Together for change - findings from the Greener UK evaluation
How did leading charities make an impact in one of the most complex and fast-changing political environments of our time?
This was the intriguing question at the heart of the evaluation of Greener UK that Lucent undertook with Nick Perks over the autumn of 2022. The final evaluation report is published today at the same time as the authors present key evaluation findings to the Environmental Funders Network.
Lucent consultant, Katherine Rake, explains:
“Greener UK is a coalition of the UK’s major environmental charities, who collectively reach 8 million individual members across the UK.
The coalition formed in response to the impact of Brexit on environmental legislation. Over its six years, Greener UK has seen four Prime Ministers in post and a global pandemic. On the face of it these are not ideal conditions for securing meaningful policy change.
However, we concluded that Greener UK’s work had influenced a number of pieces of important legislation and built stronger relationships within the environmental sector and beyond.”
So what lay behind this success? Nick Perks takes up the story.
“There were some important external factors that contributed to the coalition’s success. Alongside a sympathetic Secretary of State in the form of Michael Gove, there were opportunities to form key alliances with backbenchers during May’s era as well as an engaged and informed House of Lords.
It is also clear that the sheer scale of the potential impact of Brexit on the environment really focussed the minds of NGOs and funders.
The second set of factors are internal. The coalition model itself enabled the sector to present a unified voice – drawing on a wide range of specialist expertise which gave it weight and credibility. The quality of staff and technical briefings were also given special mention.”
The evaluation gave an opportunity for Katherine and Nick to draw out lessons for the future.
Nick points to the importance of detailed and often technical influencing work:
“Environmental policy is now being decided at UK and devolved levels. For the sector, this means policy, legal and parliamentary capacity is needed now more than ever. We can see a strong case for continuing investment in these areas if the sector is to have the teeth needed to protect the environment in future.”
For Katherine, the evaluation shows what creates a successful coalition and holds lessons that can be applied in many different circumstances.
“There is no doubt that sustaining a coalition is hard work, and requires an investment of both time and money. But the Greener UK example shows that once trust has been built and authority is delegated, so much more can be achieved when organisations work together. From what we heard, this unified and informed voice had credibility that no single organisation could have gained alone.”
The full evaluation report can be downloaded here.