Awel Aman Tawe

Project description

Awel Aman Tawe’s roots go back to 1998 and its founding idea to develop a pioneering community wind farm, a project that ultimately took 19 years to complete. AAT raised half the finance for this wind farm through a co-operative share offer and set up a trading arm to run the Awel wind farm, putting all the profits back into community and environmental projects. AAT also established Egni solar energy co-operative, a community electric transport scheme Taith, and a creative engagement programme, which this article is focused on. All this work responds to the interlinked aims of responding to climate change and improving community resilience in their region.

The long gestation period for the wind farm necessitated the early development of AAT’s community education and public engagement work. This uses creative methods to develop support for sustainability measures and injects creativity into environmental projects, creating a virtuous cycle. In the earlier days of the organisation, creativity helped to get attention and bring in participants, doing the slow but necessary work of developing local support and understanding. Examples of this included climate poetry anthologies and competitions judged by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and National Poet for Wales Gillian Clarke, animation workshops, printmaking and green film nights.

These activities helped to maintain momentum during the extensive process of fundraising and obtaining planning permission that was necessary to set up the wind farm. Filmmaker Mike Harrison helped to document the final installation of the wind turbines, creating a visual record of this moment for everyone to revisit. This is important given that the story of the wind farm’s development has become an essential part of ongoing outreach work ever since. This creative work was formalised into an official arts programme in 2010, which has now culminated in the establishment of Hwb y Gors, a low-carbon arts, education and enterprise centre that has creativity and sustainability at its heart.

The artistic element of AAT’s work is partially funded through profits from the energy co-operative, while the arts programme continues to develop public interest in the co-operative as well as encouraging energy efficiency measures that make it more effective. There are two main strands to AAT’s recent artistic work: the We Are Energy Warriors programme (2021-), which is focused on schools; and the all-ages creative work that centres on the renovation and retrofitting of Hwb y Gors (2018-24).

We Are Energy Warriors

This art-led education programme works in local schools and aims to inform and empower pupils to act as ‘energy warriors’ in their homes and communities while getting the schools to reduce their own energy usage. Awel Aman Tawe works with local artists, researchers and other collaborators to run sessions with pupils that combine renewable energy expertise with creative activities. We Are Energy Warriors focuses on school children as agents of change in their households and classrooms, while seeking to influence the schools themselves via their pupils’ enthusiasm.

Jennifer James emphasised the importance of working with children as agents of change:

‘It is really important that we provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and values to be ethical and informed citizens of Wales and the world. We Are Energy Warriors empowers pupils to take action on climate change in their school, home and community. Through engaging artists to work with the pupils on creative campaigns, our project nurtures creativity and, as a result, they are inspired to be ambitious and confident in sharing their messages.’

AAT works with artists on the process of designing projects as well as on the delivery itself. Creative activities have included:

• Writing and performing ‘Energy Raps’ with local rap artist, Mr Phormula. These were performed in outdoor spaces using a pedal-powered disco setup provided by local education business Ynni Da and made into a film recording (see below).
• Designing Energy Warriors murals with artist Sion Tomos Owens to be installed in the school as a permanent reminder of their experiences and learnings.
• Textile workshops with artist Sian Lester that explored upcycling of materials and natural dyeing techniques as a lens for thinking about waste reduction and the energy use that goes into physical materials like clothes. The activities drew on elements of Welsh traditions through stories from the Mabinogion.

These creative activities sit alongside site visits to wind turbines, workshops run by Egni Co-op and Swansea University, and talks from visiting speakers. At the end of the project schools are encouraged to make pledges for ways they are going to continue to address their environmental impact. Ongoing activities have included a sustainable fashion show, a ‘power down, wrap up’ day, a harvest festival and fundraising for solar equipment. Evaluation carried out by AAT found that schools that took part in the programme had reduced their energy consumption by 30% over a two-year period.

Jennifer James emphasised the importance of measures to ensure that their education work is accessible. This includes the use of creative activities in a wide variety of media, alongside presenting sessions bilingually in English and Welsh.

‘Our work with Sian Lester inspired a community to come together to support Year 5 and 6 in their creativity in Saundersfoot and Lamphey Primary School. They were intrigued by the children foraging and cooking nettles and onion skins and wanted to know more about natural dyeing techniques. Collaborative intergenerational learning took place as a result. Pupils took their behaviour changes home with them and impressed their families with not only their new skills, but their resourcefulness, resilience and determination to reduce waste beyond recycling. Connections were made with nature and the environment, each other, and historical and contemporary perspectives.’

