A network of sustainability and energy management professionals based in the West Midlands public sector sharing best practice and collaboration opportunities.
Introduction
The West Midlands Public Sector Sustainability & Energy Network (WMSEN) brings together public sector organisations from across the West Midlands, including all 32 local authorities, to share good practice on themes not limited to the following:
- Carbon management and reduction;
- Funding for low carbon projects;
- Renewable energy;
- Energy efficiency and best practice management;
- Community energy;
- Ventilation and housing standards;
- Sustainable planning mechanisms;
- Fuel poverty;
- Behaviour change;
- Waste minimisation, recycling and local food;
- Water management
- Sustainable transport;
- Sustainable procurement.
This brings together members of our previous networks for the public sector into one, providing a richer networking experience for members. We have been providing direct outreach to the public sector since 2010 and we will draw on our own experience to continue to do this in the future.
Why run this network?
Launched: Tuesday 1 December 2015 (building on previous network running since 2009)
SWM is aware of the difficult times our public sector organisations are currently facing, and this makes it all the more important to continue to strive towards a more sustainable, cost effective organisation. We have a huge talent base in our region where organisations are already taking the lead on running very successful carbon management, behaviour change or renewable energy programmes and we want to build on this by sharing this good practice and bringing together organisations to collaborate on projects where feasible. We will do this by providing key updates, running events for the Network, levering in funding and sharing new legislation.
Audience
Anyone who works in any public sector organisation within the West Midlands with a role not limited to the following is welcome to join this Network:
- Sustainability / carbon reduction officers
- Energy managers
- Waste managers / recycling officers
- Sustainable transport officers
- Planning officers
- CSR officers
- Procurement officers
Although our outreach will largely focus on the West Midlands, we welcome national bodies or those outside the West Midlands region joining the network if it is appropriate for their role – and appreciate that most events we run will take place in or around Birmingham!
Chair of the Network
We are delighted that Liz Alston, Sustainability Manager at Worcestershire County Council will Chair this network. Liz has been the Chair of our previous West Midlands Sustainable Development Officers Network and has been working in the local government sector for over 25 years on sustainability issues. You can find out more about Liz here.
Key Resources and Tools
BEIS – for reports and legislation
Carbon Trust – for all public sector carbon management ideas
Carbon Conversion Factors – for carbon management reporting
Energy Saving Trust – for energy saving advice for domestic users
National Energy Action – for fuel poverty info
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) – WM local transport provider
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) – for devolution news
Wrap – for life cycle analysis and waste minimisation
Interested in joining?
If you’d like to join this exciting network, please contact enquiries@swm.org.uk.
Have a browse through our Events and News pages for any information and workshops coming up around climate adaptation, and do interrogate our Resources page to find any adaptation related resources from SWM or elsewhere, including events we have previously run focusing on resilience. For each of these, you can filter results using the relevant tags, e.g. ‘carbon reduction.’
Interested in sponsoring?
Download our network sponsorship offer.
We have many flexible sponsorship opportunities for organisations to help them raise their profile and become an integral part of the running of this Network. This could include sponsorship of an individual event or the Network as a whole. If this is of interest, please contact enquiries@swm.org.uk initially and view the flyer above.