Carbon Management Awareness Campaign Programme (CMAC) 2010 - 2013

Working with NIFES and the Carbon Trust in Scotland on CMAC instigated a very important step in the development of our Carbon Management Plan and wider environmental strategies at Edinburgh Napier. The three networking meetings with the 2011/12 cohort, the staff and student workshops lead by the NIFES Team and the subsequent development of our CMAC Plan has resulted in communication being embedded into all aspects of our work. Jamie Pearson - Sustainability Officer, Edinburgh Napier University

Why did it work?

• High percentage of face-to- face contact time via:
  • Three workshops covering planning, developing and running campaigns. Case study speakers from leaders in the field and previous participants
  • Initial site visit to assess current position and aspirations
  • Onsite consultancy support for specific training (at least 3 days per organisation)
• Each participant committed a nominal cost plus staff time to participate
• Buy-in and ownership of the campaign by the organisation itself
• Facilitating sharing of ideas across councils
• Web-based toolkit comprising a range of campaign tools and materials to give each participant a head start and reduce time to plan to start a campaign
• Self-assessment tool to gauge current position of the organisation in engaging staff in energy and environmental issues
• Assistance in writing strategy (including detailed feedback) to ensure any campaign is properly planned and realistic
• Wide range of expertise available for onsite consultancy days including senior managements briefings, technical training for specific groups (leisure centres, catering, facilities), coaching in presentation skills, energy audits support, communications advice
• Help for participants in overcoming organisational barriers
• Helpline and email support throughout the programme
• Relationship-building and support to keep organisations on board with their campaigns despite resource constraints

The Carbon Trust CMAC programme is a fantastic help in designing and launching a staff awareness carbon reduction campaign. Yes, you could do it yourself, but being part of a group of Universities doing the same thing is very supportive and motivational. Every University has a unique campaign, but sharing ideas and best practice really helps. The consultant support is very positive and especially helpful during the campaign launch. Working to a timetable concentrates minds, and ensures you actually do it!

The University of St Andrews has benefited greatly from the CMAC programme, and have now been running our Passport to Environmental Excellence training program for 4 months, with 48 motivated Environmental Facilitators across the University. Training on environmental issues has been mainstreamed into the professional support we give our staff, and we have support from the Principal’s Office through to Heads of Schools. David Stutchfield - Energy Officer, University of St. Andrews

The University of Glasgow was very pleased to take up the opportunity of participating in the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management Awareness Campaign (CMAC) managed by the NIFES Consulting Group.

Our participation in the programme was well timed as it coincided with the update of the University’s 5-year Carbon Management Plan and our framework for meeting our carbon reduction targets. We were able to incorporate a number of key themes from the Campaign in raising awareness and supporting our Green Champions. Bert Young - Carbon & Energy Manager, University of Glasgow

The Participants

We highly recommend participating in CMAC; the workshops, presentations, advice and support from NIFES have proved invaluable in developing and implementing our Energy Awareness Strategy and Campaign.

The workshops enabled us to network with other Local Authorities; we shared ideas, experiences and solved common problems. The free consultancy days were particularly helpful in allowing us to successfully develop and deliver Energy Awareness Training to more than 100 Building Managers in March 2012, as the first phase of our campaign. Caren Webster - Senior Energy Technician, Angus Council

Carbon Management Awareness Programme and Toolkit

For three years John Mulholland and NIFES have worked with Carbon Trust Scotland in the delivery of our Carbon Management Awareness Campaign programme (CMAC). This is a six month long project with the aim of supporting cohorts of public sector bodies in designing and implementing long lasting energy efficiency awareness campaigns specific to their organisation. To date Carbon Trust has supported 49 Scottish public sector organisations through this programme with John Mulholland as project director.

The programme consists of group workshops, onsite/remote consultancy and the delivery of a web-based toolkit. The toolkit is a best practice compendium of a large range of campaign materials, ideas and presentations that CMAC participants can draw on as and when required.

The CMAC programme is designed with flexibility in mind, allowing the consultant to meet the needs of individual participants within the programme as well as addressing common issues faced by all within the cohort. The CMAC toolkit underpins this flexibility by providing materials which are ready to use. This cuts down time on replication of material and information needed by clients and allows the participant to utilise the direct consultancy time provided in as effective a way as possible.

The feedback I have received from CMAC participants has been extremely positive. The programme and content has been described to me as refreshing, engaging and genuinely productive and there is no doubt in my mind that this is due to the knowledge and hard work that John and his team apply to this programme on behalf of Carbon Trust.

I have no hesitation in recommending John Mulholland as a technical and training consultant of unique ability and it is a pleasure to work with him on this project. Jenny Cassells - Former Account Manager, Carbon Trust Scotland