Yackatoon Retirement Village (YRV) is a community comprising 28 homes, with one and two bedroom units, providing independent living for older residents and younger individuals with additional needs or disadvantaged circumstances. YRV is collaborating with local community organisation Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY), who support broad community access to a local renewable energy supply.

YRV is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for its residents through sustainable and community-driven initiatives, so they were well aligned to the objectives of the Community Led Climate Solutions program’s Scaling Grants, funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. These grants support community-led projects that address the risks or impacts of climate change, particularly those that alleviate disadvantage.

YRV received a $57,500 grant for their Protecting Energy for Seniors project. It will be delivered in three stages, with the first upgrading shared facilities, including the communal hall facilities and main office, with a 25kW solar array and 27kWh of batteries. This upgrade is expected to reduce annual energy bills by approximately $5,000, a significant saving.

In stage 2, YRV will offer professional energy consultations free of charge to residents to help them save money, reduce carbon emissions and improve living comfort. These consultations involve:

• Observing major appliances and their configurations in each unit;
• Analysing energy bills to create a summary of energy use;
• Providing advice on opportunities for improvement; and
• Facilitating two-way engagement for residents to gain more information and reduce energy costs.

Future Plans

Stage 3 will be informed by the findings from energy consultations that will make recommendations to the YRV board on further opportunities to assist residents. Potential recommendations include:

• Trialling solar and/or battery systems on selected units to build confidence in potential savings;
• Adjusting hot water settings and timers;
• Optimising arrangements with non-residential meters (e.g., security lighting and personal alarms); or
• Improving thermal performance of units.

This project not only scales YRV’s renewable initiatives but also supports the broader Yackandandah community. YRV collaborates with local health services in Beechworth and Yackandandah to provide programs for disadvantaged and isolated community members,, including regular social events in the community room.

YRV’s renewable energy initiative exemplifies a strong, locally-led project that not only benefits its residents but also strengthens the broader community’s resilience to climate change. Through collaboration, innovation and community engagement, YRV is paving the way for a sustainable and inclusive future.

Liz: I mean, there were a couple of things happening at the time in PRF. One was that Glyn had brought in Genevieve Timmons to do some work with PRF around partnerships with peers in philanthropy. And the other thing that was happening around that time was, I understand there was obviously a lot happening around the country in terms of drought. And then, of course, no one will forget 2019/20 in terms of bushfires, then COVID, then floods. So yeah. So my understanding of the beginning is that it was, it was around, I guess, both of those things, working with peers, and also ability of FRRR to be able to channel resources to those communities that are obviously often very much at the front line of these disasters.

Natalie: So, yeah, certainly the drought started to really bite in New South Wales and other parts of Australia. And had, you know, been pretty isolated to Queensland before that, and then, you know, we really got into those very dry times. And FRRR had a program that was sort of running and received a relatively major grant from the federal government and a lot of other philanthropy, started to think about what they could be doing to support those regions as well, and particularly foundations who had had a connection to rural Australia in some way. And our understanding is that Paul Ramsey, had had had a pretty strong connection in the Southern Highlands region, and there was a sort of care for the country from that perspective as well.

In thinking about collaborations that you’ve been involved in, or the PRF is or has been involved in, where would you where would you say that the complementary strengths are? And you know what’s make, what makes the collaboration with PRF and FRRR for all acronyms together to work so well.

