2. Schools Run on Sun

3. What’s the problem? UK economy relies on fossil fuels Big 6 energy companies control market Support for renewables runs out in 2020 Political uncertainty affecting renewables investment There are not enough vested interests

4. Small-scale decentralised renewables are not unified Slow take up of community renewables Local opposition to renewables Renewables are not yet seen as a credible alternative

5. What do we need to do? Break the control of the current energy model Take inspiration from the German experience Build support for and understanding of community renewables BUT We need a new way to engage people to make community renewables mainstream, easy and attractive.

6. Key elements of Schools Run on Sun People need to see community energy happening where they live They need to feel that they can participate in an easy but engaging way Through their collective action we want to unlock barriers to the expansion of community energy

7. Campaign needs at the local level. Build interest in schools for getting involved Build support from local authorities to unlock the barriers and potentially fund schools Build support in the wider community Join up with other community energy actors Ideally engage children and their parents in community energy

8. Schools run on sun We think that Schools Run on Sun can do all of these jobs for us and here is a peek at a sunny school in Saltaire that inspired us to take on this campaign: http://vimeo.com/81016363http://vimeo.com/81016363 password: saltaire

9. Kicking off the campaign At the start of April we used a government announcement on solar schools to launch our petition to Michael Gove: (http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/help_sc hools_go_solar_41960.html)http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/help_sc hools_go_solar_41960.html We’re asking him to make it easy for schools to go solar by allowing them to borrow money for solar panels, helping them to save up to £8,000 a year on energy bills.

10. Questions Are there any questions at this point before we move on to the interactive parts of the session?

11. The big summer solstice survey June 21 st is the longest day of the year and a great hook for some solar activities for groups. We have an initial proposal that could start conversations about solar energy locally on this day, but we’d love your thoughts on it… The basic idea would be to run a stall with some sunny accessories (e.g. yellow balloons/sunny cakes/sun masks/posters/yellow facepaint etc.) and a very short survey about sunny energy locally. This survey could enter people into a competition to win a solar prize, as well as signing them up to the campaign. These stalls may also generate some pictures and possibly some local press releases. If some groups want to invite local MPs along we can provide resources to help with this. Where groups are holding a stall we’d like to invite online supporters in the area to go and join in. Please use the rest of this time to discuss how you think this could work locally and any other ideas that you think might work well to get people involved on this day.

12. Now there is a choice of 2 activities… 1)A skills-share on how best to engage and work with your local community on Schools Run on Sun 2)Starting some local asset mapping exercise for the campaign

13. Option 1: How best to engage and work with your local community on Schools Run on Sun We are hoping that groups involved in this campaign will be able to reach out to parents and other people interested in a particular school to help them to work together to help their school to go solar. This could take the form of local outreach; setting up or hosting some meetings; facilitating discussions; sharing skills, information and expertise; linking this group to the FOE central office or to the local authority etc. It’s only an idea at the moment but we’d love to hear your thoughts on how you could see this working in your local community and any ideas or techniques for community engagement that may work well.

14. Option 2: Local asset mapping Please use 30 minutes to have a think about some or all of the following questions: 1.Do you have any links with primary schools in your area (e.g. parents/teachers/governors)? 2.How many primary schools are in your local area? Do any of them have solar panels? Are there schools that would be particularly interesting to work with (e.g. an area affected by environmental degradation? Or a school with a diverse demographic?) 3.Is your Local Authority is already involved in working with solar on schools or renewables in your area? Are there any renewable projects in your local area? There is more information on sheet called ‘Schools Run on Sun – helpful information for local groups’ on how to continue the local asset mapping within your groups