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Community action/Argyll and Bute

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Location Argyll and Bute, Scotland
Coordinates 56° 27' 37.26" N, 5° 51' 42.63" W

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Argyll and Bute.

Argyll and Bute
Scotland
UK
Europe
Cosmolocal
  • News Stop Climate Chaos Scotland reports on community ownership of renewables, and how data-centres might knock us off our climate targets, Daily Alternative (Feb 01, 2026)
  • News ‘You don’t get to aim big when you are somewhere small’: A teenager’s fight to end single use plastics on her Scottish island, theguardian.com (Sep 24, 2025)
  • News Denmark’s three-day democracy festival that attracts over 65,000, electoral-reform.org.uk (Jul 30, 2026)
  • News The five quick wins to the Land Reform challenge in Scotland [Community Land Scotland], Daily Alternative (Jul 29, 2026)
  • News How to make the sun shine at night, Craig Dalzell, commonweal.scot (Jul 16, 2026) — Upcoming battery technology may well finally eliminate the last disadvantage of renewable energy and turn what has been an intermittent power source into a fully dispatchable one.
  • News Sardines are having a moment but could this humble fish turn the tide for the UK’s local fisheries?, wickedleeks.riverford.co.uk (Sep 03, 2026) — Can the UK learn from Iberian traditions and turn its booming love for tinned sardines into a lasting win for coastal communities?
  • News Andy Burnham announces thousands of new homes, but is the government much closer to its target?, theconversation.com (Sep 02, 2026)
  • News 'Social supermarket' to take over vacant shop, BBC News (Aug 26, 2026) — A "social supermarket" offering low-cost food and support to escape financial hardship is to open at a third location in Kent: the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham in October
  • News European farmers face ‘unprecedented crisis’ after successive heatwaves, theguardian.com (Aug 17, 2026)
  • News Europe’s rivers are running dry, and the knock-on effects are disastrous, Yiannis Baboulias, theguardian.com (Aug 05, 2026)
  • News How Australia combines modern tech and Indigenous knowledge to fight wildfires, BBC News (Aug 01, 2026)
  • News Why We Sat Out RAMICS Rio, grassecon.substack.com (Aug 30, 2026) — Moving beyond the currency frame, Grassroots Economics and Njambi Njoroge, Programs Director, Grassroots Economics
  • News A Global Gathering to Tackle the Planet’s Soil Crisis Is Underway in Mongolia, insideclimatenews.org (Aug 22, 2026) — This year’s Convention to Combat Desertification focuses on rangelands and attempts to address an overlooked solution to climate change. By Georgina Gustin
  • News The everyday guardians: Rana Tharu women’s implicit roles in Nepal, globalvoices.org (Aug 21, 2026) — Rana Tharu women embody unspoken care, cultural continuity, and living memory across generations in Nepal, Civic Media Observatory, Samanta Azpurua, Bikram

Networks and sustainability initiatives

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  • Isle of Gigha, community website about the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust, community groups, projects, events, volunteering and local news. added 09:49, 1 January 2025 (UTC)
  • Mull and Iona Community Trust, dedicated and passionate locally based organisation focused on improving the quality of life for the residents of Mull and Iona.

UK and international events

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UK events

  • Event Sep 7 - 11, 2026 (Mon-Fri) — Zero Waste Week, zerowasteweek.co.uk
  • Event Sep 11 - 20, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Heritage Open Days, celebrating our fantastic history and culture. Your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – all of which are FREE to explore, heritageopendays.org.uk
  • Event Sep 18 - 27, 2026 (Fri-Sun) — Great British Beach Clean, mcsuk.org

UK community action events

Global or international events

  • Event Sep 15, 2026 (Tue) — Free Money Day, Global invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationship to money was a little different. Sep 15, annually, freemoneyday.org
  • Event Sep 18, 2026 (Fri) — Park(ing) day, global, public, participatory project where people across the world temporarily repurpose curbside parking spaces and convert them into public parks and social spaces to advocate for safer, greener, and more equitable streets for people, myparkingday.org
  • Event Sep 21-27, 2026 (Mon-Sun) — Global Week Of Action For Peace And Climate Justice, climatemilitarism.org
  • Event Sep 21, 2026 (Mon) — International Day of Peace, Globally shared date, Sep 21 each year for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace, internationaldayofpeace.org

2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events

Cosmolocal discovery club

Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.