Liz: Look, I think there’s obviously big complementary strengths around our purpose, which is always a good a good starting point, and we want to see people and places thrive around Australia, and we’re really mindful of those places that experience the greatest impacts of, you know, all forms of disadvantage, obviously, in terms of rural and regional Australia, that’s often where the the impact of these disasters is most intensely felt. I think we would come from a similar kind of mindset in how we see those places, not places to be saved by outsiders, but places to hopefully from our perspective, try, what can we bring, in terms of resources, in terms of influence, what are the things that we can bring that will enable those places to, or help enable those places to, you know, use the strengths that they they clearly have, and demonstrate, I think we saw FRRR, and would see FRRR as having that deep understanding, you know, that understanding of rural and regional and remote communities and strong connection to those places being located in a regional area. Yeah. So just that deep knowledge, like a lot of a lot of our funding, until more recent times, has been a lot on the Eastern Seaboard, for example. So you know, often we we need to partner with people who know other places better than, better than we do. I think, I think the other thing is that we would both, I would say, share a view that we want to be listening to people in communities about what it is that matters to them, what they want to do about it and how can we back them.

Natalie: I’d be interested in your reflections on, you know, how our respective goals and objectives have evolved with the partnership, and how you know what your observations of that have been, yeah. Got any thoughts?

Liz: So I suppose, in terms of PRF’s strategy and again, this is not that dissimilar, in some ways, a future where people and places have what they need to thrive. But I guess a big thing that has shifted when we talked about the beginning of the relationship is PRF was doing a lot more of that kind of disaster relief funding at the time when this relationship started. Now, we would hold a view that if we’re going to work with alongside people and places, to shift the kind of conditions that lead to disadvantage, we want to have a more long-term approach. We want to have we want to work with people and places in terms of, how can we help build their resilience for a long term, And I think the the power of a small grant to catalyse things that we we might not be able to even anticipate, is really interesting, yeah, really working with communities to re-imagine different future scenarios and fund things that are about developing new capabilities and new insights is, yeah, it’s full of potential learning and potential innovation.Liz:

And I think even just that recognition that so often, as you know, well, after a disaster, that’s when all the money flows is well, like people give in response to disasters,  but they don’t often give to think about a long-term, yeah, capability building or capacity building?

Natalie: Yeah, that’s right, and I think the data would still say that most disaster giving is still in that response phase. There’s increasing advocacy and evidence, you know, to shift that balance towards more preparedness and resilience.

PRF has a lot of impactful partnerships and probably a growing portfolio by the year as PRF embeds its strategy. What did you look for in the not-for-profits that you partner with and what does success look like?

Liz: The obvious one, that’s one that we started talking about in this relationship, is, is shared purpose. So focused on purpose. We also, though, definitely look for not-for-profits, and any partners, partners like FRRR that know how to and are good at collaborating, and ideally, people who can collaborate across sectors as well. So that’s increasingly a focus for PRF is, yeah, how do we work with government at all levels? How do we work with peers? How do we work with partners, with communities? One of our excellent board members says all the time, you know, so what difference will this make for a real person somewhere? So I think, I think especially when you’re in the space of trying to think about system shifting and conditions and everything, it’s still trying to always draw that link between you, trying to make this you know, you want to focus on and try to influence macro conditions, and you want to make sure that the stuff that you’re doing and talking about and involved in is actually making a difference for a real person somewhere. As someone who’s come from the community sector and has often applied, you know, sought funding for things the number of times in the days when I was doing that, where I felt like you’ve got to come up with something that’s innovative, sustainable, creative, you can do it in six months, you can’t pay any staff, you can’t pay any overheads, DELIVER! You know, it’s like, if we’re not using that money in a way that it might change the way say government funding flows into communities, then it’s still a drop in the ocean relative to the the level of funding that governments pour into communities, the way it flows, as we often know, is not necessarily the most effective way. Is not the way that the community has a has a has a solid enough say over how resources might flow differently within that community. I would rather that we’re starting a conversation with people who have an ability to change some policy levers or funding levers at the beginning of that, you know, ideally not six months long, but you know, ideally at the beginning of that sort of initiative or set of initiatives, so that there’s a chance that they might be prepared to go on the journey of like, what can we learn about this, and how could we potentially back this in somewhere else? So I think understanding what what role we can play as philanthropy, which is sometimes we can back in things that government can’t, as you know, easily back in but maybe they can five or 10 years down the track, if we’ve been able to, if we’ve been able to prove something up, but not, not on a fantasy of like one day, government will just adopt this.

