The Scottish Climate Intelligence Service has had a busy month building local authority capacity and capability for area-wide emissions reduction. Highlights include:
- Falkirk Council become the third local authority to publish their ClimateView dashboard as part of the SCIS programme! You can see it here.
- Ongoing 1-1 Support Plan discussions with all 32 local authorities.
- Hosting three in-person ‘Family Gathering’ events in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen for 45 officers from 27 Scottish local authorities.
- Conclusion of National Sprint series with Scottish Government and Transport Scotland
- Publication Spotlight online workshop.
- SCIS is hiring! We are looking for a Local Lead and will soon be advertising for a part-time Communications Officer. Click here to find out more.
Programme updates
1. Support plans
Based on a personalised needs assessment, our Support Plans are co-created with local authority officers to ensure SCIS is providing the most effective, tailored capacity-building support for area-wide emissions reduction that we can.
These plans are reviewed annually in conversation with local authority officers, providing space to reflect on progress to-date and identify next steps to continue and build momentum, helping everyone to understand where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.
2. Family gatherings
We were delighted to host three in-person ‘Family Gatherings’ for our local authority users last month with the aim to create space for peer-to-peer learning on regional approaches to area-wide emissions reductions and to reflect and discuss SCIS programme delivery and priorities moving forward.
Conversations ranged from the development of a holistic ‘delivery models’ framework for climate action in councils, to tips and tricks for integrating ClimateView dashboards into council workstreams and how SCIS is supporting deepened engagement with key delivery partners across the country.
It was fantastic to welcome so many officers from climate change teams across the country to the events in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, and we couldn’t be happier with the levels of engagement and enthusiasm showed by those in attendance. A particular thank you again to Aberdeenshire Council for hosting us in Aberdeen!
3. Publication spotlight
Towards the end of May, we hosted the latest of our online Spotlight workshop series: “To Publication…and Beyond!”.
Publishing their ClimateView dashboard is a key milestone for local authorities on their SCIS journeys – and based on the consistent hard work and dedication to the programme showed by officers to-date - many local authorities are fast approaching this step.
In the session we heard from Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Falkirk Council respectively about how dashboard publication has supported them to have greater strategic oversight in climate decision-making, improves delivery alignment and collaboration both within the council and with partners, and acts as a fantastic tool for deepened public engagement on climate change.
Local authorities are climate leaders: highlighting the action councils are taking across Scotland in a visually appealing and accessible format is a brilliant way to demonstrate that leadership and continue to build collective momentum for a challenge that requires sustained, collective action.
4. National sprint workshops
At the end of April, we hosted the final workshop of our National Sprint series with Scottish Government and Transport Scotland. Through three targeted workshops with key policymakers, we are co-designing an improved approach to multi-level delivery of climate action by identifying national intelligence needs across key themes and sectors, sharing practitioner expertise, and showcasing insights from the SCIS programme and local authority dashboards.
Following the conclusion of the Sprint, SCIS has produced a brief for an ongoing National Delivery Workstream which outlines a structured plan of work for deepened engagement and collaboration with national partners moving forward. We will be sharing future plans with our Programme Board and User Group over the coming weeks.
Wider engagement
As ever, SCIS continues to be a ready and willing collaborator with those supporting local government to reduce area-wide emissions across Scotland. Last month this included:
- Workshops and meetings with SPEN, SSN and NESO to discuss and collaboration and integration opportunities.
- Presenting at the SCOTS Conference.
- Insight sharing with the Welsh Government.
- Publication of SCIS Insight briefing: Benefits of Integrating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation. Read it here!
What’s coming up?
Over the next month, SCIS will be finishing our support plan conversations with local authorities, delivering workshops for committees and cross-service area teams across Scotland and coming together for our quarterly in-person team days to reflect and plan for the months aheade. Key milestones include:
Ongoing
- Heat in Buildings and Transport data analysis and cross service-area workshops with local authorities.
- 1-1 Support Plan check-ins with all local authorities
June
- Presentation at HOPS Conference 2026
- Islands (+) Family Gathering (online)
- User Group
- Programme Board
Q3
- SCIS Spotlight: Indicators (online)
If you would like to find out more about the SCIS programme, you can visit our website here, sign up to our quarterly newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn. You can also contact the team at info@climateintelligenceservice.scot.