Retrofit Connect, led by the National Retrofit Hub is a 18-month programme of collective learning for community-led organisations and innovators who are involved in or creating retrofit initiatives within their neighbourhoods.

It began with a foundational question, developed through the Retrofit Reimagined movement led by CIVIC SQUARE:

“What if the climate transition and retrofit of our homes and streets were designed, owned, and governed by the people who live there?” 

The questions speaks directly to longstanding and well-evidenced challenges in retrofit delivery. Too often, people are excluded from the process and brought in only at the point of consultation, if at all, after critical decisions have been made. When this happens, the outcomes that resonate most with communities are easily missed.

The programme, which Wessex Community Assets has been part of since 2025, is building a picture of what community-led retrofit can achieve when citizens are supported and people come together.

In this programme there are 6 Street Incubators and 3 Street Demonstrators. Learning are shared across places through focused sessions on key themes like bio-based materials, community governance, and training, and visits – street projects meet regularly to share insights and strengthen collective capacity, connecting theory with practice. 

This is a radical departure from top-down models that risk reinforcing the energy, comfort, and health inequalities already embedded in our systems. Instead, Retrofit Connect is about community ownership, shared learning, and a just transition.