shape and inform important climate developments in Bristol and to positively influence city decision-making towards a just transition, following Bristol City Council’s just transition declaration.

We would like to hear from organisations who have a project, scheme or policy they would like to bring to the panel.

Why come to the panel?

The panel can act as a constructive sounding board and insightful critical friend for those developing significant projects, polices and strategies which have climate, nature and community implications in Bristol and beyond.

Benefits of engaging with the panel include:

• Improving new projects or policies by ensuring they are shaped and informed by a broad range of perspectives and lived experiences.
• Help apply a just transition lens to new projects or policies, supporting Bristol City Council’s Just Transition Declaration.
• Constructively support, inform and broaden existing or planned stakeholder engagement.
• Help mitigate unintended citizen resistance by providing diverse community insights on at an early stage in the process
• Support specific organisational aims around corporate social responsibility, social value, and environmental, social and governance.

The panel process

Each panel session operates on a 6 week cycle which involves the following stages:

1. External parties submit an expression of interest via a short online form.
2. Expressions of interested are reviewed by the panel to select projects or policies which are most significant.
3. Presenters invited and sent a pre panel questionnaire to provide the panel with key information on the project or policy.
4. Panel session is held which includes a presentation from the external party, verbal feedback from the panel and time for discussion and questions.
5. A recommendations report is produced based on panel feedback and shared with the external party.

2024 panel dates

The panel will convene for five sessions during 2024 (21 February, 24 April, 26 June, 2 October, 27 November) and invite engagement from a variety of external parties who are planning significant and strategic projects or policies which will have an impact on climate, nature and communities. The panel aims to usefully bring community insights and so schemes need to come the panel at an appropriate stage, early enough in the process for feedback and recommendations to meaningfully have impact – the panel is NOT a tokenistic, tick box community consultation exercise.

Interested in coming to the panel?

The next panel session will be held on 21 February 2024. If you are interested in bringing a project, scheme or policy to this panel session, please complete the short expression of interest form by 15 January 2024.

For panel sessions to have maximum impact, representatives from external parties presenting to the panel are expected to be senior and/or have responsibility for developing the project or policy being presented.

“The panel is made up of a knowledgeable, insightful group of people. It’s not often you’re lucky enough to get genuine feedback from a collective representing so much of our city in one room. The panel is a well organised, open and honest forum which really is invaluable. Diversity of thought is so important to shape our projects and we can’t wait to work with the panel again.” James Sterling, Bristol City Leap

“I received a thoughtful and relevant discussion on the Bristol Heat Resilience Strategy with a panel of people who were knowledgeable and very welcoming. I was provided with useful feedback both on the day and subsequently through a detailed summary report. I would definitely recommend the Panel to others.” Kathy Derrick, Bristol City Council

“Meeting with the Community Climate Action Panel was a brilliant way to complement our stakeholder engagement for the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and helped us to get unique insight from communities across Bristol. The Panel were really welcoming and provided lots of useful feedback after the meeting.” Stuart Gardner, West of England Nature Partnership

Meet the Community Leadership Panel

Panel members are predominately those who have been involved in the first round of the Community Climate Action Project and who have codeveloped community climate action plans with their communities. They are joined by Associate panel members with expertise and lived experience of Disability and race equity. Panel membership is expected to grow as members of the project’s learning and mentoring programme join with an emphasis on ensuring diversity of those currently unrepresented in city decision-making.

Panel facilitation and development team

• Panel facilitation and secretariat: Amy Harrison and Rachel Mohun – Bristol Green Capital Partnership
• Panel development and support: Emilia Melville – Praxis, Mark Leach – Bristol City Council, Harriet Sansom – CSE.

Panellists

Donna Sealey, Ambition Lawrence Weston

Donna has worked for Ambition Lawrence Weston for six years, and led the development and community engagement for Lawrence Weston’s Community Climate Action Plan and is now leading the work on the Grow, Cook and Eat Lawrence Weston demonstrator project where we are working to increase local biodiversity and reduce food insecurity. Ambition Lawrence Weston exists as a resident led and driven organisation to improve Lawrence Weston for everyone. Donna has previously worked in Public Health for both Bristol City Council and NHS Bristol in a variety of roles including managing the Children and Young Peoples Team.

Camille Degois, Ashley Community Housing

Camille has experience working with vulnerable people for a humanitarian NGO abroad and currently works for Ashley Community Housing (ACH). ACH provide integration services to refugees and migrants that create opportunities for individuals to live independent lives. Within the Community Climate Action project, ACH support refugees and migrants to be part of the conversation, and solutions as studies show that these communities usually emit less carbon emissions, but often reside in areas where pollution is high.

Jah Caballero, Ashley Community Housing

Jah works as a Project Officer at ACH, a refugee integration service provider with some programmes also supporting migrants. She has a professional background in working with communities and conservation education and an educational background in International Disaster Management and Humanitarian Response, as well as lived experience of migration.

Rosina Al-Shaater, Black & Green Ambassador alumni

Rosina is an environmental community engagement consultant, workshop facilitator, radio presenter, researcher and creative. Her career in environmentalism formally began as a Black and Green Ambassador. She specialises in intersectional climate justice, health & wellbeing through nature connection, and intergenerational and collective healing through community arts, multi-media storytelling and skill exchange. She is the co-founder of CIC Black and Green Future.

Vic Wakefield Jarret, Eastside Community Trust

Vic works for Eastside Community Trust with a focus on supporting residents in Easton and Lawrence Hill to reduce their energy use. She has a professional background in community energy and having lived in the private rented sector for two decades, Vic is keen to ensure that citywide policies acknowledge the vast disparity in levels of agency residents have and the barriers they face to taking action, especially around domestic energy use.

Emma Geen, Freelance Climate Activist

Emma is a Disabled woman and freelance climate activist with a specialism in disability climate justice. She coproduced the world’s first community climate action plan by and for Disabled people, is a coresearcher on the University of Exeter Sensing Climate research project, and represented Disabled people on the 2022 US Embassy Climate Justice exchange. She sits on the Bristol One City Environment Board to represent Disabled people and is one of the four authors of Bristol’s Just Transition Declaration.

Kirsty Hammond, Heart of BS13

Kirsty is the Climate Action Programme Manager at Heart of BS13, and a climate justice activist. She has co-produced the Heart of BS13 Community-Led Climate Action Plan, collaborating with over 1,000 young people. Kirsty has a background in working with marginalised communities, youth participation, serving as a board member for Bristol Energy Network, and pioneering the first Climate Action Hub in BS13. Kirsty is one of the four authors of Bristol’s Just Transition Declaration.

Suzanne Wilson, Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust

Suzanne has run Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust for over 7 years. Prior to that she was City Innovation Manager for Bristol City Council and worked in policy and regulation in Higher Education. At Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust, Suzanne and the team have co-produced their Community Climate Action Plan with local residents, and leads their demonstrator project Really Wild Lockleaze. She has lived experience of being a lone parent.