Sustainable UK Cities: Sheffield March 6th
.jpg)
“Partner up for positive change” was the central message of the
Sustainable Cities event that took place in on 6th March. Representatives
from local government, local business, the energy industry and NGOs were united
in the view that collaboration between the public and private sector would
be critical to create a low carbon economy.
The event, which marked the launch of the Sustainable Cities Tour, attracted
almost a hundred attendees, including environmental advisors from other European
cities. While representatives from Vienna and Utrecht showcased their cities’
cutting edge climate change initiatives, Sheffield, which hosted the Tour’s
launch event, cemented its role as a UK thought-leader. Taking inspiration
from networks in European cities like Munich, Stockholm and Vienna, the City
Council is partnering with the South Yorkshire Green Business Club and other
local environmental service providers to produce the Sheffield Eco Business
Standard, which will launch later this year.
Matt Walker from the South Yorkshire Green Business Club said: “The
Sheffield Eco Business Standard will be unique to the UK. By asking participating
business to go above and beyond the requirements of the BS 8555 modular Environmental
Management System, an official British Standard, the Sheffield Eco Business
Standard will be recognised both in Sheffield, but also at a national and
international level.
“Following the lead of cities like Vienna, Sheffield City Council
will only buy products and services from participating companies. This will
boost the city’s green procurement and make adaptation a commercially
attractive option for the business community.”
A panel discussion session raised a number of other partnership ideas, including:
• A city-wide network of distributive sustainable energy, where councils
work with industry to identify potential energy need through a smart metering
system - and reinforce supply with sustainable resources;
• Up-front financial incentives from local government for businesses
to improve their energy efficiency.
James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK, said: “The Cities Tour got off
to a great start in Sheffield. The same spirit that has underpinned the rejuvenation
of Sheffield can be the driving force for tackling climate change."
David Green, Chief Executive of the UKBCSE, said: “Tens of billions
of pounds will be invested in the UK economy over the next 12 years on a major
decarbonisation process. This will potentially be a significant boost to the
regional economy, and I hope companies in this region will not hesitate to
take full advantage of the emerging opportunity."
1430 Registration
1500 Introduction & Welcome
- Sir Robert Kerslake, Chief Executive, Sheffield City Council
View Biography
1520 Energy outlook for Britain
- James Smith, Chairman, Shell UK
View Biography
1540 Role of Local Authorities
- David Green, Chief Executive, UKBCSE
View Presentation (pdf)
View Biography
1600 Light refreshments
1620 Best-practice case studies by Eurocities
Members
- Jan Dictus, Senior Advisor, Vienna
View Presentation
(pdf)
View Biography
- Annemartine Cox, Manager Environmental Department, Utrecht
View Presentation
(pdf)
View Biography
1640 Panel discussion and Q&A
- Phil Roberts, Director of Strategy & Performance Management, Creative
Sheffield
View Biography
- Matt Walker, South Yorkshire Green Business Club
View Biography
- Councillor Grocock, Nottingham City Council
View Biography
- Garry McGrogan, Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, Sheffield
City Council
View Biography
1730 Drinks Reception
1900 End
Speakers Biographies
Sir Robert Kerslake Kt
BSc (Hons), HonLittD UnivSheffield,
HonD UnivSheffHallam, CPFA
Chief Executive, Sheffield City Council and Chief Executive, Designate, Homes
and Communities Agency
Sir Robert Kerslake has recently been appointed as the first Chief Executive of the new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and will begin in post from March 2008. The new agency will be key to delivering the 3 million new homes by 2020 pledged by the Prime Minister. He will initially take responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of the agency, and will then become its first Chief Executive when the agency begins operating on 1 April 2009.
Since 1997 he has been Chief Executive of Sheffield City Council, the fourth largest in England. The Council is rated as a four-star authority and was Council of the Year in 2005. The City Council serves a population of approximately 513,000, employs approximately 18,000 staff, and has a gross budget, including housing, of over £1billion.
Bob was previously with the London Borough of Hounslow initially in the post of Director of Finance and then for seven years as Chief Executive. Prior to that he was with the Greater London Council, handling Transport Finance, and then with the Inner London Education Authority, where he was responsible for their main accounts with an expenditure in excess of £1bn.
Whilst at Sheffield Sir Robert has been committed to many organisations benefiting both the local community and the region. These have included being a Director of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, Vice Chair of Sheffield First Partnership, Co-chair of the Safer Sheffield Steering Group, Member of South Yorkshire Partnership and Co-Chair of Sheffield Partnership for Health.
Nationally, he has also been a non-executive Board member at the Department for Communities and Local Government and was a member of both the Equalities Review Panel and the National Employment Panel.
Chairman, Shell UK
James is Chairman of Shell UK. He has been with Shell since 1983 and has worked
in all the Group's major businesses.
Until the end of 2003 he was on the global board of Shell Chemicals as head
of technology, strategy and sustainable development. He has been head of resourcing,
which principally involved ensuring there is a highly talented and diverse
group of leaders for the top 200 jobs in Shell.
Much of his early career was in upstream oil and gas production, latterly
in business development. He lived for four and a half years in South-East
Asia, in Malaysia and Brunei. He has been extensively involved in Shell business
in a number of Middle Eastern countries and in the US. In addition he was
MD of Shell’s downstream business in Brunei and chaired Shell’s
global catalyst business during a period of restructuring for profitability.
James has a degree in physics and is a chartered accountant. Before joining
Shell he worked with Accenture.
