Horsham District Council OnePlanet

Horsham District Council

Case Study

Overview

Name: Horsham District Council

In 2019, Horsham District Council formally recognised the global environmental crisis and committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The Council has also committed to achieving carbon neutrality for the whole District by 2050. Horsham wanted to fast track the development of an inclusive Climate Action Strategy that could be a focus for collaboration between Horsham, the County Council, key business stakeholders and residents to deliver collective climate action.

Now, in Autumn 2025, many parish councils in Horsham District are using OnePlanet to support their own climate and nature ambitions, whilst aligning with and contributing to delivery of Horsham DC’s climate strategy.

More info: Becoming a carbon neutral district

Challenges

Horsham District Council is a small rural District with two tiers of government, therefore delivery of any Climate Action Strategy will require collaboration between different government actors and other key stakeholders.

Key challenges:

The Climate Action Strategy and its delivery plan must put partnership working at its core.
Compressed timeline to develop the strategy.
Identifying and building on existing work around climate action.
Ensuring collaboration and accountability on climate action both internally, but critically also externally with other levels of government and stakeholders.
Small team trying to deliver an ambitious strategy

OnePlanet Solution

Responding to the growing climate crisis can only be met through a whole government response. Working with Useful Projects, OnePlanet supported Horsham in developing a strategy that was embedded into existing plans and strategies.

OnePlanet supported the development of the Climate Action Strategy by:

Internal strategy mapping. Mapping out Horsham’s key existing strategies to understand where there are synergies and conflicts across departments.
External strategy mapping. Mapping out the relevant strategies of the County Council and key stakeholders, such as the National Farmers Union, South Downs National Park and Southern Water, to identify key areas of partnership working.
Internal Opportunity analysis. Using the embedded Net Zero Navigator to prioritise likely opportunities.
Alignment and collaboration. Shared Outcomes and Indicators can be adopted into existing Council strategies, as well as external strategies, to facilitate a joined-up approach to climate action.
Action management and accountability. All Actions can be allocated to Council staff or departments to simplify management and tracking of cross departmental strategies.
Community engagement. Create resources to connect the community with Horsham’s Climate Action Strategy.

"The Brixton Project is in the process of creating an emerging map of Lambeth's VCS infrastructure on One Planet. We are delighted to be using the platform to bring visibility to this vast and diverse network of community organisations, and are excited to see how it will support them in building new connections across sectors. The work is on-going and feedback from users will be the real proof point."

Binky Taylor, founder The Brixton Project

Benefits and Return on Investment

Opportunity analysis and policy mapping using the OnePlanet platform saved time in developing the strategy and getting buy-in which allowed the ambitious timetable to be met.
The collaborative process ensured early engagement with key stakeholders and allowed Horsham to focus on the areas where the Council could have the biggest impact.
The OnePlanet platform presents the Climate Action Strategy in an engaging manner to boost community climate action – increasing impact and saving council resources.