Open day: Islands Centre for Net Zero

The Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) is hosting joint open days in Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides to engage local communities and businesses.

As part of the UK and Scottish Government funded Islands Growth Deal, the ICNZ will focus on how to accelerate decarbonisation across Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides, focusing on what makes sense for the local people and environment. Project partners are keen to hear from residents, community groups and businesses on what challenges and opportunities should be prioritised by ICNZ to have the biggest impact.

The open day will be hosted in Stromness, Stornoway, and Lerwick, concurrently, with online links available for those unable to attend in person.

Alongside panel discussions on key topics, there will be a drop-in information area with hot drinks and cake, where the ICNZ team will be on hand throughout the afternoon.

This is the perfect opportunity to come along and find out more about the ICNZ, how you can get involved and influence the project and decarbonisation solutions in your area.

The event will take place on Thursday 7th December between 1pm – 6pm at:

The Charles Clouston Building, Orkney Research and Innovation Campus, Back Road, Stromness, KW16 3AW.

Topics including decarbonising Orkney transport, future-proofing Orkney business, enterprise and tourism, agriculture and land use and decarbonising domestic and community buildings and addressing fuel poverty will be discussed. The full schedule along with more information can be found at Events | Islands Centre for Net Zero (icnz.org)

ICNZ is funded by £16m from the UK Government and £0.5m from the Scottish Government as part of the Islands Growth Deal – a ten-year investment programme including partners from the public, academic, community and business sectors.

The Islands Centre for Net Zero is a pan-island distributed innovation centre that will support Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides to become lighthouse communities in the energy transition.

Developed by an Islands-based consortium led by EMEC the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) with partners Heriot- Watt University, Aquatera and Community Energy Scotland and the three Island Councils.

The centre will support the exploration, trialling and acceleration of next steps, new ideas, and routes to decarbonisation that could have replicability worldwide.

Shetland and Outer Hebrides venues for the event are:
•    Islesburgh Community Centre, King Harald Street, Lerwick, ZE1 0EQ.
•    UHI North, West and Hebrides, Stornoway Campus, Lady Lever Park, Stornoway Castle Grounds, Stornoway, HS2 0XR.