Sustainable Moseley
If you’re wondering how other groups organise themselves to tackle carbon emissions in their communities, then Sustainable Moseley might provide you with some inspiration. SusMo is an action group set up by residents in the Moseley area of Birmingham. The group’s aim is to reduce Moseley’s carbon footprint, through individual action and community initiatives.
The group meets regularly to discuss new ideas and approaches, and local businesses, community groups, schools, churches and housing associations are supporting the group’s work. SusMo has cross-party support from local politicians and Lynne Jones, MP for Bimingham Selly Oak, is an active member of the group.
SusMo’s first step was to take stock of the current level of carbon emissions generated by residents, businesses and organisations in the community. The group then joined up with CRed – the Carbon Reduction Project – to enable local people to make an online pledge to cut their carbon emissions at home, at work and on the move.
SusMo believes that an element of competition can be helpful in encouraging people to go the extra mile in reducing carbon emissions. If you need a push to start turning your ideas into action, then enter the Big Green Challenge! Have a read of the rules and then get your application underway today.
Last week, we held our regional event for London and the South East at NESTA headquarters here in London. Speaking at the event, Sarah Teather, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, said:
“The Big Green Challenge is an excellent initiative and I am honoured to be involved at the very beginning. I am sure that some very exciting and effective ideas will come out of the prize and look forward to seeing what communities in London will achieve.”
You can see a webcast of the event, including an inspiring case study and reminder of the rules, here.
Joan Ruddock MP - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Climate Change, Waste and Recycling, and Biodiversity has recorded a podcast about the Big Green Challenge. She speaks about her personal interest in the environment, some of the work she’s observed in her own constituency and the work Defra are doing on Climate Change.
It’s great to see that the Government are watching what happens with the Big Green Challenge and looking forward to seeing what ideas groups come up with.
At NESTA we want to learn as much as possible about how the Big Green Challenge works, about which ideas are out there and about how those ideas can grow. We’ll share these lessons with government, other funders and other organisations to try to make sure that, in the future - beyond the Big Green Challenge - ideas with the most potential to contribute towards solving big issues like climate change can be spotted and helped to grow.
Download the podcast
