AMION recently completed an evaluation of the Growing Green project which was funded through the Community Renewal Fund.
The Growing Green project provided support to SMEs in the food and drink sector in Kent & Medway in relation to reducing carbon levels and improving environmental performance. The support provided through the project comprised: online training; a net-zero diagnostic; one-to-one support from a practitioner to develop and refine an Action Plan to reduce emissions; the opportunity to attend knowledge exchange events; and grant funding to help implement low carbon projects.
AMION were commissioned to carry out an evaluation covering issues such as: strategic relevance of the project; continuing rationale; extent to which outputs had been achieved; management and delivery; emissions-related and wider impacts; value for money; reasons for success; and identification of strengths and areas for improvement.
The evaluation found that the project had delivered substantial carbon savings, with these expected to increase significantly in future. The support provided is also expected to lead to a range of other environmental benefits such as reduced waste, more recycling and less water being used.