Chief Executive, UKBCSE
David Green is Chief Executive of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (UKBCSE) that he created in 2002, building on his past work as the Director of the Combined Heat and Power Association.
He initiated the country's first local home insulation project for lower income households in Durham in 1975, whilst completing his degree at the University of Durham.
In 1979 he became Energy Advisor to the Leader of Newcastle upon Tyne City Council. He co-founded and launched the national charity Neighbourhood (now National Energy Action) that has worked with its local partners to secure warmer homes for over 4 million lower income households. He is now Vice President of National Energy Action.
David was appointed by the Mayor of London to Chair the London Energy Partnership.
Member of the UK Government delegations to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development and the 2004 International Conference on Renewable Energy.
He was a Commissioner for the LGA Climate Change Commission, which released its final report in December 2007. He is also a member of the high level Ministerial Advisory Group on Sustainable Communities.
David Green has worked as advisor on energy conservation programmes for low-income households to the Governments in Victoria, New South Wales and New Zealand, as well as various institutions of the European Union.
David Green was awarded the MBE in 1986, and the OBE in 2003.
Back to Top
Eurocities Members
Manager Environmental Department, Utrecht
1984: Master degree Spatial Planning, University of Utrecht.
Until 1999: within the Ministry of Housing, Spatial planning and the Environment
senior advisor and project leader in i.e. the Project City and Environment
(the goal was to achieve an economic and efficient use of space and the best
possible quality of living environment in different cities in the Netherlands).
Since 2000: manager in the environmental department of the city of Utrecht. This department advises the city council on issues regarding i.e. soil pollution, air quality, noise abatement, sustainable building and energy. Energy and energy saving is an important topic in the city of Utrecht since many years.
Other functions: chairman of the environmental committee of the Association
of Netherlands Municipalities
Senior Advisor, Sustainable Development and International Cooperation
Environmental Department of the City of Vienna Austria
Jan Dictus, born in the Netherlands, is living and working in Austria since
2000. He works as a senior advisor for the City of Vienna. In that position
he is responsible for international coordination of the environmental activities
of the City and for maintaining contact with other European capital cities
and with international organisations.
Next to that he is working for other organisations as a senior advisor too,
like for UNIDO, VNG-International and as an expert for URBACT-II.
For the EUROCITIES Working Group “Greening the local economy”
he has developed the structural framework and theoretical background for cooperation
between authorities and industries.
Back to Top
Panelists
Director of Strategy & Performance Management, Creative Sheffield
Phil Roberts is responsible for the development and delivery of the Sheffield Economic Master Plan. A 15 year programme to transform the economic performance of the city and to bridge the gap in prosperity between Sheffield and the UK.
Prior to taking up his current post, Phil was Chief Executive of Sheffield First for Investment, the investment agency for the City, from 2000 to 2007. Phil was responsible for the marketing of Sheffield to potential investors both within and outside the City and working with companies to make investment as easy as possible.
Phil began his career as a civil servant with the Department of Trade and
Industry, where he spent 7 years developing and delivering regional policy
in Liverpool, London and Manchester. Prior to moving to Sheffield in June
2000, Phil worked for 7 years in Ernst and Young’s Economics Group,
in London, where he specialised on financial support for investment projects,
advising corporate clients on their location strategies and advising regional
and national development agencies on attracting investment. He is the author
of “Choosing Your European Business Location” published by the
Economist Intelligence Unit.
South Yorkshire Green Business Club
Matt Walker began work in the environmental sector over three years ago. Since starting at Sheffield Chamber of Commerce administrating the South Yorkshire Green Business Club (SYGBC) Matt has progressed to the Business Environment Centre (BEC) where he and his team continue to provide assistance to businesses though project work but also private consultation at both ends of the environmental agenda. Through the SYGBC Matt has assisted businesses looking to take advantage of the business potential the environmental agenda is providing through networking and signposting to regional, national or international initiatives.
On a regional level, working with the Green Business Support Organisation (GBSO) Matt has also engaged with the national support agencies, regional development agency and environmental practitioners to increase the capacity and expertise in the region. Matt continues to work with business of all sizes and from all sectors meet the environmental challenges businesses currently face.
Nottingham City Council
Councillor Grocock has lived in Nottingham all his life and has represented the area, as a Labour Party Councillor, for either Nottinghamshire County Council or Nottingham City Council since then. He was most recently Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport and Street Services for Nottingham City Council.
He is currently a member of a number of Nottingham City Council committees
including the Children and Young People Standing Panel, Basford and Bestwood
(Area 2), Licensing and Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire and Rescue
Authority.
He also represents Nottingham City Council on a number of external organisations
including Nottingham City Transport, Nottingham & District Racial Equality
Council and Nottingham Ice Centre Ltd
Councillor Grocock is also particularly involved in the issues of district
heating systems and the generation of energy from waste.
Director of Environment and Regulatory Services, Sheffield City Council
Gary McGrogan is Director of Environment and Regulatory Services at Sheffield City Council and has responsibility for the Environmental Excellence agenda as well as operational responsibility for a number of front line services.
He is also the lead officer for delivering the Environmental Excellence big ambition within the City Strategy through the Local Strategic Partnership.
He has been working in collaboration with other European Cities through the Eurocities network since 1995 and has led several European projects around air quality and the linkage between environment and health.
He has worked in Sheffield since1991.
| Top of the page | © Copyright 2008 | Last Updated: |
