This workshop is part of the Local Authority Community Energy Springboard project funded by the Greater South East Net Zero Hub to develop practical, ready-to-use guidance for local authorities on community-owned solar on council buildings and land.

The workshops in this series have been designed to inform the guidance and are directly relevant to the current policy context. Great British Energy's Local Power Plan commits up to £1 billion for over 1,000 community energy projects by 2030, and local and strategic authorities that are ready (i.e. those with a strategy in place and community energy partner(s) identified) will be best placed to access that funding first. The guidance we're developing is designed to help your Council get to that position quickly without reinventing the wheel.

Who is this workshop for?

This event is for Officers from any department and Councillors, whether Portfolio-holders or not, who would like to get a Community Solar Strategy adopted by their Council.

What is the format and what will you get out of it?

We'll present the draft Toolkit and Solar Roadmap we've been developing - describing the possible process you could use, and including a draft Community Solar Strategy, Decision Paper template, and Motion wording for Councillors and Officers to amend and use.

We will then split into small breakout groups by role to get your feedback on the process recommendations and the template documents. Your input at this session will directly shape the final published guidance. The session should also help you to start to think through and map your own steps towards achieving this piece of work.

We'll also be looking to recruit a smaller group of volunteers to review the full toolkit before publication.

Please contact membership@uk100.org for further details or questions.