Natalie: FRRR is 25 this year, so we’re thinking about what the future for rural, regional, remote Australia should look like, what the future aspirations might be in, say, 2050, you know, what would, what would good look like? What would better look like? What would a thriving regional Australia look like, and what’s it going to take to get us there? So I’d be really curious to hear about from PRF’s perspective. You know, what would a thriving rural, regional, remote Australia look like in 2050?

Liz: Places and communities are connected and leading and imagining their futures. You’ve gotta connect with people in order to be able to lead and imagine different futures. And you’ve gotta be able to connect across the differences that we were talking about, the different paradigms, the different perspectives, the different backgrounds, all of that stuff I think you do need. Yeah, so I would, I would love to see more communities thriving, because they’ve been able to, in a way, maybe rediscover some of that connection and some of that imagination about the future. And I think it’s we really need at the moment, because I think there’s a lot that is that people are understanding, understandably feeling pretty overwhelmed by terms of the direction of what’s happening in the climate, what’s happening in global politics, all of those things, but, but I think there are stories where there’s and hopefully through something like the Climate Solutions grants, you know, there will be amazing stories of things that people are doing, great ideas, great creativity, great collaboration, great possibility, getting shared, getting learnt from, and yeah, that we, that the broader Australian society can see this is what’s possible.

Natalie: For many communities, just being seen and heard is really important, because they can feel like they’re not seen and heard and they don’t matter a lot of the time. And in regional Australia, there’s a lot of lot of stuff contributing to the broader country and nation that can can be a bit invisible, unless it’s a crisis. And then, yeah, that’s so yeah, I completely agree with what you described and I think the word hope is really important, yeah, really important. Yeah. Well, I would just close by saying it’s really brilliant to work with PRF and the team, and it is a partnership that’s evolved over time, and it’s been, it will continue to evolve, which good partnerships should. But yeah, the comments you made about, you know, the sort of some of the shared perspective and starting place about what we think the world needs is really important. And, yeah,I think we can continue to contribute with our respective strengths, and, you know, bring collaboration to communities, and you know, hopefully to continue to demonstrate what good collaboration can look like.

Up to $625,000 available thanks to growing number of supporters, including Elders Insurance

Funding is now available for remote, rural and regional communities seeking to embrace practices and solutions that reduce emissions and address the impacts of climate change for positive and sustainable environmental, social and economic outcomes.

FRRR’s Community Led Climate Solutions program (CLCS) is offering grants to not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) via two streams, with a total funding pool of $625,000 available for initiatives that address climate change at a local level.

• Stream 1 – Engage and Deliver: Grants up to $20,000 for local projects promoting or actioning practices and solutions that can reduce emissions and benefit their community; and
• Stream 2 – Scaling: Grants from $20,001 to $75,000 for projects scaling locally-led initiatives, that alleviate socio-economic challenges and enable communities to thrive.

The Scaling stream is new this round and recognises that community organisations in remote, rural and regional Australia can find it challenging to access funds for local climate solutions initiatives, when their focus is often on alleviating disadvantage in their community. That’s why FRRR, with the support of its partners, is pleased to offer grants to strengthen and scale up existing projects.

Grants can be used by communities to educate locals and adopt clean energy practices; reduce emissions; implement low carbon power sources; embrace reuse and regenerative practices; support solutions that deliver sustainable agriculture and food systems; encourage biodiverse ecosystems; or activities designed to manage change and support the livelihoods of people reliant on industries in transition.

Sarah Matthee, Climate Solutions Portfolio Lead at FRRR, said the strong response from local groups to the first round of the program emphasised the active role that rural communities want to play in initiatives that capitalise on cleaner and more sustainable climate solutions that will benefit local people.

