Dear all,

It’s been brilliant to feel the energy in the Partnership following our meeting on 27 January, which saw the formation of 16 dynamic Action Groups.  The Action Groups are the place where Partnership members from all sectors come together to share information, determine priorities in their area and drive new activity in the city in 2015 and beyond.

Two different types of Action Groups have formed – thematic and cross-cutting. 
The thematic groups will facilitate and drive activity (existing and new) that accelerates progress towards long-term change in their thematic areas.  The cross-cutting groups will support, challenge, enable, and advise the thematic AGs, acting as a resource and driver of quality across the Partnership. 

Representatives from each Action Group met at the first new Partnership Steering Group on 6 February; the Steering Group will meet on the first Thursday of each month, just before the Green Mingle. The interim leads for each Action Group are given below. Please get in touch with them if you are interested in joining their groups (we also hope to get all of this information on to the website asap.)

The regular Partnership newsletter, with news from the Groups, will be coming out at the beginning of each month, but we wanted to send this update to ensure you were all informed about the Action Groups and other exciting green news in Bristol.

Thanks for all your hard work and support of the Partnership.

Philippa, Liz and Nina.

 

Thematic Action Groups

Business - Amy Robinson (Low Carbon SW): amy.robinson a_t lowcarbonsouthwest d_o_t co d_o_t uk - If you are a company/organisation communicating with businesses, join here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RZRMTPB

Resilience - Ian Roderick (Schumacher Institute): ian a_t schumacherinstitute d_o_t org d_o_t uk

Transport - Ian Barrett (Sustrans): ian.barrett a_t sustrans d_o_t org d_o_t uk

Food - Jane Stevenson (Bristol Food Network): janestevenson a_t madasafish d_o_t com

Water - Patric Bulmer (Bristol Water): patric.bulmer a_t bristolwater d_o_t co d_o_t uk

Waste - Jane Stephenson (Resource Futures): jane.stephenson a_t resourcefutures d_o_t co d_o_t uk

Energy - Jerome Thomas (Bristol Energy Network): jerome.thomas a_t blueyonder d_o_t co d_o_t uk
and Bridget Newbery (CSE): Bridget.Newbery a_t cse d_o_t org d_o_t uk

New Economy - Ciaran Mundy (Bristol Pound): ciaran.mundy a_t bristolpound d_o_t org

Built Environment - Robert Naracott (Noma): Robert a_t noma-uk d_o_t com

Nature, wildlife and green spaces - Savita Custead (BNHC): savita a_t bnhc d_o_t org d_o_t uk

Public & Schools Education - Chris Dunford (At-Bristol): chris.dunford a_t at-bristol d_o_t org d_o_t uk

Health & Wellbeing - David Relph (NHS): David.Relph a_t UHBristol d_o_t nhs d_o_t uk

 

Cross-cutting Action Groups

Communications - Guy Poultney, FTL Bristol: guy a_t ftlbristol d_o_t com

Inclusion & Community - Stacy Yelland, ELMMM: stacy a_t eastonandlawrencehill d_o_t org d_o_t uk

Arts & Culture - Tessa Fitzjohn: tessa a_t tessafitzjohn d_o_t org

Evaluation & Research - Martin Bigg, UWE: Martin2.bigg a_t uwe d_o_t ac d_o_t uk

M Shed’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is coming to a close, with your last day to visit being Sunday 23rd February.

Suitable for all the family, this exhibition of the competition -which is now in its 49th year - provides a showcase of extraordinary images celebrating the drama, beauty and splendour of the natural world.

This year, the exhibition also showcases a display of Bristol’s diverse wildlife, as well as having special wildlife themed workshops and events such as nature themed stories for the little ones on the 20th February, and a talk on how to identify different types of one of our familiar garden visitors - the bumblebee.

Entry to the exhibition costs £3 (£2 Children/Concession), and under 5’s go free! More information on the exhibition can be found here. Workshop and events prices vary - for more information and to book your place on these events, please call the M Shed on 0117 352 6600.

Organisers of Bristol’s BIG Green Week are predicting their biggest ever year this June as the festival launches the City’s year-long ‘European Green Capital’ celebrations in 2015.

“Last year some 80 groups organised over 120 events during the nine days” says Festival Director, Paul Rainger. “We are expect to attract even more events this June as Bristol gears up to be the first ever UK city to be crowned European Green Capital in 2015.”

Event registration is open online for partners to run events in BIG Green Week 2014, and remains open until Friday 28th March.

“We are once again challenging environmental groups across the UK to run an event in the BIG Green Week and to show us what they can do” says Festival Chair and Travel Publisher, Alastair Sawday. “From talks and exhibitions, through to music, art, poetry and comedy.”

Bristol’s BIG Green Week takes place over nine days from Saturday 14th to Sunday 22nd June at venues across the City. It is the UK’s annual festival of environmental ideas, art and culture, attracting over 50,000 visitors last year.

BIG Green Week 2014 will again feature two weekends of free family entertainment, starting with the Festival of Nature transforming Bristol’s harbourside on 14th & 15th June, followed by the BIG Market taking over the streets of the Old City on 21st and Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride with the Atmosphere Electric Bikes World Championship Races up Park Street on Sunday 22nd June.

For more information on Big Green Week click here.

UWE is planning to hold a conference on the 6th May 2014 as part of the Bristol Food Connections Festival. Food City Region: Cultivating Planning aims to discuss and respond to the topical issues of city growth, new development and the role of planning policy and action to support a sustainable and resilient food system.

They will also be focusing on several key issues in their quest for a food system that better supports the local enterprise and economy, population health and a more sustainable future, such as:

• Creating alignment in approaches at the city-region scale between different policy areas
• Ensuring that health and well-being strategies address robustness and resilience in the food system
• Re-orientating new housing development as a driver, not an impediment, for creating a better food system
• Creating safeguards for quality urban and peri-urban agricultural land
• Prioritising strategies to protect and promote local and regional food supply infrastructure

Prof Kevin Morgan is the keynote speaker, and Sheila Dillon from BBC Radio 4’s Food programme will also be in attendance.
If you are interested in this event, you can click here to find out more information and click here to register your interest!

MetroBus - a new express, reliable and frequent public transport network across Bristol providing an new form of sustainable transport option.  Three routes will make it easy for people to get to work, to shops, to colleges and schools across the area either on the new bus or using the improve cycle and pedestrian connections alongside.

New high spec ‘green drive’ buses will have priority over other traffic at junctions ( providing extra facilities for pedestrians and cycles) with smartcard ticketing and high spec stops.
Some planning and operating permissions have been granted; others applied for; negotiations with various potential operators is taking place.  Services are due to start 2016.

Find out more and keep up to date on progress at www.travelwest.info/metrobus or follow on twitter  @MetroBusTW

Thursday 6th March - Green Mingle - Bordeaux Quay