Carbon Makeover …

A big day in Bristol today - Ambassadors from 3 European countries will be finding out more about the Carbon Makeover project and it’s exciting web outputs.

Green Homes

www.green-homes.org.uk This newly launched site is the concept of a Carbon Makeover campaigner called Prakash (with digital media training and on-going support) he saw being a Carbon Makeover campaigner as an opportunity to get involved in community action and improve his social skills. His project Green Homes almost came to an abrupt end when he moved out of the area but Knowle West Media Centre were there to continue the legacy. They helped to move this website forward and trained local people to become Carbon Champions - where they can offer advice to households on how to save money by being more energy efficient. Working in partnership with the Avon fire brigade - using their thermal image cameras to illustrate how much heat can be lost inside and outside homes through poor insulation. Much of the content and services on the website about increasing energy efficiency in Knowle West (eg personal action plans, energy saving tips) was written by the user, facilitated by the Media Centre. This is a great example of community collaboration.

Green Footprints

www.green-footprints.org.uk is a website that was conceived by Carbon Makeover campaigner Mil. Mil is a single mother of two who has lived in Knowle West for twenty years. Mil offered her commitment to Carbon Makeover in return for support in developing her social or economic circumstances. The website has enabled her to develop and manage her social enterprise whilst providing the community with innovative solutions to issues of health, food and waste.  All Carbon Makeover campaigners like Mil attended a Digital Media workshop run by Knowle West Media Centre which was followed up by ‘one-to-one’ sessions to help shape their ideas.

Team Fab

Sue was house bound for 20 years and had low levels of literacy. What struck us most about Sue was that after a digital media workshop run by Digital Media Innovator Robert Woolf, she and her husband bought a laptop enabling her to reconnect where previously she had felt isolated. Sue now leads a campaign called Team FAB, aiming to rid Knowle West of plastic bags. Such has been their impact locally that they inspired a team of young people to make an award-winning digital campaign about plastic bags. This is another great example of how, through Carbon Makeover, participants and projects have been allowed to connect and develop exponentially.

Green Medicine

Akilah is a gardener who has, over the years, built up an in depth knowledge of the healing properties of plants. Akilah wanted to share her knowledge and interests with others and so we introduced her to the power of Web 2.0 technology. Like all of the Carbon Makeover campaigns, Akilah’s website www.green-medicine.org.uk needs additional funding to be promoted. It is hoped that this web 2.0 ecommerce website will eventually turn Green Medicine into a revenue generating business for Akilah through the sale of plants and other gardening maintenance services.

South Bristol Car Share

Responding to one of Carbon Makeover’s six themes of travel (the other 5 themes are energy, health, nature, food and waste), this simple website was recently created by Knowle West Media Centre in response to the urgent needs of the community. Having lost the bus route than runs through the neighbourhood, resulting in a packed auditorium at Knowle West Media Centre of concerned and angry residents who for example could no longer get to work or visit the City Centre, the Carbon Makeover team produced a South Bristol car share website. It is due to go live imminently - but here is a sneak preview - http://www.southbristol-carshare.org.uk/hidden/ . This is an example of why Carbon Makeover was described by EU officials In March’s EU Conference on Social Fairness in Sustainable Development as a “win-win project and the most interesting example we saw of community work that demonstrates environmental sustainability and social cohesion.”

About the use of Digital Media in Carbon Makeover:

Digital media has been a way for Knowle West Media Centre to engage with the community and a way for the community to find out what’s going on and participate. All of these projects were created by and for the Knowle West community. Possibly the greatest achievement of Carbon Makeover has been to inspire people like Prakash, Mil, Akilah and Sue and that’s been because Knowle West Media Centre has adopted a person centred approach. They have helped raise peoples’ literacy, self-esteem and confidence - taken an interest in them and their daily challenges. Most importantly these successes come from gaining mututal trust and respect.

http://www.connectingbristol.org/

http://www.kwmc.org.uk/

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