Jennifer James

They also worked with artists including Ami Marsden to design a Sensory Story of Energy with a school for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties, which includes weaving, natural dyeing, rapping, creating murals, sculpture, kite making, building, designing kinetic structures and drama.

Hwb y Gors

Hwb y Gors is a new community hub based in a 100-year-old school building that was bought, renovated and retrofitted by AAT. The building includes a community café, co-working studios and enterprise spaces, education facilities, a community garden and a community electric transport scheme. The building also aims to provide a base for heritage crafts, education about low carbon for adults and children, a repair cafe, bike scheme, garden club, and a planned climate change artist-in-residency scheme. The building is retrofitted to a high standard of sustainability, including 90kW rooftop solar, 50kW ground source heating, a sustainable drainage scheme with rain gardens, rain planters and rainwater harvesting for flushing the toilets. It aims to act as an example for how this kind of retrofit can be achieved.

Arts and heritage played an important role in the process, given the historic significance of the building for the area. The retrofit retained and restored original features and responded creatively to those that could not be retained. Stained glass artist Simon Howard ran community workshops to create 60 stained glass panels for the windows, and 117 ceramic tiles depicting local wildlife were made. Textile artist Mena Buss worked with the Tawe Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers to create a 10-metre heritage quilt commemorating the history of the school that will be hung in the building’s cafe. The quilt was unveiled at an event featuring creative contributions from the local Waun Silver Band, a local award-winning harpist Eiddwen and the Swn y Nant Tune Group.

Emily Hinshelwood, Creative Director of AAT, emphasised the importance of combining sustainability, creativity and heritage measures in the venue’s design:

‘As one of the last remaining community spaces in Cwmgors, we wanted to ensure that the memories of this beloved building live on in its new guise as a community hub. We’ve had to strip out the building and introduce new energy measures, but it still has the feel of the old building. We believe that creativity plays a key role in imagining a new, more sustainable future and Hwb y Gors is based on that premise.’

The arts strand of the work on Hwb y Gors connects local heritage with an inspiring vision of what a net-zero future can look like, presenting the ways that these are interconnected. The status of the building as a historical landmark and innovative modern retrofit aptly combines these aspects. Creative workshops also involve locals in the building refurbishment and build awareness of the sustainability measures that are going into it, providing an opportunity to share learning and ensure that people have a positive understanding of what the hub will offer and its status within the community.

When the renovation is complete AAT will be creating a programme of low-carbon arts activities, education through the arts and an artist-in-residence programme. This will be offered to artists who are keen to explore sustainability as well as the climate and biodiversity emergencies. AAT intends to attract artists from a range of creative industries who will share their work with the community and run taster workshops.

Sustainability issues

• Community renewable energy generation: AAT pursues a programme of renewable energy generation, which puts power into the hands of communities and offers the opportunities for individuals to invest in renewable energy.
• Energy saving: Activities directly contribute to reducing energy use through education and encouraging participants to develop self-identities that include energy efficiency.
• Public engagement: Activities develop long-term community support for renewable energy, energy efficiency and net-zero aims by providing opportunities for participation, developing positive perceptions and connecting efforts to local heritage.
• Communication: Creative outputs document the organisation’s efforts and expand the reach as well as providing alternative and fun ways of presenting their messages to reach different audiences.
• Participation: Co-creating artworks and creative responses provides an initial route for people to actively participate in AAT’s work, even if only in a small way. This can offer a route to continued participation in AAT’s work or climate action more generally.
• Community resilience and wellbeing: The arts programme offers a way for AAT to give something back to the community, providing activities that are fun and restorative. In an area of deprivation and with issues of increasing loneliness and isolation, the arts programme and AAT’s other regular activities like Repair Café, Stitch Club and Garden Group offer significant opportunities for community interaction and support.

‘Pupils shared their work with the community – one girl taught her grandmother how to dye using plants in the garden and another grandparent reported having to turn gadget switches off on the wall!’

Sian Lester, artist

Lessons, tips and advice

• It is important to find the right balance between the creative side and education/science side of public engagement. These work well together if neither dominates too much.
• Survey participants need to understand what they want to do next and how things can be improved in the future. For example, AAT learned early on through their arts events that many people want to go away with ideas for action, especially when faced with distressing messages about climate change. This was a case of sharing positive role models and reasons for hope.
• Using repurposed materials for art activities reduces costs and environmental impact and ensures that the materials are aligned with the message. It can also be another way of inspiring creativity through working with limitations.