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Moray Ocean Community film
Authors: Moray Ocean Community, 4.38 mins.
Date: 2025-12-13
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The John Muir Trust: Our Wild Places
Authors: John Muir Trust, 6.50 mins.
Date: 2025-02-17
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Malmesbury School- Connecting with Nature
Authors: John Muir Trust, 2.20 mins.
Date: 2024-12-05

Community action/Moray, Rewilding Scotland, Community action/Wiltshire / ...This week's featured Global videos / ... read more about Cosmolocalism

Argyll and Bute video

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Tiree - This is Community Wealth Building
Authors: Scottish Community Alliance, 3.44 mins.
Date: 2025-11-18
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Tayvallich rewilding journey Barrahormid
Authors: Highlands Rewilding, 1.34 mins.
Date: 2024-11-05
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World Rewilding Day 2024
Authors: Seawilding, 1.34 mins.
Date: 2024-03-20
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Meet the community restoring their temperate rainforest for biodiversity and recreation
Authors: FSC UK
Date: 2024-02-05
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Farming for the future with Samara Johnstone
Authors: Nature Friendly Farming Network, 6.07 mins.
Date: 2023-11-16
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Tayvallich Initiative - Community Hopes
Authors: Tayvallich Initiative
Date: 2022-09-23

Land activism

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  • Tayvallich Initiative, Community ownership for affordable housing, local jobs, sustaining land and community

Gigha community buy-out

The problems created by private landlords came to an end in March 2002 when, with help from grants and loans from the National Lottery and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the islanders purchased the island for £4 million. They now own it through a development trust, the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust. 15 March, the day when the purchase was finalised, is celebrated as the island's "independence day". £1 million of the financial support was in the form of a short term loan. The money to pay this loan back was largely raised by selling Achamore House (but not the gardens) to Don Dennis, a businessman from California. Dennis operates a flower essences importing business and a boat tours company from the house, which is also rented out as a bed and breakfast business.

An additional £200,000 was raised by the islanders through various fundraising ventures, allowing the loan to be paid back to the Scottish Land Fund on 15 March 2004. Since the community buyout, several other private businesses have opened, providing a boost to the local economy. The island's population and economy have begun to recover as a result of these activities.

Community energy

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Gigha wind turbines

The Heritage Trust set up Gigha Renewable Energy Ltd. to buy and operate three Vestas V27 wind turbines, known locally as The Dancing Ladies or Creideas, Dòchas is Carthannas (Gaelic for Faith, Hope and Charity). They were commissioned on 21 January 2005 and are capable of generating up to 675 kW of power. Revenue is produced by selling the electricity to the grid via an intermediary called Green Energy UK. Gigha residents control the whole project and profits are reinvested in the community. In 2016 two batteries were added to the system.

Trees, woodland and forest

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  • Bute Forest, owned by Bute Community Land Company, added 20:48, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
  • Ardura Community Forest, Mull and Iona Community Trust, mict.co.uk

Coastal community activism

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  • Seawilding, based at Loch Craignish, Argyll, the UK's first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration project. Video: Seawilding channel on youtube.com

About Argyll and Bute

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Argyll and Bute (Scots: Argyll an Buit; Scottish Gaelic: Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, pronounced [ɛrˠəˈɣɛ:əlˠ̪ akəs̪ ˈpɔ:tʲ]) is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and covers the second-largest administrative area of any Scottish council. W

See also

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UK news, Cosmolocal news, UK topic, Global topic

Page data
Keywords Sustainable community action
SDG SDG11 Sustainable cities and communities
Authors Phil Green
License CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 1 pages link here
Redirects Argyll and Bute community action
Views 12 page views (analytics)
Created February 20, 2024 by Phil Green
Last edit May 21, 2026 by Phil Green
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