“Addressing the impacts of a changing climate requires a long-term outlook, backed by local solutions. We know that rural NFPs are eager to get on the front foot and ensure that no one is left behind. Local people can be best placed to lead just transitions and we are here to actively support rural communities in this process,” Ms Matthee explained.

“We are grateful to partner with a growing number of like-minded organisations including Boundless Earth, Hand Heart Pocket, Paul Ramsay Foundation and most recently Elders Insurance backed by the QBE Foundation. Like FRRR, these organisations are committed to funding community-led solutions that reduce emissions and address the impacts of climate change across remote, rural and regional Australia.

Dale Gleeson, General Manager at Elders Insurance, said that Elders Insurance, backed by QBE and the QBE Foundation, is proud to support the creation of strong, resilient, and inclusive communities.

“As one of Australia’s largest regional and rural insurance providers, we are delighted to be joining with FRRR on this critical role of supporting community-led climate solutions activities across remote, rural, and regional Australia,” Mr Gleeson stated.

The grants can fund community-driven projects that educate and engage local people on the transition to renewable energy, like the Gippsland Climate Change Network Inc’s ‘New Energy Power Pops’ project, which received a $20,000 grant in the first round of CLCS. The funding supported community education targeting young people at local markets and events in Traralgon, Victoria, including using virtual reality to inform people about the renewable energy transition industry in the Latrobe region and to promote employment and skills training opportunities.

The funding can also be used for projects that reduce emissions, like the Gympie and District Sustainability Alliance’s Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) in Queensland. Community Action Inc. on behalf of the Alliance, was awarded a $20,000 grant to support solar installation and energy efficient infrastructure upgrades for their tenants. The purpose of the upgrades was to reduce emissions and provide equitable access to renewable energy cost benefits, with a further goal of promoting solar and battery systems to other housing providers.

An online Grantseeker Workshop, including a Q&A session on the Community Led Climate Solutions grant program, will be held on Tuesday, 13 August 2024, from 12:30 – 1:30 pm AEST. Register at https://events.humanitix.com/community-led-climate-solutions-round-2-grantseeker-webinar

Applications for the Community Led Climate Solutions are now open.

For the Scaling Grants ($20,001 – $75,000), an expression of interest (EOI) needs to be lodged by 5pm AEST, 22 August, with shortlisted applicants notified by 4 September. Applications for both streams close 5pm AEST, 26 September. To learn more and apply, visit: https://frrr.org.au/community-led-climate-solutions/.

FRRR and Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) are pleased to announce a multi-year partnership to support Community Led Climate Solutions in remote, rural and regional communities experiencing disadvantage across Australia.

This support aims to address disadvantage, reduce the risks and impacts of climate change on community lives and livelihoods and enable community-led solutions. Funding will be distributed through FRRR’s Community Led Climate Solutions grant program.

Natalie Egleton, FRRR’s CEO, said that with rural communities disproportionately impacted by the impacts of climate change, it is vital that there is flexible funding to seed and strengthen the activities of not-for-profit organisations leading change in their communities.

“We know remote, rural and regional communities are already feeling the impacts of a changing climate and many are ready to respond – but what that looks like in their community will differ depending on their context. The support of Paul Ramsay Foundation is important to back the initiatives of locals who will act on climate solutions and make a difference in their community.

 “With Paul Ramsay Foundation’s support, combined with generous support of organisations such as Boundless Earth and Hand Heart Pocket Foundation, we are looking forward to continuing to provide this valuable support annually through a dedicated grants and support program.”

Liz Yeo, Chief Alliances Officer at Paul Ramsay Foundation, said, “At PRF, we recognise that communities themselves bring great strengths and ideas about how best to tackle the challenges they face. We’re pleased to be joining with FRRR to support remote, rural and regional communities to develop local solutions to the impact of climate change and socioeconomic disadvantage.”

Round 2 of Community Led Climate Solutions will open mid-July 2024. Subscribe to FRRR’s eNews to receive a monthly update about the grants and opportunities on offer.