How EdinBRIC started
EdinBRIC is a collective of groups and organisations born from a shared passion for both the built environment and ecological sustainability. It originated from a series of inspiring discussions over coffee and biscuits during the Edinburgh Community Climate Forum in 2022, where we wrestled with how to help communities enact change. EdinBRIC was officially established in early 2023. Our mission is to see the city covered with groups supporting one another to carry out building retrofit and improvement projects, empowering them to enhance their surroundings and work towards a healthier planet. We also act as an independent intermediary for tradespeople and professionals who can help this work.
What you asked for
Soon after we formed we opened a questionnaire to ask all citizens in the city questions about what they saw as the hurdles and opportunities in building improvement and retrofit, and the role strong communities can play in that.
The outcome can be found by clicking below. The main request was for external facilitation or a willing lead owner, and an independent trusted support organisation.
Our aims
To fulfil this request, we set up EdinBRIC with the following aims:
to enable peer to peer sharing and ‘social proof’ by holding events such as retrofit roadshows across the city;
to make our website a trustworthy source and signpost for citizens to get advice;
to provide opportunities to share experiences and get support;
create and share ‘how to’ guides for things like setting up formal owners associations, applying for funding, submitting for planning consents, and procuring contractors to carry out work, providing these guides for free to community groups;
connect groups to support from existing resources like local architects, skilled tradespeople, and other specialists, and
to collectively be a unified voice for communities to speak to council, funders, and other authorities.