Power to Change commissioned CAG Consultants to undertake a major learning-orientated evaluation of the Next Generation programme, running from 2019 to 2024. This community energy programme had two strands: an innovation strand involving support for 11 innovative community energy projects across England, and a community renewable energy strand (CORE) that aimed to bring several major solar farms into community ownership.
How we delivered the project
CAG Consultants proposed a ‘learning based’ approach to this evaluation, using 6-12 monthly learning cycles. This allowed the evaluation to respond to emerging learning from both strands of the programme and share findings with a wider audience within and beyond the community energy sector. Within each learning cycle, research activities included desk review, interviews and workshops with programme staff, project teams, with external stakeholders and with the beneficiaries of community projects. A Theory of Change was used to track progress on both strands and test the assumptions underlying programme design.
The evaluation was responsive to evolving needs in this wide-ranging programme. To support the needs of both strands of this programme, CAG developed a ‘four journeys’ evaluation scale, that allowed projects and groups from both strands of the Next Generation programme to be assessed on the same scale. This was adapted from the Carbon Trust’s earlier ‘four journeys’ innovation model.
Evaluation outputs included videos, case studies, webinars, workshops and policy papers, developed in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Community Energy England. These aimed to share learning with other community energy groups and with stakeholders who can potentially support community energy.
Objectives achieved
While evaluation of the CORE strand of the programme continues into 2025, owing to the timing of the asset transfer process, the final evaluation report on the innovation strand is available here. Evaluation outputs have become part of the suite of resources publicised by Community Energy England and the Next Generation website. Impact videos have been widely downloaded and viewed by community energy groups and funding organisations.
For further information, please contact Mary Anderson at ma@cagconsult.co.uk