• AAT’s achievements so far provide a great starting point to offer inspiration for outreach work, offering an inspiring narrative that can be learned from.
• Arts methods are one approach among many and might not work for everyone. They fill a gap and provide a way to reach participants who would not be engaged otherwise.
• There can be a risk of backlash or overload for people running these projects. It is important to have good support networks and identify practical and achievable next steps.
• Running activities bilingually in Welsh and English is important for accessibility in AAT’s regional context.
• Combining local heritage and visions for the future, and using traditional stories and crafts, are effective methods to engage with environmental sustainability.

Partners and stakeholders

Awel Aman Tawe is a charity with the interlinked aims of supporting people in south Wales to combat climate change and improving community resilience. They established Awel Coop for wind energy and Egni Coop for solar energy, an EV transport scheme, education programme We are Energy Warriors and the forthcoming low-carbon centre Hwb y Gors. Relevant staff at AAT involved in their creative and education work include:

• Emily Hinshelwood: Creative Director and one of the founding members of the organisation. She established AAT’s arts and climate change programme in 2010 and is managing the development of Hwb y Gors.
• Jennifer James: AAT’s Education Programme Lead who developed the We Are Energy Warriors programme and runs the organisation’s education programme across south Wales with artists, energy experts and schools.
• Louise Griffiths: Community Engagement Officer who has established a programme of creative workshops, events and volunteering opportunities to engage people in the refurbishment of Hwb y Gors.

AAT regularly collaborates with a number of local artists and creatives, including:

• Mike Harrison: A filmmaker who has documented various aspects of AAT’s work, including the raising of the original wind turbine.
• Mr Phormula: An MC who works with school pupils to write and perform ‘energy raps’ as part of AAT’s education programme, working with Ynni Da’s pedal-powered disco.
• Sion Tomos Owen: Socially engaged artist who works with schools to run activities and produce sustainability themed murals.
• Sian Lester: Textile artist who AAT has worked with on the schools’ programme.
• Ami Marsden: Artist who created a sensory story of energy workshop, working with a school for pupils with learning disabilities.
• Menna Buss: Sustainable stitch and textile artist who worked with participants to create a heritage quilt.
• Simon Howard: Stained glass artist who ran workshops to create stained glass panels for Hwb y Gors.
• Tawe Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers: Group of craftspeople dedicated to sharing these heritage crafts.

Other important collaborators include:

• Energy Sparks: an online energy analysis tool designed to be used in schools, which AAT makes use of as part of their Energy Warriors programme.
• See Science: an organisation that supports STEM workshops in schools across Wales. AAT worked with them on their STEM ambassadors programme.
• Swansea University runs STEM workshops as part of the Energy Warriors programme.
• Local schools working with the Energy Warriors programme.
• Local arts and crafts groups that have participated in the renovation of Hwb y Gors.
• Newport and Pembrokeshire Councils with which AAT have a contract to deliver both rooftop solar on their buildings and climate education.
• Welsh Government Energy Service that has supported AAT’s energy work with grants, contracts and advice.
• Community Energy Wales: an organisation supporting community energy organisations across Wales, which AAT helped to set up.

Funding

Profits from the community energy co-ops Awel and Egni are reinvested back into projects like We Are Energy Warriors and the Hwb y Gors retrofit.

Funding for We Are Energy Warriors initially came from The Climate Coalition’s Great Big Green Week. This was followed by funding from The National Lottery Together for Our Planet Fund, which supported the project to continue on a larger scale. Work with schools in Pembrokeshire was supported by the Pembrokeshire Coastal Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund on multiple occasions. The Sensory Story of Energy was funded by The National Lottery’s Awards for All scheme.

The old school building for Hwb y Gors was bought using money raised from the Awel community wind farm. Funding for the refurbishment was raised through a crowdfunding scheme that attracted 186 supporters. Further funding was also obtained from the Heritage Lottery, Arts Council of Wales, Neath Port Talbot CVS Community Renewal Fund, The Clothworkers’ Foundation, The Ashley Family Foundation, WCVA Landfill Disposal Scheme, The Moondance Foundation, Margaret Davies Charitable Trust, Neath Port Talbot Council Transforming Towns Initiative, Garfield Weston Foundation, National Lottery People and Places Community Fund, Welsh Government Community Facilities Programme, Welsh Government Energy Service, Baily Thomas Charitable Fund, Orangebox Ltd, The Coalfields Regenerations Trust, Keep Wales Tidy, Natural Resources Wales, Cwmpas through Social Business Wales, Welsh Government Energy Service, Shared Prosperity Fund, Local Places for Nature.

Relevant links

• Awel Aman Tawe
• Hwb y Gors
• We Are Energy Warriors