Specialist Sustainability Support
Subsidised support through our partners at Genee and SmartCarbon
Joining Going Green Together is free for VCSE organisations across the North East, giving you access to practical resources, learning opportunities, peer support and guidance to help your organisation make meaningful environmental change.
As a Going Green Together participant, you can also access subsidised specialist support through our partners Genee and SmartCarbon.
Genee is an environmental consultancy and northern delivery partner for Investors in the Environment (iiE), while SmartCarbon specialises in helping organisations measure, understand and report their carbon emissions.
These optional packages can help you understand your organisation's environmental impact in more detail, measure your carbon emissions and work towards nationally recognised environmental accreditation.
Whether you're looking for a clearer picture of where your organisation is now or want a structured way to take your environmental work further, you'll have expert guidance, practical tools and support to help you do it.
Why consider additional support?
You don't need accreditation or a detailed carbon report to start making positive environmental changes.
But for some organisations, having a recognised framework, expert support and better evidence can make it much easier to move from good intentions to consistent action.
This could be particularly useful if you're being asked to demonstrate your environmental impact to funders or commissioners, want better evidence to inform organisational decisions, or simply need some structure and expert support to turn your environmental ambitions into action.
The support available through Genee and SmartCarbon can help your organisation:
· understand and measure its environmental impact
· identify opportunities to reduce carbon emissions and costs
· build staff knowledge, confidence and engagement
· put environmental ambitions into practical action
· demonstrate your commitment and progress to funders, partners, trustees and communities
· build greater resilience for the future
What support is available?
There are two packages, based on the size of your organisation.
Both give you 12 months of access and support, combining the Investors in the Environment (iiE) framework and expert sustainability support from Genee with carbon measurement and reporting tools and specialist support from SmartCarbon.
Organisations with up to 49 employees
Access the Investors in the Environment (iiE) framework and support from Genee, giving you a structured and practical way to understand your environmental impact, identify priorities and take action while working towards nationally recognised Bronze accreditation.
Alongside this, SmartCarbon Lite will help you measure and report your carbon emissions.
You'll have practical tools and templates, expert guidance and one-to-one support to help you understand where your organisation is now and make achievable improvements.
Organisations with over 50 employees
Access the Investors in the Environment (iiE) framework and one-to-one support from Genee, giving you a structured and practical way to understand your environmental impact, identify priorities and take action while working towards nationally recognised Bronze accreditation.
Alongside this, SmartCarbon's more in-depth 7 Step programme provides carbon measurement tools, guided learning and one-to-one carbon accounting expertise.
You'll be supported to understand your carbon footprint, identify opportunities for improvement and produce a detailed Carbon Report, with the knowledge to begin developing a Carbon Reduction Plan.
Want to see exactly what's included?
Download the at-a-glance guide for a full comparison of both packages.
What will our organisation need to do?
The support is designed to work around your organisation rather than expecting you to fit a rigid programme.
You'll need to nominate a Green Champion or Green Team to lead the work within your organisation. Who takes on that role is entirely up to you; it doesn't have to sit with your leadership team.
There isn't a set number of hours you need to commit. You can decide how your organisation engages with the support over the 12 months, based on your capacity and priorities.
As you would expect, the more you engage with the expertise, tools and opportunities available, the more you'll be able to get from them. Your Green Champion or Green Team will also need to help gather relevant organisational information and data as you work through the process.
You won't be expected to figure everything out alone. Expert support is available to guide you through the process.
How much does it cost?
Going Green Together participants can access both packages at a significantly reduced cost.
Up to 49 employees
Your cost: £333.60
Save £765.40
Over 50 employees
Your cost: £1,094.81
Save £654.19
Both packages provide 12 months of access and support.
Not sure whether it's right for your organisation?
You don't need to decide alone.
Talk to the Going Green Together team about where your organisation is on its sustainability journey, what you'd like to achieve and whether this additional support could help you take your next step.
Not yet part of Going Green Together?
Joining is free for eligible VCSE organisations across the North East and gives you access to practical support, resources, learning opportunities and connections, as well as opportunities like these through our specialist partners.