Posted By: Anthony Story Date : 12 Dec 2008 9:36am
Confronted with the words ‘sustainable communities’, most of us would draw our own conclusions what it means. But since Junction K was chosen to build an online showcase to present scores of projects which fall into this arena, I’ve been bowled over by how wide the topic really is.
Environment, carbon reduction, urban regeneration, business clustering, communities of interest, reemployment, skills… the list goes on. There is an almost bewildering array of work being done across the UK, and internationally, to help people live, work and play better. From government departments to individual action, hundreds of thousands of people are playing a part.
Our job was merely to provide the platform where people can discover exactly what has happened. Always happy to raise an eyebrow at businesses self-promoting themselves, I’ve been pleasantly impressed – especially by the councils – who increasingly find it hard to get good press. For instance Kirklees Council, in Yorkshire, has been consciously cutting carbon emissions for over 20 years. Their latest project has helped over 10,000 homes install free insulation.
In Scandinavia, they have taken full advantage of the new bridge linking Denmark to Sweden to create a cross-border cluster of bio-medical private and public organisations. As a result it’s become one of Europe’s top 10 biomedical regions.
Faced with the prospect of massive housing development in Northamptonshire, the environmental lobby showed great foresight in embracing the inevitable. Instead of objecting they focused on making sure the building plans included proper green spaces. It has resulted in the creation of some magnificent environments for the new residents to enjoy.
The site has just gone live, so if you feel like a bit of positive news in these times when doom and gloom dominate the media, root out some inspiring stories on the new http://showcase.hcaacademy.co.uk/index.html.
Environment, carbon reduction, urban regeneration, business clustering, communities of interest, reemployment, skills… the list goes on. There is an almost bewildering array of work being done across the UK, and internationally, to help people live, work and play better. From government departments to individual action, hundreds of thousands of people are playing a part.
Our job was merely to provide the platform where people can discover exactly what has happened. Always happy to raise an eyebrow at businesses self-promoting themselves, I’ve been pleasantly impressed – especially by the councils – who increasingly find it hard to get good press. For instance Kirklees Council, in Yorkshire, has been consciously cutting carbon emissions for over 20 years. Their latest project has helped over 10,000 homes install free insulation.
In Scandinavia, they have taken full advantage of the new bridge linking Denmark to Sweden to create a cross-border cluster of bio-medical private and public organisations. As a result it’s become one of Europe’s top 10 biomedical regions.
Faced with the prospect of massive housing development in Northamptonshire, the environmental lobby showed great foresight in embracing the inevitable. Instead of objecting they focused on making sure the building plans included proper green spaces. It has resulted in the creation of some magnificent environments for the new residents to enjoy.
The site has just gone live, so if you feel like a bit of positive news in these times when doom and gloom dominate the media, root out some inspiring stories on the new http://showcase.hcaacademy.co.uk/index.html.
