Over the last few months we have been shaping and launching Retrofit Connect – our newest programme designed to amplify, connect, and support place-based retrofit initiatives that put people at the heart of the climate transition.
It’s a hands-on, collaborative piece of work that gives us the chance to really test what community-led retrofit can look like in practice, and how we can help it scale. There are plenty of ways to get involved, whether you’re an individual with time and skills to offer, or part of an organisation keen to back the next stage of the retrofit transition. See below to find our exactly how you can get involved!
WHAT IS RETROFIT CONNECT?
Retrofit Connect is a new umbrella programme developed by the NRH to help us learn from the ground up. At its core is the Retrofit Reimagined Street Demonstrator Project, a funded partnership with Civic Square and other collaborators that allows us to pilot and evolve the model.
This programme is built around the principles of Retrofit Reimagined, asking a bold question:
“What if the climate transition and retrofit of our homes and streets were designed, owned, and governed by the people who live there?”
This is a radical departure from top-down models that risk reinforcing the energy, comfort, and health inequalities already embedded in our systems. Instead, Retrofit Connect is about community ownership, shared learning, and a just transition.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Retrofit Connect supports those already making change, and shares their insights early with industry, policymakers, and other communities beginning their own retrofit journeys.
A number of activities will underpin this work:
- Sponge Sessions: Deep-dive workshops with our Street Demonstrators and Incubators to identify key challenges, questions, and themes. These will guide the focus of our support.
- Technical Clinics: Expert-led focus groups tackling technical challenges raised in Sponge Sessions, from shared energy systems to housing archetypes.
- In-Person Meet-Ups: Energising events that bring people together to celebrate progress, build relationships, and learn from real-life case studies.
As the Street Demonstrators and Incubators develop, Retrofit Connect will expand its support to new cohorts and projects in the future, growing a national network of community-led retrofit.
WHAT WILL WE EXPLORE?
Our technical clinics will address themes raised by communities on the ground. While the final list will be shaped through Sponge Sessions, we’re already expecting to explore areas such as:
- Shared Energy Systems
- Soft Retrofit Measures & Thermal Imaging
- Social Contracts in Neighbourhoods
- Bio-Based Insulation Materials & Standard
- Housing Archetypes & Retrofit Pathways
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GET INVOLVED: JOIN OUR COMMUNITY OF INDUSTRY
We’re looking for individuals and organisations to support the technical clinics and contribute to this growing movement.
