The Net Zero Team held their next Diocesan Net Zero Roadshow event in Edinburgh at St Mary’s Cathedral on Saturday 19 July. The event brought together over 80 representatives from charges across the Diocese and faith, heritage and environmental organisations. It was a day packed with practical information as well as space for reflection as we rooted net zero ambitions in our call to care for creation.
The day started with tea and coffee followed by welcomes and introductions led by Bethany Nelson and Jack Nevin from the Net Zero Team and the Very Rev John Conway, provost of the Cathedral.
The morning workshops on offer were led by Iain Johnston from Faith in Communities, Anne-Marie O’Hara from the National Churches Trust, and the Provost of the Cathedral in conjunction with two manufacturers of radiant heating, who spoke about the radiant chandeliers recently installed in the Lady Chapel.
A plant-based soup lunch was provided by the Grassmarket Community, a local social enterprise. After lunch we moved into a time of sharing stories, with small group conversations during which everyone had the opportunity to voice their experiences and concerns. These discussions were facilitated by members of the Net Zero Team and key points were fed back to the wider group.
The afternoon workshops were led by Jean Carletta, director of HeatHack, and jointly by Andy and Regina from A Rocha Partners in Action and Johnathan Baxter from the A+E project. There was also a repeat of the morning radiant heating workshop.
The wet weather did not stop the beautiful cathedral grounds being used as part of the workshop led by A Rocha and A+E.
We would like to thank all our contributors and all the staff and volunteers at the cathedral, in particular John Conway, provost of the Cathedral and Janet Spence, chaplain of the cathedral, who led our closing worship. We’re so thankful to the cathedral eco group who served tea and coffee and helped keep the day running smoothly, and to Stuart Breingan who kindly led our sung worship.
Reflections from event attendees
I feel hopeful that action, even small, is always better than inaction.
There was such a range of useful workshops I would have liked more time to attend them all.
I’m hoping to encourage my local church to take small and big actions to show that our worship and the gospel message is intrinsically linked with caring for our world and working towards net zero in our church and home lives.
I didn’t know what to expect from the event, but it was much better and more relevant than I thought it would be!
It was good to meet some great people and make contact with people from within and outside the SEC.
It was useful to speak to professionals and hear stories from other churches.
I have confidence now to move forward and to apply for some grants.
Upcoming Roadshow Events
Please see below our upcoming dates for the remaining Roadshow events, and please help us by sharing these with anyone you know who might be interested in attending – all are welcome regardless of denomination or faith group.
Registration pages can be found on our Events page.
- 23rd August: St Pauls Cathedral Dundee
- 27th September: St Marys pro Cathedral Aberdeen
- 4th October: St Ninians Cathedral Perth
- 25th October: St Andrews Cathedral Inverness
- 15th November: Holy Trinity and St Barnabas Paisley
Bethany Nelson, Empowerment Coordinator
