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Kickstarting a Greener Future
2024-09-30 • No comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
Kanzen is a registered charitys committed to not only building better lives but also to making a positive impact on the environment. With our new initiative to introduce an electric vehicle, we aim to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to a greener, more sustainable future. This will help us cut harmful emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and set a strong example for other organisations in the community. It will also support us to remove barriers by providing accesible transport to those who need it.
As well as reducing our carbon emmissions, an electric vehicle would also help us save money which we can then repurpose back into our charitable activities.
Kanzen is an award winning charity and we are the current Dundee Social Enterprise of the Year, Dundee Sports Club of the Year and winners of The Courier Business Awards for Community Impact.
We organised the first carbon neutral martial arts event in Europe and are proud to be an organisation rooted in the community.
Green Rep!
2024-09-15 • No comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
For over 40 years, actors appearing at Dundee Rep have prepared for their stage roles in one of our eight dressing rooms and have chilled out pre and post-performance in our Green Room, whilst colleagues in our programming and planning department work tirelessly to schedule an exciting programme of events for you our audiences, whilst box office staff sell tickets to each show. For over 40 years, all these professionals have shivered in the winter, as the draughty, single-glazed windows in each area leach warmth out of the rooms and let the chills in!
As an A-Listed building, we are limited in changes and modifications we are allowed to make both externally and internally. Our windows are 42-year-old, single-gazed originals; some are very unique: triangular in shape reflecting the stylised motif based on our stage which occurs throughout the building. Some also feature a louvre-design of slatted glass opening for ventilation and due to the listing they can’t be replaced. However they are hugely draughty and it is very difficult to keep above 21oC, the ideal office temperature. Our recent annual Energy Report by Creative Carbon Scotland estimated we have been losing around 60% of heat generated through our gas central heating system through these windows!
Having seen the positive impact installing secondary glazing in other parts of the building has made to reducing our heating bills, we now want to complete the rest of the building, installing recyclable, polycarbonate glazing to the remaining areas. We estimate it will save around 25% of our gas usage, will stop staff use of portable, electric heaters- an inefficient, health and safety risk- and will help towards making the building air tight, so allowing the possibility installing an air source heat pump in future. This installation will contribute towards our target of a reduction of 109 tonnes of CO2 by 2028.
We were recently voted Dundee Chamber of Commerce Champions 2024, in part due to our work in climate adaptation and mitigation working towards Net Zero, some of which is highlighted in the video on this page.
Thank you for your support.
Community Food Larder Electric Van
2024-09-30 • No comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
Fairfield Community Sports Hub are based within the North East of Dundee, and provide vital services for one of the poorest areas in the city. As well as providing sports and activity in a way people can afford, the Hub also runs a Food Larder (Bank) which at present serves 1900 people across the community. The Food Larder is supported entirley by volunteers anbd without this service many of the families would struggle to support themeselves and their children, with the basic necessitaties many of us take for granted. The Food Larder offers a vairety of products as well as food, which includes, fresh fruit & veg, healthy alternatives, special diets and allergies, and of course the pets in the household are catered for! To allow us to provide such a vital resource for the community the most important thing we need is a van. Which collects foods from around Dundee including supermarkets, and donations made by the public. Without the van the Food Larder would not be able to run and 1900 would suffer as a result.What we are asking for is funding to secure a new electric van which would replace our current diesel van which is begining to show its age and due to its year of registration we are no longer able to go into the centre of town due to LEZ area Please help Fairfield COnmmunity Sports Hub and the community we serve by voting for us
Thank you for reading
Delivering environmental activities and events at Growing Chrysalis
2024-09-23 • 2 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH) will deliver a year-long programme of environmental projects and activities at Growing Chrysalis, the community garden in the heart of Dawson Park. Our goal is to give individuals and families from across the region the chance to step outside and reconnect with nature.
Our programme will blend environmental awareness with therapeutic gardening to create a space where people can thrive alongside nature. Families will learn how climate change impacts our greenspaces and local wildlife, gain practical skills to help create a more sustainable future, and improve their wellbeing from being outdoors surrounded by nature.
All our activities will be dynamic and inclusive, tailored to meet the diverse needs of everyone who joins. These will include:
- Green Minds Sessions: Weekly garden-based activities focused on gardening, wildlife, and creativity. Each session ends with time to connect socially, building stronger bonds within the community.
- Local Produce Festivals: Celebrate Tayside’s rich agricultural heritage with events highlighting local produce—potatoes, soft fruits, and berries.
