May Edition 2024
Coventry’s sustainability ambitions are at the heart of a new nationwide campaign by E.ON – highlighted as an example of how communities can move towards creating a greener, more prosperous economy.
Fronted by the Coventry's Poet Laureate, John Bernard, who has created a performance piece ‘Spark a Light’ in Coventry’s honour, the campaign seeks to draw attention to public attitudes and priorities in green investment throughout the UK.
E.ON polled more than 10,000 people across the country on their attitudes to sustainability and uncovered some of Coventry’s citizens’ top priorities for green investment.
The data shows the public is optimistic about the transformational impact that green investments could have for jobs and prosperity at a local level. This is spearheaded by the younger generation with nearly three fifths (58%) of 18-24-year-olds believing funding for sustainable projects will increase career opportunities within their communities.
Plans to place Britain at the epicentre of the green industrial revolution have taken a significant leap forward with the launch of Greenpower Park.
With the West Midlands Gigafactory at its anchor tenant, the ambitious project, designed to foster world-leading collaborations between industry, major academic institutions and stakeholders to drive the UK's ambitions in leading the transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future, has unveiled plans to create an end-to-end electrification and clean energy ecosystem at its Greenpower Park campus in Coventry - the only site in the UK with approved plans for a large-scale battery production facility with capacity for up to 60GWh (enough to power 600,000 electric vehicles and benefiting significant incentives associated with investment zone status).
Half a million pounds of Government funds being made available to upgrade ten of the city’s traffic light systems will be critical in supporting residents to get out and about safely, which is really important to encourage more active travel.
That’s according to the Cabinet Member responsible for city services in Coventry who has bid for the funding from the Department of Transport’s Green Light Fund to tune up and replace unreliable, outdated and pedestrian crossing systems such as Pelican crossings. In Coventry, money will upgrade these to Puffin crossings to improve current traffic flow and make our roads safer to cross.
Puffin crossings have clever technology that uses sensors that detect when a crossing is clear, rather than a Pelican crossing that works according to set timers with flashing green man and amber signals.
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Energy efficiency improvements in Coventry have reached a key milestone with work completed on 500 homes.
Last year Citizen announced it was successful in wave two of the Government’s social housing decarbonisation fund alongside Coventry City Council to carry out energy efficiency works to 2,000 homes across the city.
The housing association worked with the council to submit a bid to the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and were successful in receiving a £23.8m grant and Citizen is funding a further £44m to create a £67.6m investment. The money is being spent on energy efficiency improvement works to bring the homes up to an energy rating of a C.
Government funds being made available to help deal with issues of damp and mould in social housing in Coventry will help - but more is needed.
That’s according to the Cabinet Member responsible for housing standards in Coventry ahead of the Cabinet meeting to accept a £2.1 million grant to improve standards of social housing.
Coventry City Council has been awarded a share of £15m being made to West Midlands local authorities, via the West Midlands Combined Authority from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – part of the Social Housing Decency Fund.
The cash is to support improvement to the standards of social housing within the region – by tackling issues including mould and damp.
The Council is making the funds available to Citizen with the aim of benefiting families in more than 1,000 homes across the city.
Tree Amigos – teenagers dedicated to saving Coventry’s trees – another of E.ON’s Coventry Sustainability Heroes unveil teenage trio and college students, Tom Irwin, Adam Nate and Owen Jackson all 17 are selflessly devoting their time outside of college to rescue and replant damaged trees across Coventry.
The group dedicate their spare time to save vandalised, damaged, or at-risk trees in the area and replanting where possible – breathing new life into Coventry’s green spaces.
Tree amigos are based at the allotments off Shilton Lane and through a partnership with Coventry City Council are also committed to helping save trees in public spaces at risk of being chipped and replaced – giving existing trees a new lease of life.
To find out more about the incredible work the Tree Amigos are doing for the city, and how you can also play a part in protecting Coventry’s trees for future generations.
Coventry City Council in collaboration with The University of Warwick and a local arts group, have come together to tackle fuel poverty and climate change in Radford.
Recent national statistics reveal that Coventry is one of the worst affected authorities in the country by fuel poverty, with some areas recording more than 50% of households in fuel poverty. Understanding the challenge of engaging residents with retrofit measures in the local area is crucial for the success of the Coventry’s net zero roadmap.
Using a place-based approach and working with the local communities in Coventry, we prototyped and tested a new experimental methodology with elements of design thinking to better understand barriers to engagement with retrofit measures designed to reduce household carbon emissions and alleviate fuel poverty.
Go to the survey, which aims to get a better understanding on barriers to engagement with retrofit measures and make your home more energy efficient. It will take between 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. By participating in the survey, you will get an opportunity to receive ONE out of three £50 love2shop vouchers.
Coventry City Council has secured £80,000 to help expand its pioneering digital recycling scheme, the #CovConnects Device Bank.
The Council was awarded the funding following a successful application to the Time after Time fund late last year.
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The Running Out of Time Climate Relay will be stopping off in the city next month as the runners make their way from Scotland to London.
Running Out of Time is an annual climate relay that raises awareness, inspires action and celebrates great climate campaigns, projects and events across Britain.
The Relay launches at Ben Nevis on 6 June before undertaking an extraordinary 2,436 km journey through 50 cities and towns to finish at Big Ben on 4 July.
It involves 210 stages and over 80 visits to climate and nature projects, sporting bodies and venues, schools, events and iconic locations.
It’s set to be the most spectacular Climate Relay yet.
And it will be in Coventry on 18 June.
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The ‘Go Parks: Active Schools Challenge – Paris 2024 Special’ is open to all Coventry schools and residents to enter and will last for 29 days from 9 June – 7 July. 30 parks and green spaces across the city will represent the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic sports, and participants can win virtual medals by scanning QR codes at parks. The Challenge runs from Sunday 9 June - Sunday 7 July, offering a month-long opportunity for schools and families to stay active for free. This edition of the Challenge features a simple-to-use point and scoring interface that boasts a virtual medal collection and inter-family competition features via the Go CV system.
Previous ‘Go Parks: Active Schools Challenges’ have attracted over 100 schools and engaged more than 80,000 residents collectively.
Schools and residents can get ready for the Challenge by signing up to Go CV ahead of 9 June.
For more information, please email covsport@coventry.gov.uk
Follow Coventry Sport on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date and follow the Challenge.
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- New Green Business Podcast episode, delivered by the Decarbonisation Net Zero team, featuring Anna Bright, CEO of Sustainability West Midlands
- A great opportunity to learn more about the support available for businesses
Businesses are struggling with the dual challenge of rising energy costs and the urgency to reduce carbon emissions. But help is at hand. This podcast offers expert guidance in just 30 minutes, providing a roadmap for businesses keen on initiating their sustainability journey. Discover how to access free energy audits and secure grants of up to £100K, empowering your enterprise to grow while reducing its environmental footprint.
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The West Midlands Combined Authority is delighted to be able to offer free Carbon Literacy training to anyone across the West Midlands, as part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games’ sustainability ambition to create a carbon neutral legacy for the region.
For regular updates subscribe to our newsletter. To get in touch with the Council regarding climate change and sustainability, including featuring in an article in a future newsletter please email us Climatechange@Coventry.gov.uk
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