Scottish climate action hubs: independent evaluation

Introduction

Background information

In Scotland, the urgency to respond to climate change has been translated into a range of actionable policy measures. In recognition of the essential role of citizen action, the Scottish Government is supporting the development of a network of regional community climate action hubs with the aim of providing a strategic regional approach to climate change action.

The hubs are aligned with a range of national policies, including the Scottish Government's Climate Change Plan, the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, and commitments towards a Just Transition at a local level. The hubs will also assist in the implementation of the Net Zero Public Engagement Strategy by empowering communities to take initiative, with the hubs serving as reliable sources of information within their local areas. The hubs have also been established in line with Scotland's 2045 net-zero reduction emissions target, which places significant emphasis on building resilient, low-carbon communities.

In 2020, the Scottish government initiated the Scottish Government Climate Hub Programme. Shortly afterwards, a Request for Information (RFI) was published to gather input from third-sector and community groups about the design and implementation of the hub programme. Based on the findings from the RFI, two pathfinder climate action hubs were launched in September 2021. One hub in the North Highlands and Islands (H&I) and one in the North East led by North East Scotland Climate Action Network (NESCAN). The pathfinder hubs were established with the intention of ensuring communities are informed, connected, engaged and empowered to develop and implement local climate action solutions that are most appropriate to their needs.

When the pathfinder hubs were established, the vision of the Scottish Government Climate Hub Programme was defined as follows:

A network of climate action hubs will provide a vehicle for communities to come together and engage in collective climate action, supporting the transition to low-carbon and climate resilient living, and driving wider behavioural change.

The pathfinder hubs’ aims are as follows:

1. Build awareness of the climate and nature emergency across all communities;

2. Increase community resilience and knowledge of how to respond to climate change;

3. Stimulate community level climate action;

4. Embed cooperation and learning;

5. Encourage community groups to collaborate at a regional level and to work in partnership with other key local stakeholders; and

6. Allow an approach to be developed within each region that reflects local circumstances and priorities.

Since the establishment of the two pathfinder hubs, an additional twenty hubs have now been set up, which cover the greater part of Scotland. The remaining areas are expected to be covered by a small number of additional hubs in the 2024-2025 financial year.

Purpose of the evaluation

The Scottish Government commissioned CAG Consultants in October 2023 to undertake an independent evaluation of the two pathfinder regional community climate action hubs, the NESCAN Hub and H&I Hub. The overall aim of the evaluation was to assess the pathfinder hubs’ progress to date, including:

• Whether the hubs are adding value to the existing community space;
• Whether they are contributing to the shift to low-carbon and resilient communities,
• What the impact of the hubs have been so far; and
• Recommendations for the future of the programme.

The evaluation was centred around the following research questions posed by the Scottish Government:

• Intended results: Did the hubs produce the intended results, and to what extent?
• Unintended results: What unintended results—both positive and negative—did the activities of the hubs produce? How did these occur?
• Value to stakeholders: How valuable were the activities of the hubs to service providers, clients, the community, and/or organisations involved?
• Resource utilisation: To what extent did the intervention represent the best possible use of available resources to achieve the most valuable results for participants and the community?
• Sustainability: Are any positive results likely to be sustained? If so, what circumstances will enable this?

The purpose of the evaluation, therefore, was to conduct an assessment of the two pathfinder community climate action hubs, focusing on their value addition and contribution to low-carbon and resilient communities.