Bristol will stage a programme of events based around the idea of the city as a ‘laboratory for change’ if it succeeds in becoming European Green Capital 2015, it emerged today as the team behind the bid prepare to meet the judges.
Building on Bristol’s long history of experimenting, innovating and learning, the city will showc
ase the results of innovations and experiments that have already succeeded here, and will host bold new experiments to find out how best to create sustainable urban environments.
Residents will also be asked to come up with ideas for their own experiments and Bristol will reach out to other European cities to share the learning. The experiments will focus on the city’s five priority areas of transport, energy, the low carbon economy, improving local environments and places, and supporting local centres.
They ideas be tested live around the city over the year and ‘streamed’ over the internet so others can take part and the results can be shared.
In addition, some of the city’s biggest annual events will be turned into ‘green’ versions of themselves, attracting new visitors to Bristol and reinforcing its reputation as a leading sustainable city in the UK and Europe.
The seven-strong team behind Bristol’s bid to win the Green Capital title leave from Temple Meads station tomorrow to meet the jury in Brussels on Friday morning. The winner will be announced on June 14.
The European Green Capital Award was set up in 2008 to reward cities that consistently achieve high environmental standards and are committed to further environmental improvement and sustainable development. The winning city must act as a role model and demonstrate a vision for the future that will inspire other cities to take similar action.
Bristol was shortlisted for the award in April, alongside Glasgow, Brussels and Ljubliana, the capital of Slovenia. In the initial bid stage, the city came first in all three technical categories; climate change, air quality and noise, putting it in its strongest ever position to win.
Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson, part of delegation, said: “Bristol has launched its strongest bid yet. We aim to lead the way and inspire other cities around the globe. Winning the European Green Capital Award in June will help accelerate the progress Bristol has made to date and help us towards meeting our ambitious 2020 targets.”
Bristol has the highest cycling rate among Britain’s Core Cities (the eight largest city economies outside London), with nearly 50 per cent more people cycling to work now than they did in 2007. More than 16,000 people now cycle to work, which is more than Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham and Newcastle’s cyclists put together.
Residents in the city also produce less waste and recycle a higher percentage of goods than any of the other Core Cities, making it the least wasteful city in Britain.
Chair of Bristol Green Capital Partnership Martin Bigg said: “The bid shows that the city is at the vanguard of change. We have a passion for innovation, the courage to try out new things and share our learning, and the vision among our political and community leaders to transform these ideas into game-changing actions that will position Bristol as a model for low carbon living.”
As well as Mayor Ferguson and Prof Bigg, the bid time includes Bristol Green Capital Partnership vice chair Liz Zeidler; Savita Custead, director, Bristol Natural History Consortium; Stephen Hilton, director of the Futures Group, Bristol City Council; Graham Watson, MEP for South West, and Stacey Yelland from Easton and Lawrence Hill Neighbourhood Management.
To find out more about the bid go to http://bristolgreencapital.org/european-green-capital-award/
Bristol Business News and its sister title WestBusinessNews are backing the European Green Capital 2015 bid.
