Organising an Open Day

Open Days are a chance for people to see climate friendly local projects in action, whether in ordinary households or in flagship developments. They can inspire and motivate, as well as provide the practical knowledge for others to copy.

Open Days can be very wide-ranging. They can include local farm producers, households with solar water heating or other renewable technology, eco-homes, community composting sites, wildlife gardens and much more.

The scale of the day can also vary, from a single pre-booked visit with limited numbers to a day with a choice of several places to visit.

This guidance is drawn from the experiences of Dorset Agenda 21, Climate Friendly Bradford, and the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. It focuses particularly on places which are not usually open to the general public.

Planning

Start planning as early as possible, ideally at least 3 months beforehand to get maximum publicity. A big event, with several places open at once, can really make a splash in terms of publicity, but it needs lots of organising and plenty of volunteers to help.

High profile sites, like eco-homes, will attract a lot of people: as many as 150 or more. For these, it may be better to have a pre-booking system, so you can control numbers. This can be done by email, and you can send back directions in response. Otherwise, you will need a central starting point, where people can register and pick up a leaflet with directions.

More ordinary homes, perhaps with a solar water heating system, may only attract a dozen or so visitors. They are still worthwhile, since those who visit are more likely to be considering installing something similar themselves. Make sure your Open Day hosts are absolutely clear and happy about what they are expected to do, and re numbers, timing etc.

You may want to charge or ask for donations to help cover any costs, such as publicity. If you want people to pre-book, then it's a way to ensure you don't get a lot of drop-outs on the day. You will need to decide whether you want to place any restrictions on children participating, if there are any safety concerns, for example. If you allow children, will you charge for them, too?

Promotion

This is vital, both to make sure the day is a success, and to make the most of it to get the climate change message across. If it's a large scale event, you might do an initial press release, asking for suggestions for inclusion, perhaps 2-3 months beforehand. Articles in local newsletters are also really effective in generating local interest. However, some only go out once a month (and often not in August), so check these out well in advance.

You will probably want to produce hand-outs for local distribution in local shops and places like the Tourist Information Centre or library. Whether it's cheaper to get these printed or photocopied will depend on the number you want. Photocopying is cheaper for small numbers. Phone around a few places first. You could also put up posters in shop windows, community centres and elsewhere.

Health and safety

You should carry out a simple Risk Assessment beforehand, to identify possible danger spots, like steep and slippery steps, and remedies. If you have a volunteer with First Aid training, make sure everybody knows who this is.

Practicalities

You will need to think about signposting, even if you only provide good written directions. Balloons are the simplest, but reusable signboards are more environmentally-friendly if you can borrow some (from a local estate agent, perhaps). If people are likely to come by car, you will need to check out parking facilities beforehand, and perhaps arrange for an additional parking area, with somebody to supervise it. Make sure everyone involved exchanges mobile phone numbers and nominate a co-ordinator. S/he needs to have a note of all the numbers, and who will be by a phone throughout, in case of problems.

Afterwards

Work out how you might want to follow the Open Day up at the start. This is all too easy to forget. For example, you might want to keep the contact details of all visitors (email where possible) for any future events. Will you want to write up what has happened in any way and what information will you need to collect?

Click here to read or download an Open Day Checklist.