- Recycle Fun Days: Family-friendly events promoting sustainability through fun, hands-on activities using recycled materials.
- Grow Your Own Food Workshops: Practical sessions on sourcing and growing local, seasonal food—from foraging to creating your own food forest.
- Saving Local Wildlife: Learn about the impact of climate change on local wildlife and how to protect our precious wildlife with sessions on growing wildflowers for pollinators, building bat boxes, and creating wormery composts.
- Reducing Food Waste: Sustainable cooking sessions using homegrown produce, held in our outdoor kitchen to strengthen healthy eating and social connections.
Climate Action Workshops for Single Parent Families
2024-09-19 • 2 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
One Parent Families Scotland aim to deliver Climate Action Workshops offering a variety of sessions designed to empower single parents and families in Dundee to reduce their environmental footprint and create a more sustainable future.
Discovering how small changes can make a big difference in daily life through our sustainable living sessions. Learning to save money and reduce waste with our food waste reduction workshops. Discovering tips to save energy and money on utility bills in our energy efficiency sessions. Enjoying fun and educational activities with your children in our family-friendly workshops. Connecting with other like-minded individuals and become a Climate Champion in our community engagement sessions.
By participating in our workshops, single parent families will:
- Gain valuable knowledge and skills.
- Save money on household expenses.
- Help protect the environment for future generations.
- Connect with your community and make a positive impact.
Shaper/Caper, The World is My...
2024-09-25 • No comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
Enter 'The World is My...' an immersive and participatory dance-theatre show for the 10-12 years old on climate crisis, eco-anxiety, and how to transform from eco-worriers into eco-warriors!
Follow the two characters as they dance their way through the recovered Lego washed-out pieces that continue to reach the Cornish shores from a 1997 drifting steel container on its way to New York, the Tokio Express.
The project covers two weeks of rehearsals and two weeks of performance shows in Dundee (up to 20 shows, and 2,000 audiences). It is a development phase from a previous period supported by Aberdeen Creative Learning where the team became company in residence in two primary schools in Aberdeen. We learnt facts from great partners such as the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, a world-leading scientific research organisation; as well as from local partners like the amazing Transition Dundee.
Following this learning, which included the children’s feedback, we will continue to develop the show and perform it, this time in Dundee, exploring the power of creativity in conveying transformational and long-lasting messages for radical environmental change.
Your support will help both the dissemination of key learning for the young children of Dundee and the exposure to performing arts activities in schools, contributing to implement the Article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, with relation to accessing play, cultural activities, and recreational activities.
A multi-award-wining organisation with a 10-year long-standing partnership with NHS Tayside delivering the smoking awareness programme Well Good reaching 7,000 children per year (yep…70,000 so far!), we know how to provide engaging and inspiring learning, but we need your help.
If you want to contribute to this project, becoming a community producer…Vote for us!
Many thanks.
Carers for Climate Action
2024-09-30 • 3 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
The grant will be used to fund a Support Worker and associated activities, to enable Carers of Dundee’s vision and action of what climate change means to them. This proposal will engage with unpaid Carers across Dundee and deliver a project that supports Carers and their families, friends & local community to take part in climate change action. The project will run from 1st May – 31st Oct 2025.
There will be a series of events, outings & workshops with local community organisations, using local green and blue spaces. The project will be delivered in 3 stages:
- 3 clean-up events over different terrains and environments - Beach, Woodland & River.
- Art creation - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse –using the waste products to create an art piece.
- Celebration event - to showcase the full project. Increasing public awareness, engage the wider community.
The workshops will focus on use of renewables, encouraging active travel, reusing resources and thus reducing waste. The outings we propose will ensure the Carers benefit from green space in the city and encourage them to grow in their own home environment which will work towards building increased awareness in the climate change agenda.
In addition to the climate benefits, this 6 month project will alleviate isolation, increase social connectivity within Carers own locality as well as City wide and enhance health & wellbeing which is a detrimental factor for all Carers.
The basis of this project has come directly from Carers who were given the opportunity to explore this topic during research conducted by Dr Kate Miller. Carers felt they were currently not well involved with Climate change largely due to barriers in existing opportunities to get involved. Carers said they would like to take part in something that would benefit the wider community as well as improve their personal health and wellbeing.
Green Gazebo: A place to connect 💚
2024-09-30 • 2 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
Campy Growers is the largest community growing space in Dundee. With passionate volunteers we grow and distribute hundreds of kilos of ethically grown food to various project across the city. We run workshops about gardening, biodiversity, cooking, harvest and wider events open to all, to raise awareness about climate change and food growing.
