Despite the many challenges facing our communities, there is no shortage of people across Edinburgh taking action. Every day, local groups, organisations and residents are coming together to care for local places, support one another and respond to the climate and nature crisis.

One of Edinburgh’s greatest strengths is the extraordinary range of people, groups and organisations leading this work. Across the city, communities are restoring neglected green spaces, helping people access sustainable transport, growing food, reducing waste and creating opportunities for people to learn, connect and participate in climate action in ways that work for them.

Over the past year, Greenlight has supported a wide range of community-led projects across Edinburgh. While each project has taken its own approach, they share a common thread: local people identifying a need in their community and turning ideas into practical action.

As part of Big Give Small Charity Week, we’re taking the opportunity to reflect on some of these projects and the difference they have made. Together, they offer a snapshot of the creativity, commitment and leadership that exists across Edinburgh, and demonstrate what can happen when communities are supported to turn ideas into action.

As part of Big Give Small Charity Week, ECCAN is taking part in its first matched funding campaign. Alongside our existing sources of funding, we are exploring ways to build greater community support for the network and develop more diverse and resilient funding streams for the future.

At its heart, ECCAN is a network created by and for its members. By broadening how we are funded, we hope to strengthen our ability to support community-led climate action across Edinburgh and continue providing funding, connections, learning opportunities and a platform for local organisations, groups and individuals working towards a more just and sustainable city.

Reimagining neglected spaces

Forgotten Edges CIC received Greenlight funding to restore and rejuvenate neglected street planters across Edinburgh. Working with local residents and businesses, the project transformed planters that had become neglected and often used as bins into vibrant miniature permaculture gardens.

Local businesses donated plants and materials, while nearby traders reported that the revitalised planters had noticeably improved the appearance of their streets, with visitors regularly stopping to admire and photograph them. The work also attracted support from the City of Edinburgh Council, which installed signage encouraging the public to respect the planters.

Through social media and QR codes attached to each planter, residents can learn more about permaculture, the climate benefits of urban greening and opportunities to get involved in caring for the spaces themselves.

Projects like this demonstrate how relatively small interventions can have a lasting impact, improving biodiversity, creating more welcoming neighbourhoods and giving communities opportunities to shape and care for shared spaces.

Creating access through active travel

The challenges facing our communities rarely exist in isolation. Questions of climate, health, mobility, poverty, migration and social connection are often deeply intertwined, which is why some of the most effective climate action also delivers wider social benefits.

Bikes for Refugees received Greenlight funding to provide refurbished bicycles and cycling equipment to refugees and asylum seekers living in Edinburgh. The project distributed free bicycles and welcome packs to New Scots, helping address transport poverty while providing a sustainable and affordable way to travel around the city.

For many recipients, access to a bicycle made it easier to attend appointments, access services, connect with community activities and explore their new city. Alongside the environmental benefits of active travel, participants reported positive impacts on physical health, mental wellbeing and social connection.

Projects like this highlight the importance of recognising the many interconnected challenges facing our communities. Some of the most meaningful responses to the climate and nature crisis are those that also address the wider realities of people’s lives, creating benefits for both communities and the environment.

Growing food, skills and confidence

Numerous Greenlight projects have focused on food growing, community learning and creating opportunities for people to build practical skills.

At Gorgie Community Farm, funding helped support the revitalisation of Old Gorgie Farm, transforming a neglected and vandalised site into a productive growing space and community resource. Funding enabled the farm to clear debris, install new growing infrastructure and employ a dedicated gardener who now runs regular workshops and community growing sessions. More than 100 volunteers have supported the project so far, while local residents have gained skills in gardening and food growing that they can take into their own lives.

The project has also created opportunities for young people through a partnership with Capella Charity’s Next Steps programme, helping participants build confidence, learn new skills and connect with a supportive community.

Taken together, these projects illustrate the creativity, commitment and expertise that already exists within Edinburgh’s communities. ECCAN’s role is to help create the conditions in which this work can grow through funding, connections, shared learning and opportunities for collaboration.

Reaching communities often missing from climate conversations

No single community experiences the climate and nature crisis in exactly the same way. If our responses are to be meaningful, they must be shaped by the experiences, knowledge and priorities of the full range of people and communities affected by it.

Mwamba, a community organisation supporting Black African women with migration experience in Edinburgh and the Lothians, received funding to deliver a six-week zero-waste cooking course alongside a series of climate awareness Conversation Cafés.

The project reached more than 150 people through practical workshops and discussions exploring climate issues through everyday experiences such as food, cooking and household waste.

As the Mwamba director shared:

“When individuals in the train station approach people with clipboards about climate action, they aren’t asking people who look like me.”

The project highlights the importance of ensuring that climate conversations are shaped by a wider range of experiences and perspectives. Participants reported increased understanding of climate issues and practical changes in their daily lives, from reducing food waste to changing the way they store and manage food at home.

Projects like this remind us that climate action is strongest when it is shaped by the full breadth of experiences, knowledge and priorities that exist across our communities.

Looking ahead

The projects featured here represent only a small selection of the community climate action taking place across Edinburgh. You can view our Greenlight projects from 2025-26 here.

Every year, people across Edinburgh come forward with ideas to improve local places, support nature, strengthen communities and respond to the challenges facing their neighbourhoods.

The latest Greenlight funding round is already bringing forward a new wave of ideas, each rooted in the knowledge, creativity and commitment of local communities.

The challenges facing our communities are complex and interconnected, and meaningful responses require time, resources and collaboration. Supporting communities to develop and deliver their own solutions is essential if we are to build the kind of joined-up climate action needed across every part of Edinburgh.

During Big Give Small Charity Week, donations to ECCAN will be doubled.

As we explore new ways of building a more community-supported and resilient organisation, this campaign offers an opportunity for people who value community-led climate action to contribute directly to the future of the network.

Every donation will help us continue supporting community-led climate action through Greenlight, connecting organisations and individuals, sharing learning, creating opportunities for collaboration and championing the work of communities across Edinburgh.

We look forward to seeing what communities across Edinburgh make possible next.