People's Climate Jury

The People's Climate Jury will provide 30 Preston residents with a chance to have their say on how we tackle climate change across the city and make recommendations to local leaders about how the city should act in response.

The Advisory Group, is made up of representatives from the local community, business and public sectors, with the demographic profile used to select the jury so that it is mirrors the local population.

The group will also agree the wording of the question that the jury will be asked to consider when they meet. It is anticipated that this will reflect shared values of fairness and equity, aligning with the council's strategic commitments to Community Wealth Building and 'Fairness for You'.

Read the full report and recommendations from the People's Climate Jury

How is it funded?

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) provided Preston City Council with the opportunity to commit £1.36m of funding to actions to address climate change.

The funding will be invested in warmer homes, in local skills for the transition to cleaner energy, and in supporting Preston businesses to decarbonise.

Given the scale of the challenge posed by climate change, Council agreed that encouraging informed debate and supporting community involvement in decision making on climate change was also a priority and approved a share of UKSPF funding for a People's Climate Jury. 

£50,000 has been allocated from Preston's UKSPF programme to the project. The funding will ensure that the selection process to recruit members of the jury produces a good match with Preston's demographic profile in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, ward area and attitude towards climate change so that the jury will 'look and talk like us'.

Shared Future, a not-for-profit company based in the Northwest, has been appointed to facilitate the Preston People's Climate Jury.

The company is a leader in the fields of participatory budgeting and citizen juries and have partnered with many local authorities to deliver citizen assemblies and juries, including Blackburn with Darwen Council, Kendal Council and Bude Council.

Jury members will come together for eight sessions over a two-month period to hear from a range of commentators about climate change, discuss what they hear and agree a set of recommendations for local action in response.  

Each participant will be reimbursed for their involvement and will be supported with childcare or transport needs as required.