Scotland has made world-leading commitments to achieve a fairer, greener future for all by reaching the 2045 net zero targets. The Scottish Government and its public sector partners are seeking to work with industry and other groups to take the action demanded by the climate emergency and secure Grangemouth’s net zero future in a way that benefits community, businesses and the town. Within this, CVS Falkirk & District’s Community Participation and Engagement Manager has been liaising with the Scottish Government and Grangemouth Future Industry Board to make sure the views of local people are considered as part of the Industrial Just Transition.
To stay informed about the ongoing Grangemouth Just Transition process, including community projects and events, please sign up to our ‘The Grangemouth Vision’ quarterly e-bulletin: https://cvsfalkirk.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3e84ad020ba95c3b6ea2becc1&id=e5a0e45a3b
For an overview of key information and projects to date, please view the drop-down boxes below:
Project Willow is an opportunity to establish a low carbon manufacturing hub in Scotland’s industrial heartland. Project Willow has recently marked it’s one year anniversary, and captured by Scottish Enterprise:
“Overall, the transformation of Grangemouth provides a significant opportunity to demonstrate how industrial clusters across Scotland can evolve, attracting new investment, anchoring resilient national supply chains in a low carbon future, and strengthening jobs, communities and national capability. Crucially, this is not just about progress on a single site. It is about developing the wider system around Grangemouth, aligning policy, infrastructure and energy conditions so that industry can compete and thrive over decades, not just years. With the partnership working approach we have in place, this can be achieved, by bringing together the ambition, skills, insight and collective commitment needed to power Grangemouth’s long-term ambition and success.”
Since the beginning of the Grangemouth Just Transition process, partnership working has been key to creating a strong foundation for future growth.
“In November 2025, Scottish Enterprise published the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster Strategy, which provides a clear roadmap for sustainable growth, aligning industry, government, and the community around clean energy, advanced manufacturing and investment-led regeneration. This sits alongside the Grangemouth Industrial Just Transition Plan, published in June 2025, which sets out 21 actions to put Grangemouth at the forefront of green energy while delivering benefits for local people.”
To read the above article in full, please visit: www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-year-from-project-willow-partnership-powering-hsokf/
Greener Grangemouth is a 10-year programme as part of the Grangemouth and Falkirk Growth Deal (2024-2034). The programme aims put community health and wellbeing at the heart of Grangemouth’s Just Transition. It aims to do this through investment in a range of projects in Grangemouth’s Town Centre, its neighbourhoods and connective infrastructure. The programme will be led by a Greener Grangemouth Project Manager based at Falkirk Council.
Delivery of the Grangemouth Industrial Just Transition Plan is supported by the Grangemouth Future Industry Board (GFIB), who have overall responsibility for helping design the plan, approving the final draft, delivering actions and reviewing progress. Establishing GFIB was a commitment in the 2020 Programme for Government in recognition of the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to the Grangemouth industrial cluster, both now and in the future net zero economy, and to provide a concentrated focus on Scotland’s largest manufacturing cluster in support of its transition.
In the autumn of 2023, GFIB restructured to expand its membership beyond the existing public sector, moving into two thematic groupings – the Industrial Just Transition Leadership Forum (providing leadership, assurance, challenge, and oversight to the work of the Industrial Just Transition and GFIB), and the Grangemouth Just Transition Programme Board (co-ordinating and directing delivery of the Just Transition Plan). For further information about the actions carried out by GFIB, please visit the Scottish Government webpage detailing their frequent meeting minutes.
Consultation is an essential part of the policymaking process, providing the opportunity to consider external opinion and expertise on proposed areas of work. In 2025, they sought views from community, business, third sector and all those with an interest in Grangemouth to shape the final publication of the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan.
As part of this, CVS Falkirk & District worked with the Scottish Government to produce a tailored version of the consultation to better suit the needs of the Grangemouth community, which through a series of in-person engagement events collected over 100 responses.
Scottish Government processed the consultation feedback and incorporated the consensus into the final Grangemouth Just Transition Plan publication in 2025. They also published a “We Asked, You Said, We Did” summary to tell people exactly how their views shaped the final publication.
To support the community with Grangemouth Just Transition Draft Plan Consultation, CVS Falkirk & District hosted a ‘Grangemouth Hub’ at 65A La Porte Precinct (FK3 8AW) from November 2024 – January 2026. The aim of this was to strengthen community engagement and understanding of the Just Transition by creating a designated place of support which was open to all within the Grangemouth communities who wished to explore and engage with the consultation.
To support our work engaging Grangemouth communities with the Grangemouth Just Transition Draft Plan Consultation, on Thursday 5 December 2024, CVS Falkirk & District welcomed Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Acting Minister for Climate Action, to our Grangemouth Hub to discuss the progress of the consultation and hear from key local stakeholders about their hopes and ambitions for a Just Transition for Grangemouth.
Reflecting on bringing together both sides of the consultation – community and government – our CVS Falkirk & District CEO Victoria McRae reflected,
“It was a pleasure to invite community and third-sector representatives along for a dialogue with the Minister. Our focus within this project remains the importance of community engagement and participation, so we were thankful to have the opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions around the Just Transition, and Grangemouth more broadly.”
During this meeting, we shared with Dr Allan MSP how our experience and expertise in community engagement has amplified and guided our approach to distributing the consultation amongst the Grangemouth communities: from creating new materials and graphics to increase understanding and proactively creating opportunities for accessibility through the Hub, to digitising the consultation in order to
ensure community members have as many routes to engagement as possible.
The goal of the consultation is to ensure Grangemouth has ownership over how their town develops in the future, therefore, community voice is central to these discussions and certainly, opportunities to realise community aspirations and to co-create a sustainable legacy for Grangemouth’s future were key themes within the discussions of the day, as the group discussed the importance of accessibility and purpose when fostering community participation. FEL Scotland’s Executive Director, Clara Walker, illustrated this further:
“The language that we use with people is important; what just transition means to policymakers and decision-makers doesn’t necessarily translate, we are all engaging at a different level – and that’s the role CVS has, to become that bridge. It is important that if people give their time, comments, and feelings to you, they know that something is going to happen.”
Looking to the future, the group discussed the idea of skills development and the importance of supporting the transition at a community level when it comes to making use of what exists, what can be upskilled, and what is transferrable – but ultimately, how we ensure that the people that live in the town of Grangemouth benefit from that.
Having taken time to consider these discussions and view the visual representations breaking down the various elements of the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan, Acting Minister for Climate Action Alasdair Allan said:
“Grangemouth has long played a vital role as Scotland’s leading industrial cluster and it is right that the area continues to help lead the way in our journey to net zero by 2045.
Our first regional Just Transition plan sets out our approach to support the growth of a decarbonised economy that puts local communities at its heart. It makes clear our vision for the future and gives specific actions across a number of areas to help achieve a just transition for Grangemouth.
The plan complements our ongoing activity focused around Grangemouth, including our support package in response to the proposed closure of the refinery and the work we are doing to explore low carbon transition opportunities for the refinery workforce. We are working hard to secure a sustainable, long-term future for the wider industrial cluster and its skilled workforce, and this plan will be vital in helping us to deliver this.
The consultation is an opportunity to help shape the development of the plan, and Grangemouth’s future. I encourage all who have a vested interest to participate.”
Leave a Reply