The council works with others on climate change by
Getting our own house in order
The council aims to set an example by ensuring that it has a solid record in managing its own carbon emissions, through the Carbon Management Action Plan and other activities described on the Tackling Climate Change page.
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Working with other organisations
The council works with other organisations to develop a coordinated approach to climate change. At present this is mainly with other local authorities and agencies. We are working to identify ways to extend this to the business community in future. Examples of our current work include:
- participating in the County Climate Change Officers' Group, which meets several times a year to plan joint projects and share information. Recent achievements include coordinating the signing of the Nottingham Declaration by all the county's authorities (Oct 2006), and running a regional workshop on climate change (March 2007);
- agreeing with partners to include a climate change target in the Local Area Agreement (LAA). If successful this will lead the creation of "Climate Friendly Communities" in the county;
- agreeing targets under the LAA to improve waste recycling and public transport, which support the goal of reducing carbon emissions.
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Direct communications with communities and individuals
District and borough councils are often in the best position to communicate directly with local communities and residents about climate change. We aim to support local councils in this work and also work through some of the major direct services that we manage, for example:
- Transport - the council has helped to improve the quality of public transport information over recent years. These and other measures have helped to raise bus patronage levels significantly.
The use of public transport, cycling and walking has been encouraged through promotional events, maps and guides. Physical infrastructure (eg bus lanes/ stops, dropped kerbs and cycle lanes) has also been improved in many areas.
- Waste - the council and its partners aim to raise levels of waste recycling and composting over the next few years through a wide-ranging programme of public involvement, including targeted communications to promote kerbside recycling.
- Schools - have important community impacts by educating their pupils about sustainability, and through good practice in their own buildings. The Eco-Schools programme helps to support those schools that want to become more engaged.
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