MORE than a dozen students are swapping Germany for more than a month in Dunbar.

Students and staff from the University of Flensburg, in the north of the country, will be staying in East Lothian for five weeks from the end of this month.

The young professionals are visiting at the invitation of community group Sustaining Dunbar – which aims to bring people together to plan and support the development of a vibrant low-carbon future for the town and surrounding area.

The trip will be part of the visitors’ Masters course in energy and environmental management.

They will be staying in the town’s Dolphin Inn and, while in the county, will be working on a range of projects that will look into how to reduce local fuel bills.

Other initiatives include looking at how it might be possible to establish community-owned, renewable energy projects which could generate a long-term income stream for local investment.

As household energy bills rise, Sustaining Dunbar is working with other community groups to investigate how local housing could be made more energy-efficient and cheaper to keep warm through a retrofitting programme.

A spokesperson for Sustaining Dunbar said: “As well as exploring options for retrofitting, the students will be looking into low-carbon alternatives to using gas and oil for heating.

“They will also be supporting Sustaining Dunbar with a feasibility study and detailed technical design work for a possible large-scale, community-owned solar farm project.

“If successful, this project has the potential to build up a significant, community-controlled investment fund to support local resilience and wellbeing in Dunbar, and more widely across East Lothian, over the next 20 years.

“A number of events are being planned whilst the students are in Dunbar and members of the public will be welcome to take part.”

An evening talk with Dr Katherine Trebeck, co-founder of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, is planned for January 31.

The talk takes place in Dunbar Parish Church Hall and starts at 7.30pm.

Places can be reserved at eventbrite.co.uk/e/creating-a-wellbeing-economy-with-community-energy-tickets-506758727997