Shrewsbury- Aiming High as an Environmental Centre Of Excellence

Most places want to be well known for something special as a means of generating local pride and energy and also as a means of drawing in investment and people. Often this means exploiting natural assets, famous people or notable events. In other cases it can be more abstract and involve making the most of a positive reputation.

Shrewsbury could, if it chose, not only do much more to celebrate and improve the environment but it could also build a reputation for doing it. Establishing Shrewsbury as an Environmental Centre of Excellence is one way of going about constructing that reputation

The status of an Environmental Centre of Excellence is achieved by self acclamation!

It can mean different things to different people but if we claim to be one we have to be able to live up to it.

In the context of Shrewsbury this means living up to a 10 point plan to which the Council committed the Borough in 1999.

This plan takes in issues as specific as air and water quality and as wide as innovative transport solutions. The plan even has a logo (see above) but just having a plan and an image is not enough.

Even winning 'Britain in Bloom' will not be enough! If we genuinely want to become an Environmental Centre of Excellence we have to perform and market that performance.

Performing means:

Making a discernable impact on each of the ten themes eg transport related pollution or improved recycling. Some of these must be highly visible.

• Involving a variety of partners and the local community
• Developing and seeking funds for innovative projects
• Benchmarking and improving our performance

Marketing the performance means:

• Celebrating our success in accessing funds for environmental innovation
• Marking progress using the Audit Commission's Quality of Life indicators
• Submitting bids for national and regional awards
• Featuring Shrewsbury as an Environmental Centre of Excellence in every publicity exercise we engage in or are part of.
• Being 'visible', talked about and famous for our environmental activities and behaviour
• Hosting a wide variety of environmentally related events and a website of international repute

Essentially we have to build on what we already have as well as developing new habits, facilities and practices.

• We do have a remarkable number of environmental businesses, organisations and consultants in the area as well as hosting a regional office of the Environment Agency
• We can already provide real evidence of being environmentally conscious - just one example being the new Borough Council offices. We could provide more examples of environmental investment eg cycle routes
• We must be seen and heard to treasure the old ( eg our heritage buildings) and celebrate the new whether it is through re-use or new development
• We should recognise all the interlocking relationships between a sound environment and health, learning, the economy, leisure, cohesive communities and housing to name just a few associated areas.

Above all we have to tell people about what we do and what happens as a result of doing it if we want achieve that 'honey pot effect' that will make the entire enterprise sustainable in every sense of the word

The Shrewsbury and Atcham Community Strategy covers a vast range of activity - it is designed to be all encompassing.

It already includes a large number of environment related objectives and aspirations. But its potential weakness is that it has no 'figurehead ambition'.

The vision of Shrewsbury as an Environmental Centre of Excellence not only reflects key components of each of the four themes (community, economy, lifelong learning and, of course, environment) but also draws on issues that cut across these themes like transport, information and the relationships we have with the places and people where we live and/or work.

So, will you 'sign up' to helping Shrewsbury become an Environmental Centre of Excellence?

If you have exciting ideas or are aware of projects that contribute to any of the 10 headline themes then contact James Thompson at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council.
Email: james.thompson@shrewsbury.gov.uk
Telephone: 01743 281039.