A seven-strong team from Bristol were in Brussels this morning to urge a panel of Euro officials to give the city the title of European Green Capital in 2014 – supported by Bristol screen heroes Wallace & Gromit, David Attenborough, Deputy PM Nick Clegg and more than 3,500 businesses, groups, schools and individuals.
The team gave an hour-long presentation this morning followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer session to press Bristol’s case and convince the panel of the city’s green credentials.
Five short videos, produced by Bristol Media, were played as part of the pitch including one from Bristol animators Aardman featuring the Oscar-winning Plasticine pair Wallace & Gromit promoting green energy, a clip of David Attenborough supplied by the BBC’s Bristol-based natural history unit and others demonstrating the city’s creativity and innovation in the media and green-tech sectors.
The presentation finished with a video message from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urging the judging panel to recognise the huge steps Bristol has taken to make itself a green city.
Gaining the title would have huge spin-offs for the city, the campaigners say, including potentially 1,000 jobs as a result of investment in its burgeoning green technology and low-carbon sectors.
Bristol’s presentation was the first of three this morning – with its rivals for the title Copenhagen and Frankfurt following it.
While Bristol is by far the smallest of the three cities, the bid team believe that could be an advantage, particularly as Bristol has pledged to work with other smaller cities across Europe to promote sustainability if it wins.
The Bristol team, which arrived in Brussels by Eurostar yesterday and spent the day rehearsing their presentation, is led by city council leader Simon Cook and also includes Green Capital bid chair Martin Bigg, who is also professor of Environmental Technology at UWE and director at the environmental technologies iNet innovation network, director of Bristol Futures Steve Hilton, Makala Campbell of Knowle West Media Centre, Savita Custead, chief executive at Bristol Natural History Consortium, Prof Joe McGeehan, the Bristol-based mobile phone technology pioneer who now sits on the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, and South West MEP Graham Watson.
The judging panel is made up of senior European Commission officials of department director level or above and senior politicians and civil servants from major European cities.
The Bristol team has also been backed by all its twin towns and sister cities including Guangzhou in China, which has sent a message of support.
Bristol’s bid has already gone through one stage of judging to reach the final three – beating Brussels, Paris and Vienna on the way. Its written submission was marked against 12 ‘green’ criteria – it came second behind Copenhagen.
The winner will be announced at a ceremony at this year’s holder Vitoria-Gasteiz, the second-largest city in Spain’s Basque Country, on June 28
