Mainstreaming Sustainable Development - A Case Study: Ashton Hayes is going Carbon Neutral

Abstract

The Parish Council of Ashton Hayes in Cheshire voted in November 2005 to try to become England's first carbon neutral village. This grass roots project has grown rapidly in its first year and has engaged a large proportion of village residents. The project has produced a number of impacts on the community and the wider region and these are being evaluated in terms of their environmental, economic and social dimensions. This paper describes the process of project development and implementation and draws some general conclusions from this experience before going on to consider some of the findings of the initial evaluation of the project. We conclude by suggesting that Ashton Hayes provides an interesting case study of a community-led attempt to bring sustainable development into the mainstream and that the challenge remains, as with many community-led initiatives, of how to translate the considerable early momentum of the project into sustainable forms of participation and behaviour.

Innovating Climate Governance

“…In 2005, the villagers developed a bottom-up approach to climate governance to realise a shared goal of becoming England's first carbon neutral community (Alexander et al, 2007;AHGCN, 2017). Eschewing input from their national and local governments, many (but not all) of the residents participate in collective efforts to reduce their carbon emissions through programmes of behavioural change, the establishment of a community energy company, and the fostering of local business development.…”

“It’s Second Nature”: Sustaining Public Engagements with Addressing Climate Change at the Community Level

“…Public engagement is vital and already evident in CBCRS, pioneering social innovations for addressing climate change that demonstrate real-world experiments with low-carbon sustainable living in communities (Alexander et al 2007;Middlemiss 2011). Engaging the public with addressing climate change is not an option but an imperative (Wolf and Moser 2011).…”

“…Yet there are drawbacks of community responses including feelings of intimidation on behalf of residents feeling pressured to participate, lack of awareness about how such projects positively impact on climate change, and sustaining participation beyond initial excitement (Alexander et al 2007;Axon 2015;Feola and Nunes 2014). Lack of funding to support community initiatives, volunteers facing 'burn out' and lack of overall strategic and financial direction substantially impact upon the efficacy of CBCRS to deliver their overall aim and activities (Feola and Nunes 2014).…”

“…From these perspectives, CBCRS have the potential to effectively engage the public with addressing climate change supported with interventions aimed at sustaining participation. There are substantial challenges that inhibit a simple transition; principally, the difficulty in turning initial excitement in such projects to sustained engagement (Alexander et al 2007). Engagement theories are a relatively new approach to exploring peoples' responses to a range of issues (Krause and Coates 2008;).…”

“…These assertions validate the application of behavioural change initiatives tailored towards the community level. Community-based carbon reduction strategies (CBCRS) are one example of action towards achieving local sustainable development, addressing climate change and facilitate sustainable living (Alexander et al 2007;Middlemiss 2011;Middlemiss and Parrish 2010). CBCRS bring citizens together to act collectively in creative ways on climate and local sustainability issues (Heiskanen et al 2010;Mulugeeta et al 2010).…”