Anchors and their Role in the Environment & Green Economy
At the 3rd Anchor Learning Event, we focussed on ‘The Environment and Green Economy’ and heard from speakers across Essex and the UK, who shared their own experiences and learning around how Anchor Institutions can make a significant difference in reducing their environmental impact, whilst also contributing to the emerging opportunities within the green economy.
The agenda included:
The Climate Crisis and an Anchor’s Role in Creating a Green Sustainable Economy - Samantha Kennedy and Daphne White (Essex County Council) discussed what the climate crisis means for Essex, the recommendations set out in the Climate Action Commission Report, and how Anchors can directly contribute to towards creating a green, sustainable economy for Essex.
A Community Wealth Building Energy Transition - Ellie Radcliffe (Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)) shares insights from CLES' recently released toolkit “A Community Wealth Building Energy Transition”. This presentation includes the role of partnerships in driving climate action, key starting points for an anchor-led approach to energy transition, and examples of emerging practice in this space from elsewhere in the UK.
Our Journey to Electrifying Our Fleet - John Gorton (Essex and Kent Police) discusses Essex and Kent Police's journey towards electrifying their fleet. John shares details on the challenges the force are facing around infrastructure, current working styles and available technology, and what they are implementing to combat these barriers.
Exploring Place Based Solutions to Decarbonisation - Alex Templeton (Community Works) and Carole Randall (Essex County Council) discuss the South East New Energy (SENE) Project and how place based solutions can be key to reaching net zero. This presentation includes details on the Net Zero Innovation Pathfinder activity under SENE which seeks to develop a model for such solutions.
Building Skills and Business Resilience in Essex - Paul Bourgeois (Anglia Ruskin University) and Loretta Wiltshire (Adult Community Learning) discuss partnership work on a number of EU and UK Government funded projects focussing on decarbonisation, business resilience, skills and circular economy.
Our Climate Change Commercial Ask of Our Supply Chain - Katrina Browning (Suffolk County Council) covers Suffolk's journey embedding Climate Change into commissioning and procurement as the Council aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2030. Katrina describes the Climate Commercial Ask of Suffolk's suppliers and staff in commercial roles, and how it has changed contract management to consider climate emergency into their scope of actions.
The Retrofit Challenge and What It Means for Anchor Organisations - Jenny Pierpoint, Retrofit Academy considers the retrofit challenge facing the UK, and how the retrofit academy are working to address this by identifying the retrofit skills gap and working with clients and the supply chain to make sure the right skills are developed for the right people at the right time.
We were thrilled to welcome over ninety people who came to learn more about how anchor organisations can make a significant difference in reducing their environmental impact, whilst also contributing to the emerging opportunities within the green economy. We’d like to thank all speakers for their presentations.
This Learning Event was the third in a series which will be taking place over the coming months and each will focus on a different lever that organisations can use to help shape their local community. For further information on these events, please check for updates on www.essexfuture.org.uk, or e-mail essex.partners@essex.gov.uk.