Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability

The AFCfP through Next Step Initiative has developed a world-class project on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. The uniqueness of our projects lies in the fact that we have take the complex concept of climate change and simplified it to the level of understanding of even the un-schooled in the society.This was achieved through our Community Engagement Scheme.

The project is funded by the Scottish Government, with the objective of reducing the carbon emissions within the African communities in Glasgow and West of Scotland by 20% (883.63 tonnes CO2e) and cutting fuel poverty within the African communities in Glasgow and West of Scotland by 20% over three years. The project uses the UK DEFRA/DECC 2011 conversion factors for electricity and gas consumption to evaluate and monitor outcomes.

The centre also provides a sustainable cultural relevant practical support framework for the communities, taking into account the socio-cultural diversity of African individuals/households, African community organisations/groups and businesses in Glasgow and West of Scotland (Paisley, Johnstone and Linwood).

The Process

Home Visits and Energy Audits: The project employs suitably qualified Outreach and Engagement Officers to sign up households. This is followed by a home visit for a comprehensive Energy Audit of the house. The outcome of the audit determines the level of support to be provided to the household which ranges from professional energy advice, energy monitoring gadgets, low power consumption bulbs, step down power devices and referral to partner organizations.

Climate Change Awareness Events: The project holds seminars and workshops with different community and corporate organizations, educating and creating awareness on climate change and environmental sustainability. The project has held more than 20 events in Glasgow and West of Scotland since inception with more that 2,000 participants.

Climate Change Radio Shows: The Project holds Talk Shows on Radio on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability. These shows are aired three times every week on the RKTV Scotland radio station ( Now known as ABCi Media), and are available for download from the station and project websites. The aim of the shows is to reach and educate the wider audience on the impact of climate change and environmental sustainability.

Youth and Kids Programme: The Project has established the Climate Change Youths and Kids Ambassadors Program. This programme engages the youths and kids to sensitize them on the issues of climate change using the media that best communicates to each group. Youths are involved in activities such as music production (hip-hop, rap), Photo-shooting and video production and editing, all communication the message of Climate change and Environmental Sustainability. Kids are engaged with activities such as Story telling, painting, singing and drama, all communicating the same message of climate change. The kids are often engaged Radio and TV discussions on recycling

The Climate Change Resource Centre: We have established an ultra-modern resource centre for climate change information. This centre enables individuals, organizations and corporate entities to access information in form of books, journals, publications, online libraries, blogs and websites.

Our Achievements

• We are proud to say that over 3500 households and businesses have benefited from this project within the African and Caribbean communities via our awareness raising programmes on radio and community workshops We have numerous documented case-studies of beneficiaries which can be found on the project website. These successes and case studies bother on
• Reduction in Energy Bills, which ultimately leads to improved standard of living Healthy Life styles
• 144 awareness raising Radio shows; inclusive of Radio shows for women have been aired
• 40 workshops on climate change, fuel poverty and how to keep warm have been organized and presented to the African Communities in both Glasgow and West of Scotland
• 915 households within the African and Caribbean communities now say over the period, as a result of the support, have enjoyed a decrease in their energy bills by 22%. This amounts to £258,400.14 savings for the 915 households in total for the 3 years, which is equal to £282.40 Per household over the period.
• We have helped cut CO2 emission within the 915 African and Caribbean households in Glasgow and West of Scotland by 269.88 tonnes of CO2 over the 3 years
• Publication of 3 best practice guide on engaging Ethnic Minority Communities, Youth and Women on Climate change across Scotland.

Beside the above mentioned benefits, the project has also had many spin-off benefits such as

• Employment creation, full-time, part-time, and voluntary
• Skills Acquisition and employability enhancement for participating youths

Recognitions and Awards

• The 2013 Environmental Impact Award In Scotland
• The Committed to Excellence Award by European Foundation for Quality Management [EFQM]

Project /Program Support and Management

We provide empirical research-driven solutions to assist corporate organizations, government institutions, community groups and individuals in defining, designing (planning), implementing and controlling their projects or programs (i.e. portfolio of related projects) with the aim of delivering the desired output and improving organizational performance. Our solutions are designed to manage and optimize our clients’ resources against the scope, time, quality and budget allocated to the projects. We handle projects across several sectors including Financial Research, Quantitative and Statistical research, Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Community Engagement, Media, Business Incubation and Support.

Depending on the nature of the project or sector being served, our experts utilize a range of project management methodologies, including: PRINCE2, PRISM, Critical Chain, event chain, process-based management, agile project management, lean project management, and extreme project management.

When it comes to executing programs, our experts are particularly concerned with coordinating and prioritizing resources across projects, managing links between related projects and monitoring the overall costs and risks of the program. Our program management practitioners utilize approaches closely related to systems engineering in supporting large and complex programs.

As part of our project management services, AFCfP offers training programs for project managers and contractors. The training programs are all EFQM ( European Foundation For Quality Management) certified by Quality Scotland

We have successfully Managed and delivered the following projects/programs for the following clients

• The African Climate Change Centre In Scotland (Client: Scottish Government)
• African Music Academy (Client: Scottish Government)
• Coming to Scotland Project (Client: Scottish Government)
• Annual Scottish African Business Conference (Client: Glasgow Caledonia University and AFS)
• Annual African Achievements Award Scotland
• African Housing Forum Scotland (Client: Wheatly Group )
• Commonwealth Conference On Energy ,Equity & Development( Client Aberdeen University & AFS)