What are we setting out to do?

We are a group of Rudgwick residents who are concerned about climate change and who would like to inspire our fellow villagers to live more sustainably. Through sharing information and showing how small actions can deliver bigger changes we hope to encourage Rudgwick residents to take steps that will benefit themselves, their families and the environment.

We will be developing project ideas across areas like:

• public and private transport,
• improving the energy efficiency of our homes, workplaces and public buildings,
• growing and sharing more of our own food, etc.

Where are we going to do it?

Our sphere of influence will be the parish of Rudgwick in West Sussex.

Who will benefit from our activities?

Our primary activity will be to provide information on practical ways to combat climate change, with the aim of prompting personal action by Rudgwick residents. As well as helping the environment, these actions can have a financial benefit for individual households and businesses.

How will we interact with other organisations?

There are already a number of groups in the village concerned with preserving the local environment, encouraging local biodiversity, etc but we felt there was no group looking at sustainable issues such as how we can improve our use of energy across the village. This is the gap we believe we can fill.

In doing so, there will be a number of opportunities for collaboration with groups such as the Preservation Society, the Gardening Association, the WI etc and for cooperation with elected groups such as the Parish and District Councils. We will also consider affiliating ourselves with initiatives such as the Transition Towns movement.

Our expectation is that we will meet monthly to propose and develop ideas to promote sustainability in Rudgwick. We will assign specific tasks to individuals and progress them in line with an annual action plan. We will use a Google Groups forum space to exchange ideas and information between members. We will hold an annual review meeting.

New members will be welcome to join us, either choosing to serve on the core group or acting as volunteers on discrete projects.

See our constitution for the technical details of how the group is organised.

How will we publicise what we do?

Activities will include:

• Regular features in the parish magazine

• Posters on village notice boards

• Website features and news: http://www.sustainablerudgwick.org.uk

• Attendance at local shows/fairs

• Talks to local groups
  

How will we measure success?

Measures of success at the one-year point will include:

• A large number of people in Rudgwick will have heard of our group and have a basic understanding of what we are trying to do

• Individuals and groups will be approaching us asking for advice on sustainable issues

• We will have received data from the bus company, Arriva, indicating that more people are using public transport

• We will have engaged local schools in climate change-related activities