NESCAN Hub Turns Four: Celebrating Community Led Climate Action in the North East
NESCAN Hub
What began with Aberdeen Climate Action and their monthly Climate Cafes and Climate Week North East, bringing people together and ‘sparking’ others to build their own climate action groups and projects, became a group of people and organisations working together to create and be part of NESCAN. The network pulled off a huge community visioning exercise, which was showcased in the Green Zone at COP26 in Glasgow, before NESCAN Hub staff started on the Monday after – as the Scottish Government’s funded pathfinder regional community climate action hub, alongside the Highlands & Islands Hub.
This journey shows the power of support, connection, knowledge sharing and collaboration. How communities, when supported and connected, can lead the way in responding to the climate emergency. What’s more, there are now an amazing 24 regional hubs spanning the length and breadth of Scotland, taking community led climate action to a new level.
We have all faced profound global pressures, from geopolitical instability to the escalating impacts of climate change. Yet here in the North East, our communities continue to show that resilience, creativity, and collective action can turn uncertainty into progress.
At NESCAN Hub, our role is to enable and amplify that progress. To ensure people have access to the tools, training, connections, and the confidence to act.
Thank You to Our Members and Partners
This milestone belongs to you — our members, partners, funders, and volunteers. Your commitment to local climate action and community wellbeing drives everything we do.
Together, we are showing that climate leadership can start at the grassroots, and that community and collaboration truly are the keys to a fairer, greener future. From everyone at NESCAN Hub, all partners of the Just Transition Communities Project, and on behalf of Aberdeen Climate Action (where my climate activism journey began), thank you for believing in the power of community and in our team.
Four Key Impacts We Are Celebrating
Continuous Expansion of the Network
We’re proud to share that we had a 61% growth in membership in 2024–25, and are now reaching 431 active members across the North East. You can explore our Member Network Map here (as there is so much data this can take a wee while to load so, please be patient – we think it is worth the wait).
Funding Grassroots Climate Action
In the past three months alone, through our SEED Fund and the LEAF Fund (run with Aberdeen City Council) we were able to directly support more than 10 community projects. These projects all included aspects of sustainability — from biodiversity planting and transforming unused land into high-quality outdoor spaces to carbon-reduction measures, health and wellbeing activities, and community education. Each one of them, in their own way strengthen local resilience and community cohesion.
We are also one of the partners running the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting (JTPB) Fund that provides at least £1 million per annum capital funding for third sector groups across Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray.
If you have a project or idea, discover the right fund for you here.
Supporting New Ideas
From our experience, and what communities have taught us over the past four years, we know that there is lots you can do to make a difference to where you live, while protecting the planet. Every small step we each take adds up to a big impact.
Our resources and guides cover a range of project areas. Whether you are thinking about projects encouraging cycling and walking, exploring retrofitting and renewable energy, or repair and reuse, we can help you get started.
Through collaboration across themes like Land & Nature, Education & Awareness, and Activism & Justice, we help communities shape projects that respond to local needs while contributing to a fair and green transition. With our online resources, funding, events and one to one chats, we can support you on your sustainable journey. If you have an idea for a new project, or simply to improve your current one, we should talk!
Connecting & Learning Together
We are all about creating a thriving and sustainable North East of Scotland by building a network and connecting people, places and the planet.
On our recently updated website we have shared more than 100 resources including ‘How-to’ guides, blogs, reports, policies, case studies, videos, and toolkits — and we are adding more on a weekly basis. However, there is more to NESCAN Hub than shared resources and vibrant networking!
You can benefit from being part of free events and services such as the fun-filled festivals Envirolution Aberdeen and Climate Week North East (that has been running for 11 years). We also offer dedicated, tailored 1:1 advice, peer-to-peer learning, and signposting to other support services provided by our brilliant partners.
Everything we do is designed to empower you to make a real difference — just take a look at what one important fund, the JTPB Fund, now in its 4th year has achieved:
JTPB – it has been 3.6m so far in capital with another £1m coming this year. A total of £3.6m (£3.5m capital and £100k revenue) has been awarded to 146 groups and organisations
Community Voices
Every week, we see communities across the North East showing what’s possible when people come together. From community owned energy to creative circular economy ideas, our members are leading the way with energy and imagination. Many tell us that being part of NESCAN Hub has given them the confidence, skills, and connections to turn great ideas into real action.
It’s about more than projects, it’s about people learning from one another, sharing successes, and proving that local action can drive Scotland’s just transition from the ground up.
“NESCAN Hub is really helping to bring together and amplify the impact of climate action groups across NE Scotland. This is done not just by facilitating the network, but by providing tools, training and insights about how best to work together, as well as giving us a voice at key events.”
DEESIDE CAN
What’s Next: A Sneak Peek at our Developing Vision
We are not content to stand still. The climate emergency is ever-present, and so is our commitment to supporting every community in the North East of Scotland on the road to a fair and green just transition.
Soon, we’ll share more about our four pillars of action, a framework designed to guide our next phase of collective impact, deepen partnerships, and accelerate climate resilience across the region. But for now, here’s a sneak peek…
Join Us. Let’s Keep Growing Together
As we look ahead, we invite you to be part of our journey. Whether you’re a community group, local business looking to support our work, a researcher, or volunteer—there’s a place for you in the NESCAN Hub network.
Contact us: info@nescan.org
Learn more: www.nescan.org, theJTCP.org
Become a Member or why not Donate – here’s why your help is needed and valuable