Cydlynydd Lle - Cymunedau YnNi / Place Co-ordinator – Energised Communities

at  Severn Wye Energy Agency

SEVERN WYE IS LOOKING FOR A TALENTED INDIVIDUAL TO EMPOWER PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES LIVING IN RURAL AREAS TO ACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF), Energised Communities will empower 10 disadvantaged rural communities in Wales and England to tackle climate change, providing support and inspiration for community-led action focused on reducing energy use and generating clean energy, resulting in reduced carbon emissions, increased community resilience, and long-term sustainability.
Energised Communities will support communities that don’t traditionally engage with climate issues, bringing them together for action-oriented discussions about energy and its impact on climate change. Communities will identify local challenges, establish what people care about and explore solutions. The project will provide inspiration for what’s possible and give communities the tools to make it happen. We will support communities in the long term, recognising that building the ideas, skills and confidence to see projects through takes time. The project will help communities take more control over their energy futures, creating opportunities for green skills, local employment and community regeneration.
The ideal candidate will be well-organised, enjoy producing excellent work and love working independently in a team environment. Whether you are known for your people skills, problem-solving, or attention to detail – you may well be the person Severn Wye is looking for.
In return for your skills and hard work we offer a competitive salary, appropriate training and a company pension scheme. If you’re looking to strengthen your career, broaden your experience and contribute to a sustainable future while doing so, we’d love to hear from you.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job title
Place Coordinator – Energised Communities
Working hours
Full time - 37 hours per week.
Flexible working hours or 0.8 FTE (4 days) considered.
Salary
£26,000 per annum.
Reporting to
Communities Manager
Location
Home-based, within commutable distance of project areas.
Closing date
28 August 2024

DESIRABLE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE INCLUDE

– A strong background in community development, sustainable development, or rural regeneration with up-to-date knowledge and understanding of Climate change, Climate action, social inequality issues and wider and deeper sustainable development issues in rural Wales/England
– A practitioner in Asset Based Community Development and Co-production
– Leadership skills (particularly in linking strategy with practical outcomes on the ground)
– Excellent interpersonal skills and people management skills, capable of clearly communicating agreed direction, priorities and objectives
– Ability to solve problems in a collaborative and creative way using the resources of diverse groups of people and agencies
– Experience of formalising and constituting new organisations
– Experience in preparing funding applications and a track record of securing project funding
– Good knowledge of, and an ability to form, effective working relationships across the public, private and third sectors
– Written and spoken Welsh language skills (where necessary)
– Good verbal, written and presentation skills, including the ability to write high quality reports
– Knowledge of social media and print media as tools for communication and development.

APPLYING

If you are interested in applying, please visit our online application portal to fill out our form with your details, attach a CV and provide some information about why you are interested in this position and how you satisfy the requirements in the Job Description.

EQUALITY

We are committed to improving the diversity of our team and therefore guarantee an interview to candidates from BAME, LGBT or disabled communities who meet the essential job criteria, recognising that these are under-represented at Severn Wye – and in the sustainability sector at large. However, we will always appoint the candidate who best satisfies the job description and person specification

Delivery: of the Energised Communities programme in two named communities, in one of the three areas below. In your application, please specify which you would want to work in.
§ Ceiriog Valley, Wrexham and Llangollen, Denbighshire
§ Cwm Llinau, Powys and Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd
§ Herefordshire and Gloucestershire
Travel to regular face to face meetings and events including evenings and weekends within these communities is essential.
Visioning: Delivering / supporting initial engagement with the community and stakeholders. Championing the vision for collaborative work on climate change and better integrated working amongst different stakeholders.
Identifying, mapping and seeking active participation from local stakeholders, both active and inactive, for example councils, community groups, residents’ associations, business representatives, academic institutions, Health Boards, Police and others.
Ensure entire communities are supported and involved in undertaking mapping exercises to identify the strengths and opportunities that exist within their community to identify ways they can act on climate change.
Co-production: Modelling and promoting co-design and co-delivery as ways of working, positively seeking opportunities to include people who are not normally involved in climate action. Support the co-design of evidence-based community led approaches and initiatives in the defined area. This may include the leading of visioning events, shaping programmes of work, supporting the implementation of agreed actions, leveraging resources, and offering on-going support.
Enhance understanding/knowledge of climate issues: Provide informed, well-evidenced and practice-based advice and support to groups on such elements as the options for different approaches to collaborative climate action, baseline data gathering, evaluation and monitoring, project planning, identifying governance structures and funding support.
Communications: Act as a strong advocate and communicator for the group/project. Work with colleagues and community groups to develop communications plans including local social media. As a Place Co-ordinator, participate in learning and knowledge sharing, within the team and among stakeholders.
Project development: Work with communities and relevant partner organisations in rural areas that want to take climate action to co-produce and deliver community initiatives. Using best practice, provide inspiration to develop innovative community projects that will improve the quality of life for the people involved and take action on climate change, including identifying further sources of funding as required.
Work with other established local and regional organisations and networks to prevent duplication of community development work and build networks that benefit from external expertise. Build knowledge and the capacity of groups to take climate action, establishing governance structures to support group activities where necessary. Provide regular progress reports on project delivery to the project manager.
Evaluation and knowledge sharing: Supporting groups to reflect, learn and build on previous successes, to plan and deliver projects in the future. Support the programme manager and evaluation team to gather information help to evaluate the impact of the project in supporting communities to take climate action and disseminate learning from this. Sharing learning and knowledge of community development work undertaken.
Working with TNLCF : Working in partnership with TNLCF to ensure that a consistent message is shared and Fund guidelines (including Welsh Language requirements) are followed. This will include providing progress reports and attending meetings with TNLCF to discuss progress in the delivery of the project.