Local authorities join green partnership

A group of UK local authorities have joined a new partnership scheme which aims to fast-track work for sustainable development at the most senior management levels.


As members of Forum for the Future’s Local Authority Partner’s Scheme, the 28 local authorities have made a commitment to protect and enhance the environmental, social and economic well being of their local communities.

Councils joining the scheme include Britain’s largest authority Birmingham City Council along with five counties, eleven districts, seven unitary authorities and four London Boroughs. The partnership is set to run for three years.

The work of the scheme will focus on economic and environmental sustainability as a framework for the UK government’s modernising agenda and the way in which economic development meets the needs of the community, through Forum for the Future’s Local Economy Programme.

The local authority partners join over 30 business partners (including BT, Unilever, NatWest and BAA) and 25 universities who have already committed to work with the Forum on areas such as green accounting, curriculum development, renewable energy and community involvement programmes.

“There is real potential for a renaissance of local government through the twin agendas of modernisation and sustainable development,” said Forum for the Future Programme Director Jonathon Porrit at the launch of the scheme on December 2.

“I am convinced that together we can demonstrate that a future based on principles of sustainable development is both attractive and achievable, and that the local scale has a crucial role to play.”

Heading up the scheme, Local Government Affairs Director Ben Tuxworth said: “There is a consensus now that sustainable development is a key function for local government. We aim to assist our Partner authorities in implementing sustainable development, and to use that experience to build capacity in the sector as a whole.”

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