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Welcome to our eighth email newsletter.

In this edition we will cover:

1. Composting in Pembrokeshire
2. Climate Change Wales education programme
3. ECo Centre Policies
4. Membership
5. Welsh Language Board Design Award

It's been a while since our last one, so probably time to catch up on news and events at the ECO Centre.

A new front page opinion piece has been published highlighting the way the issues surrounding energy use and climate change are communicated in the media. It also looks at an alternative way of viewing the energy situation and what that might mean for us. Access it from the home page or read the full article at:

http://www.ecocentre.org.uk/is-it-too-big-a-thing.html

We are very pleased to announce the launch of the 'Climate Change Wales' project. Education in the broadest and narrowest sense is a key plank of the ECO Centre's work. And much effort has been put into supporting and delivering the education programme. The current project is a result of identifying the needs of teachers for locally relevant and age relevant resouces for teaching about climate change. Lots of research revealed that there were very few websites that 'localised' the causes and impacts of climate change in Wales.  It is generally treated in very global terms. Which is not surprising as it is a global concern!

However, we are seeking to develop a range of resources and materials that will examine the causes and impacts of climate change in Wales, which are relevant across the curriculum and aimed at all of the current key stages. One of the main outputs will be a dedicated online resource, suitable for use in the classroom.  Other resources will build on those already developed and available on the ECO Centre website.

http://www.ecocentre.org.uk/climate-change-wales.html

This project has been made possible by support from the Sustainable Development Fund, managed by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and by a donation from TYF Adventure Ltd under the '1% for the Planet' scheme. This scheme puts businesses who want to make a positive contribution to the environment in touch with charitable organisations seeking funding to undertake their work.

Keep your eye on the ECO Centre website for news of the development of this project.

This year we were awarded the contract to provide support services to the local SRS (strategic recycling scheme) partnership. The scheme funds partnerships across Wales to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. As part of the scheme in Pembrokeshire the local council are distributing compost bins to every household and supplying a factsheet and a booklet with each bin. ECO Centre staff have written the factsheets and will be developing training resources for teachers to support the sustainable education programme.

We are pleased to anounce that the Welsh Language Board has again recognised the quality of the ECO Centre publications. Working with Zodshop Design and Vegoil Motoring, the vegoil information leaflet was awarded the top prize in the Environment Category of the awards.  The publication was fully compostable, have been printed on post-consumer waste recycled paper with vegetable based inks.

Trustees of the ECO Centre recently reviewed its governing policies, with a view to updating them since their origination.  The final version is available on the ECO Centre website. This is the first place to look if you are wondering what our view is on a particular issue relating to energy use, climate change and sustainability.

http://www.ecocentre.org.uk/west-wales-eco-centre-policies.html

It's important to remember that the ECO Centre started out as a voluntary group based on a membership that supported its views as contained in the policies.  Whilst the original reasons for becoming a member of the ECO Centre 26 years ago may have diminished as government caught up with the pioneering activities of the ECO Centre - e.g. low cost insulation measures to householders - we feel it would be beneficial to actively recruit new members.

We are putting together an attractice package of benefits that we think will suit the sort of people interested in the work of the ECO Centre.  Unlike the old days, membership is not restricted to those in relatively close proximity to us, so we will be using the website and this newsletter to draw attention to the option of membership as a means of supporting our activities.  If you would like to be contacted as and when details are finalised, please let us know. Alternatively, watch out for announcements.

Thank you for your continued interest in the ECO Centre.

The West Wales ECO Centre Team