Heat transition: public engagement strategic framework

Ministerial Foreword

Like many people, my preference is to live in a well-insulated, energy efficient home heated using a clean heating system, like a heat pump or a heat network.

Thousands of households and organisations across the country already benefit from modern, clean heating systems but we recognise that many are either unaware of the benefits or are unsure how to make the change. Changing the way, we heat our homes and places of work will be a national endeavour and we all have a role.

This is why I am publishing a Heat in Buildings Public Engagement Strategy. This will guide our engagement work over the remainder of this Parliament and act as a blueprint for how we work and collaborate with partners, stakeholders and other trusted messengers to raise awareness of both energy efficiency and clean heat. A new Strategic Public Engagement Delivery Partnership will be established to coordinate and ensure collaboration between all those involved in public engagement activity around energy efficiency and clean heat.

Public engagement is more than just one-way communication. It is a conversation. And I want us to all be active participants in how we heat our homes in the future. We are consulting on proposals for new legal powers to ban the use of polluting heating by 2045. As we firm up these proposals it will be imperative that people right across the country can shape them to ensure that they are just, fair and work for all of Scotland.

This strategy also commits to a range of shorter-term interventions to help build a stronger foundation of public awareness. These activities will be delivered incrementally over the lifetime of this strategy and include continued and expanded marketing and communications activity; exploring options for extending the reach of platforms like the Greener Homes Network so that people can share experiences and learn from each other; and streamlining customer journeys and ensuring people and organisations know where and how to access advice and support available.

Changing the way, we heat our homes and buildings will have many benefits, including helping to tackle fuel poverty and reduce emissions, as well as helping to support jobs right across Scotland. Strong and effective public engagement will lay the foundations for success. I look forward to working together to support the heat transition.

Patrick Harvie MSP

Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Right