What's missing is a location to run all our projects and activities: a living roof green gazebo. A place to gather, to share ideas and knowledge, to enjoy the sun whilst protected from the Scottish weather. A place with a positive climate impact. A place that will make the difference.
Picture a L-shaped wooden gazebo, south facing and made from larch sourced from a local sawmill. Can you see it? It will have a guttering system to collect water so we can wash the produce and water our plants. But most of off all, it will have a sedum (green) roof which will capture CO2 emissions and support wildlife, improve air purification, increase biodiversity, and more.
It will become a social space for the Collective and a central point for learning:
- We will run more workshops and events in relation to gardening, cooking, biodiversity and resilience. Although we ran several workshops last year, we were quite limited in terms of space, so we want to expand and make people feel welcome! Here is a wee taster of what we are planning for 2025: start your garden, botany, Harvest session, mushroom growing, cooking with seasonal veg, fermentation, learn about moths and bat, movie screening, open days and more.
- Start a Climate Café style conversation: Every month we will run climate café style conversation giving the opportunity to everybody to share their thoughts about climate change. Campy Growers is an example of a proactive project which counter-act climate change. Being surrounded by food and green space changes the dynamic and impact of such conversations can have.
- We will offer a space for our volunteers and visitors: With our volunteers and visitors we talk about gardening for sure, but we also create connections, share aspirations and ideas. A dedicated area to relax, think, gather and enjoy homemade food together is the key of our Collective
- We will use it as a packhouse for our weekly veg stalls and distribution, an open space visible to all visitors who want to get some vegetables or learn about community market gardening techniques. It is a self-sufficient space with its guttering system too.
We need your vote to create to social space which will support the biodiversity and will allow us to run more events and workshop creating resilience and awareness about climate change and food growing.
ScrapAntics Resilience Worker
2024-09-30 • 4 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
ScrapAntics would like to begin a new project by employing a Resilience Worker. Their role would be to connect with the most vulnerable in our community, providing them with essential resources and items, offering accessible advice and education on climate action and exploring tangible changes people can make to emphasise sustainability in day-to-day life.
The Resilience Worker would get to know individuals and families on a one to one basis, initiating conversations around climate topics and encouraging them to enact change in their lives, with the aim of positively impacting wider community change.
The worker would identify what direct support or signposting to agencies addressing financial, food or fuel poverty is most needed.
ScrapAntics have access to corporate donations of household essentials and many in our community are in desperate need of these items - but do not currently have the capacity for targeted distribution. The Resilience Worker would ensure that they reach people who need them most. These include bedding, towels, toiletries and cleaning supplies, food packs and clothing.
This role would particularly benefit those we work with in our Wellgate space who are often unemployed, from an asylum seeker or refugee background, have mental or physical health issues or suffer from isolation.
Student-Led Farmers Market- Eastern Dundee Pupil Food Growing Initiative
2024-09-30 • 3 comments • • Dundee Climate Fund Round 3.0
This special initiative will empower young students to connect with the environment through hands-on, food-growing experiences. School children in Eastern Dundee will not only learn the science of planting, growing, and harvesting, but will also develop a deep appreciation for the environment and sustainable living. By running student-led farmers' markets, they’ll gain practical skills in agriculture and business, bringing fresh, healthy produce home to their families. This initiative will also improve school grounds, local greenspaces and biodiversity by buying and planting a diverse school orchard and sustainable vegetable gardens, with the input of the pupils themselves.
This project is more than just teaching children how to grow food—it’s about nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards. Many of these students come from low-income households, and some do not have gardens at home. The school becomes their only opportunity to engage with nature in a meaningful, skills-focused way. By instilling these abilities early, we help cultivate healthier lifestyles and promote self-reliance, all while creating a lasting impact on their communities. The seasonal alignment of Terms 4 and then Term 1 of tha academic years 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 ensures that students experience the full growing cycle, from seed to harvest, making this project a cornerstone for future school-led growing initiatives.
With the support of Dundee Climate Fund, this project will transform the way children view food and sustainability, making their school not just a place of learning but a thriving hub of community-driven resilience and environmental consciousness. These young learners will be equipped to tackle food insecurity and promote healthier futures for generations to come. Our instructors will even show them how to preapre and cook some of their produce on open-fires outdoors! Without this investment, the project simply cannot move forward.