We have now annouced our 10 Finalists, who will be putting their ideas into practice over the next year to compete for a share of £1 million.

The Finalists are varied in their location, the people they are working with, and the approach they’re taking.  Despite their differences though they share a lot in common.  The Finalists, and all the Big Green Challengers, are harnessing their ingenuity, practical thinking, and community knowledge to try to achieve their goal of moving their community towards a lower carbon future.

The value of the kind of projects being led by our Big Green Challengers is relatively unrecognised -  community groups aren’t often called upon to reveal how to reduce fuel bills and increase energy efficiency.  Over the next year we will follow the Finalists and work with them to understand the impacts of their projects, both for the purpose of judging the prize and to demonstrate to the very real impact that community-led action on climate change can have.

I spent time with all of the Finalists and several of the Big Green Challengers yesterday and was really inspired by their energy, imagination and tenacity.  I can’t wait to see how the Finalists do over the next year, and hope we can also stay in touch with as many of the Big Green Challengers as possible to follow and understand their progress too. 

You will be able to find updates on the progress of the projects over the coming year on this blog and on the Finalists’ pages.