Young Innovators Council (YIC) is the voice of young people at Northern Gas Networks. It’s aim is to provide young people’s perspectives and help ensure young people’s thoughts and opinions are put at the heart of our decision making through meaningful and relevant engagement with our future customers.
We wanted to use this session to look at the East Coast Hydrogen project, and in particular explore information needs and develop principles for future engagement and consultation on the project. It was important for us to understand young people’s views on climate change and energy, including net zero and whether gas still has a role in the UK’s future. The session provided an opportunity to explore what messaging resonates with customers and makes a compelling case for the project, such as climate action, energy security, protecting jobs, or other reasons.We identified what information and involvement communities would expect at this early stage (FEED stage) of the project, and began to develop clear principles for how NGN should engage and consult communities.
Add title
You said that you want to know about anything that affects your future. This was one of the strongest motivators, with jobs, apprenticeships, and long‑term life choices coming up repeatedly as the thing you’d be most interested in.
We will ensure that we make the job opportunities created by East Coast Hydrogen visible if the project progresses.
Add title
You said that you want NGN to commit to clear, honest, and continuous communication. From the very start, the YIC ask for transparency about how hydrogen works, why it’s being chosen, what the challenges are, and how decisions are made.
We will ensure that our communications are clear and the project is explained in the simplest terms, without the use of acronyms or technical terms. We will ensure we set realistic expectations about whether the project will proceed to build phase.
You said that the environmental impact is a major hook, referencing the fact that improvement to carbon emissions helps future generation to live more sustainably.
We will ensure our communication channels include environmental benefits and will assess the enironmental impact of the project as it progresses.