Ham and Petersham Street Champions

Low Carbon Zone & Energise Ham and Petersham / Ham and Petersham Street Champions

The projects aim is to encourage residents to fit small items (measures) such as draft-proofing, increasing insulation and encouraging 'behaviour change' in how residents 'use' their homes, in order to create more efficient, warmer, cosier homes and lowering energy bills (thus saving CO2). The project works with 26 Street Champions spreading the word and providing support to their friends, neighbours and people within their social network and is being co-ordinated on a part-time basis by Chas Warlow employed by SWLEN, aided by Andrew Beedham of the Ham United Group and Colin Cooper from SWLEN.

The project is using a variety of techniques, namely social marketing (what is social marketing?) nudge behavioural economics (what is nudge?) and a community development approach (what is community development?), i.e. social marketing skills are learnt by people in the community in working with their neighbours to highlight positive choices, breaking down the barriers to taking these choices and providing social prompts (nudges) so that these choices become the social norm. The community development aspect is ensuring the learning occurs and stays within the community and cascades, which should allow the work to continue even after the project's funding has finished. Exactly how the project will develop will be determined by the Street Champions themselves and their learning as the project develops (also in line with SWLEN's culture of organisational learning). 

For the first part of our project SWLEN, working in partnership with the Ham United Group (HUG), secured  funding from London Sustainability Exchange, who in turn secured their funding from London Council, to run this project, and our project works in partnership with the Low Carbon Zone.  This funding arrangemnt came to an end in  August 2011 and we secured further funding to continue the project until 31st March 2012 from Richmond Council and the Low Carbon Zone.

Are we telling people how to live their lives? No, the project is there to offer help to people who are willing to participate and make informed choices so they can live in more efficient, warmer homes and take advantage of various grants and loans available. This is very much a carrot approach and no stick!  

The project draws heavily on the principles of nudge politics (see this Times article) currently at the heart of Government policy thinking and the work of Doug McKenzie-Mohr, a leading environmental psychologist (see his website).

 Low Carbon Zone & Green Streets

South West London Environment Network (SWLEN) and its predecessor Richmond Environment Network (REN), have been working with Richmond Council, British Gas, Oxford University, London Sustainability Exchange and the Ham United Group in developing and securing funding for a number of instrumental projects in Ham and Petersham. Funding has been secured from the Greater London Authority to create a 'Low Carbon Zone' and from British Gas, Green Streets to install solar panels on a number of properties around Ham. SWLEN's staff participated in the competitive interview with the GLA and a Dragon's Den style pitch for the British Gas funding. SWLEN is now a Member of the Low Carbon Zone Steering Group, which is the overseeing these two projects with the Council as the lead agency. The British GasGreen Streets project is now completed.

The Low Carbon Zone scheme seeks to reduce CO2 emissions in the area by 20.12% by mid 2012. To avoid duplication of material and effort, further information about the Low Carbon Zone can be found on the Council's website. Also, in keeping with the ethos of community development, updates on the Street Champions project and how to get involved, can be found on HUG's website as our partner in the project and the grass-roots community group operating in the area. Updates on both projects will also appear in the Ham and Petersham Magazine, a local community publication.

Other activities
There are also various other environmental projects being undertaken in Ham and Petersham, these include:

• A bee and butterfly garden and mini orchard at Ham Library designed, built and maintained by HUG
• A community allotment at Grey Court School, a collaborative project between HUG and the School
• A four year orchard project at Grey Court School
• A proposal for a school farm at Grey Court School (also being aided by SWLEN's Colin Cooper)
• HUG has also been involved in a proposal to develop a hydro power facility at Teddington Weir which has seen a spin off social enterprise Ham Hydro
• Many other exciting project are also being developed by HUG

Since the start of these projects in Ham and Petersham, Kingston University has started a social marketing project to foster behaviour change around how people use energy at home working in roughly the Tudor Ward of Kingston. This project is called Smart Communities.