Winsford Sustainability Partners

11/10/2026

11/10/2026

11/10/2026

What’s happening with the climate and nature, and what does it mean for everyday life in the UK?

📢 A special community screening: The People’s Emergency Briefing
Join us for a screening of the People’s Emergency Briefing - an eye-opening film bringing together nine leading UK scientists and experts with the latest evidence and why it matters for things like:

🌧️ Extreme weather 🍞 Food security 🏥 Health💷 Cost of living

The film is based on the National Emergency Briefing in Westminster (featured by ITV, Channel 4 and The Times) with appearances from Chris Packham, Deborah Meaden, Jennifer Saunders and a range of voices from across the UK.

After the film there will be a short open discussion about what it means for our community and what we can do locally.

Seats are free but limited so please book in advance.

Bring a friend, neighbour or family member: everyone is welcome (but 16+ recommended)

11/10/2026

Belgium has installed solar panels in its school car parks — a national programme converting the car parks of Belgium's 4,200 secondary schools and universities into solar canopy installations that simultaneously provide covered parking, EV charging for staff and student vehicles, and electricity for the school buildings below, making Belgian educational institutions the most solar-dense institutional sector in Europe.

Belgian schools represent an ideal solar canopy target: large flat car parks in locations throughout the country with daytime occupancy that matches peak solar generation hours, nearby grid connections sized for institutional electricity demand, and educational communities with high awareness of and interest in renewable energy that the visible installation reinforces daily.

Eneco and the Flemish government's School Solar Initiative have installed solar canopies on 1,800 Flemish school car parks, with Wallonia and Brussels following with equivalent programmes covering 2,400 additional sites. The standard installation covers 80% of car park area with 10-metre clearance panels generating an average of 250 kW per school — sufficient to supply 60 to 80% of a typical Belgian secondary school's electricity demand.

The EV charging integration — 4 to 8 charging points per school funded from solar revenue — provides staff and student EV charging at cost-price electricity from the overhead panels. Schools that generate more than they consume export the surplus at Belgian day-ahead prices, generating income that reduces the school's electricity bill to near zero at many Flemish sites.

Belgium educates its students about renewable energy. The solar panels above their cars do the teaching.

Source: Eneco Group NV & Flemish Agency for Educational Infrastructure (AGION), Belgian School Car Park Solar Programme Annual Report 2024

08/10/2026

A park usually has separate systems for waste, lighting and food service.

Some projects in the Netherlands are trying to connect them.

Small biogas units can collect organic leftovers from park cafés along with dog waste from designated bins. Inside the unit, that material breaks down in a sealed environment and produces biogas. The gas can then be used as an energy source, including helping supply nearby public lighting.

The interesting part is not just the fuel itself. It is the way one local waste stream can be turned into something useful without needing to travel far.

Food scraps that would normally be collected and removed stay within the park’s own system. Dog waste, which is usually treated only as something to dispose of, can become part of the same process. The energy produced can then return to the same public space in a completely different form.

These systems are small and depend heavily on good maintenance and careful waste handling.

But the idea is wonderfully circular.

A café serves food.

The park collects what is left.

The waste produces gas.

And after sunset, that energy can come back as light along the path.

08/10/2026

Discover how your whole community can benefit from a district heating scheme, with Swaffham Prior Heat Network. Free online workshop! Join a free interactive online workshop with those behind the UK’s first rural district heating network. Learn how to keep your community warm and protected from fo...