Sustainable Bristol

Big Green Week Programme Details

Bristol’s BIG Green Week 2012 outline programme details reveal a packed schedule of world class talks, art, and entertainment.

Peter Madden, Chief Executive of Forum for the Future, who helped develop BIG Green Week said:

“Bristol’s BIG Green Week is a celebration of green ideas and action which aims to challenge and motivate people to engage with the sustainability issues we face. It is also a fantastic opportunity to hear some world class speakers, get involved in some fun activities and enjoy the buzz in one of the UK’s greenest, most dynamic cities.”

And organisaers of the nine day… Continue reading

Deal or no Deal? (The Green Deal, that is)

The potential felt enormous, the excitement was palpable and the outcomes were uncertain… You probably wouldn’t guess that I was describing the atmosphere at a government consultation workshop that I attended before Christmas. But that is exactly how I felt after the day spent with the UK Green Building Council, representatives from DECC and nearly 200 experts and leaders from across industry. It followed the launch of the much anticipated ‘Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation Consultation’ giving just a few short days to digest the 236 pages and 24 supporting documents.

While I’m not suggesting that the success or failure… Continue reading

Bristol Big Green Week’s outline programme released

Britain’s leading green city, Bristol, will be hosting the UK’s festival of environmental talks, art and culture in June.

The outline programme, released today, for Bristol’s BIG Green Week 2012 which runs from 9–17 June – reveals a packed schedule of world class speakers, art, entertainment and family fun, kicking off with a celebration of local food with the UK’s biggest ever Farmer’s Market on Saturday 9 June, followed by a Sunday showcase for electric vehicles.

From Monday to Friday (11-15 June), BIG Green Week will host a daily stream of speaker events to explore the latest green thinking, including… Continue reading

Failing to feel the heat in Durban

The UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa – where I’ve been for the last two weeks – seemed a long way away from Bristol’s real-world endeavours to green the way we live and work as a city.

Given the weaknesses of the deal agreed in Durban, this distance is perhaps a good thing. Politicians in Durban may have failed to agree on the kind of emissions cuts needed to keep global warming within the supposedly safe limit of 2 degrees, but we still need to shift to a low carbon economy – in Bristol and around the… Continue reading

Bristol’s Green History

The environmental campaigns, organisations and community action that have taken root in Bristol over the last forty years give the city a special place in the history of the UK’s green movement.

I’m biased of course, and not because I have played a big part in that history, because I haven’t. No, I’m biased because the current exhibition of the work of the Schumacher Institute to document that history has chosen to include a quote from me in foot high letters on an eight foot wall.

But declaration of personal interest aside, over 100 people were… Continue reading

Bristol’s Tidal Energy Growth Continues

Bristol City Council, in partnership with Regen South West, the south west of England’s renewable energy body, have launched a new Tidal Energy Forum at Bristol Port Company’s offices at Avonmouth, to further enhance Bristol’s position as a UK centre for tidal energy research and technology development.

“Bristol has a growing international reputation as a base for the renewable energy sector, attracting companies such as Vestas and LICenergy over the last year” says Bristol City Council Leader Barbara Janke. “We have the expertise, the natural resources and the ambitions to… Continue reading

Getting a Taste for Sustainability

Bristol people can get a taste for sustainable living in the city ahead of the start of the Schumacher Institute’s ‘sustainability toolkit’ course in January next year.

The Bristol Schumacher Institute is giving free taster sessions for the course on 6 December and 3 January at St Nicholas House in the city centre.

The taster sessions and course are led by the Institute’s Martin Sandbrook and the toolkit is accredited as a post-graduate certificate by Bath Spa University.

The Sustainability Toolkit is designed to provide useful knowledge and practical skills for meaningful… Continue reading

Major Green Festival for Bristol in 2012

The city of Bristol is to host a world-class festival of sustainability from 9^th – 17^th June 2012, bringing together leading global experts and thinkers to share ideas and inspiration on developing a green future.

Bristol’s BIG Green Week will include a strong cultural element with music, theatre and comedy performances, a film festival, and new art, all reflecting an environmental theme. Street art and exhibitions will transform the city centre. And the week will culminate in the Festival of Nature, Europe’s largest free natural history festival.

Bristol is one of the UK’s leading cities for sustainable… Continue reading

Carlsberg don’t do carbon reduction guides for SMEs, but if they did….

Bristol’s West of England Carbon Challenge have produced a Carbon Starter Pack step by step guide for businesses that want to cut their company’s carbon footprint, but don’t know where to start.

We at Forum for the Future think it’s one of the best we’ve seen…. probably the best in the world?

The West of England Carbon Challenge have drawn on the knowledge and experience of their 100 member businesses to produce this handy “how to” guide.

You can download their Starter Pack guide here.

The Pack takes you step… Continue reading

Bad news week…

It’s not been the best week for progress on sustainability. While the world’s political leaders meeting at the G20 in Cannes were focused on fixing the increasingly fragile global economic system, the US Department of Energy revealed that global carbon dioxide emissions increased by a “monster” six per cent last year.

While China and the US are the source of much of the increase, the European Environment Agency reported last month that Europe’s emissions rose by 2.4% in 2010.

Given that a proportion of China’s emissions come from manufacturing goods for export to Europe, the overall… Continue reading