Planned upgrades to the UK's electricity grid are on a scale not seen for decades, coming at a time of increased public scrutiny of both major infrastructure projects and utility providers. Grid operators needed to understand what the public expect from engagement around grid upgrades, and what would make the substantial impacts of new infrastructure acceptable to communities.

Funded by the European Climate Foundation, the Sounding Board was a six-month deliberative citizens' assembly bringing together 45 residents from the East Coast of the UK - the location of the most immediate planned grid works. The assembly was designed and led by Climate Guide, working in in partnership with the Local Storytelling Exchange and Sustainability First, who are using the findings to develop voluntary guidelines for grid operators.

Participants were recruited using stratified random selection, and the assembly met six times between April and October 2025, hearing from expert speakers on how the grid works, who regulates it, and why upgrades are needed for both energy security and climate goals.

The process was designed as "agonistic" rather than consensus-seeking - accepting that disagreement is healthy and productive rather than something to be eliminated. This was particularly appropriate given that grid infrastructure decisions involve genuinely competing values unlikely to be resolved through more discussion.

The assembly moved beyond purely qualitative, discursive techniques, incorporating robust academic methods such as Q-Sort methodology - a research technique that forces participants to rank competing priorities against each other rather than rate them individually, an analysis that helped identify four distinct value-based perspectives

The Impact

The research provided policy-makers with evidence of genuinely competing priorities that cannot be reconciled through better information alone, alongside some areas of consensus. The process demonstrated that when given time, information, and space for genuine deliberation, people understand complexity and are willing to engage with difficult trade-offs - but their fundamental values lead them to different conclusions about what constitutes fairness. This provides a more realistic picture for policy-makers than standard consultation, which typically captures initial reactions rather than considered judgments.

The outputs from the process were developed into principles for best practice engagement with communities most affected by grid developments, detailed in the 'People Power' report from Sustainability First, which can be downloaded below.  For a full methodology and research findings from the Sounding Board, download the final report of the process.

Similar public engagement could work for:

• Government departments responsible for energy infrastructure delivery
• Local authorities aiming to deliver zero-carbon local plans or major developments
• Renewable energy developers wanting to understand how to make projects acceptable to local communities
• Any major infrastructure project where public support is essential but contested

A leading Russell Group University had declared a climate emergency and set ambitious net zero targets, but implementation had stalled. 

While the institution had the technical expertise to act, genuine progress was limited. Senior Leadership required an external diagnosis to understand what was blocking delivery.

Over three months, a series of confidential interviews was conducted with 11 senior staff across estates, finance, academic leadership, and strategic planning. The interviews explored why a science-based net zero trajectory (2030) had been rejected in favour of a less ambitious 2040 target, and what would be required to accelerate progress.

The research identified six key organisational challenges: significant under-utilisation of estate; complex retrofit requirements across a diverse building stock; gaps in procurement frameworks and guidance for addressing supply chain emissions; continued estate expansion despite carbon reduction commitments; technology and policy barriers to replacing gas combined heat and power systems; and crucially, unclear Senior Leadership Team commitment levels, with climate strategy not embedded in capital allocation decision-making.

The analysis revealed that the fundamental barrier was not technical or financial, but organisational: no agreement on acceptable risk levels, no consensus on whether leading on climate was core to the University's mission, and insufficient demand from the student body or wider stakeholders to create pressure for change.

The Impact

The report provided the Senior Leadership Team with an honest assessment of both the operational barriers and the deeper organisational dynamics preventing progress. 

The work demonstrated that strategic diagnosis through confidential stakeholder interviews can surface the genuine barriers to climate action - which are often political, cultural, and organisational rather than technical - enabling leadership teams to make more informed decisions about how to proceed.

Similar research could work for:

• Universities and research institutions
• Combined authorities and large unitary councils
• NHS trusts and health bodies
• National agencies and arm's-length bodies
• Any large public sector organisation where climate implementation is stalling

Design and delivery of a series of flexible, strategic climate training courses, driving organisational change.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council needed to build climate capacity across multiple teams, and opted to train officers alongside elected members responsible for setting strategic direction. 

Over 18 months, multiple Carbon Literacy courses were delivered, with a flexible, modular approach to each training day to create momentum for climate action across the organisation depending on the mix of attendees, including 'twin-track' delivery of group work, for example where Planning Policy officers worked on a specific low carbon buildings policy while other officers focused on a procurement exercise. 

One councillors course was adapted mid-delivery, after participants expressed particular interest in financial risks from climate change. This resulted in replacement of a planned module with alternative content on investment risk, physical risks to council assets, and fiduciary duties around pension fund oversight, material previously developed by Climate Guide for London Boroughs. The impact of this flexibility emerged when a group of opposition councillors subsequently brought a motion to Full Council requesting that the Pension Committee be required to attend the same training, delivered a few months later.

East RIding council were also provided with ward-level data analysing community climate attitudes and constraints, mapped to local census data, enabling officers to understand which areas of their large rural authority faced the greatest structural barriers to climate action. 

The Impact

The training built climate literacy across multiple parts of the council, from frontline planning officers to strategic decision-makers. The ward-level data has been used by officers to train colleagues across the council, embedding understanding of how climate policy plays out differently in different communities.

Most significantly, the training generated political momentum: elected members who completed Carbon Literacy training subsequently brought a successful motion to Full Council requiring the Pension Committee to attend training - demonstrating how building understanding in one part of a council can catalyse change in another. 

Similar flexible training could work for:

• Local authorities of all scales
• Groups of parish and town councils working together on area-wide climate strategies
• Newly formed unitary councils who need to align strategies and ways of working post-LGR changes.

" Rachel’s training has been invaluable for both officers and elected members. Her flexible, engaging approach helped us build a shared understanding of climate risks, responsibilities, and—crucially—the levers for change within local government. The training has already shaped real decisions, prompting us to confront climate challenges directly in areas such as local planning policy and procurement. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable, but her experience in local government means she is uniquely placed to guide councillors and officers through this complex and important topic. Would 100% recommmend." 

James Taylor, Senior Climate Change Officer, East Riding Council