Our Roadmap to 2030
8 Apr 2025
Midlands Net Zero Hub: Midlands Climate Action Benchmark
A benchmark of local and combined authorities in the East and West Midlands on their progress with taking climate action, in order to provide advice, support and recommendations to help them improve and celebrate success
Completed Project
17 Jan 2025
Midlands Net Zero Hub: Low Carbon Environmental Goods and Services Sector Refresh 2025
SWM and kMatrix were commissioned by the Midlands Net Zero Hub to conduct a refresh to the original Low Carbon Environmental Goods & Services (LCEGS) Sector study, giving an understanding of the current state of the sector in the Midlands, where support is needed to grow the sector, and how the sector has recovered following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Completed Project
16 Jul 2024
Rugby Borough Council: Adapting Rugby Borough to Climate Change
Using our experience of supporting local authorities with climate change adaptation, SWM was commissioned by Rugby Borough Council to produce a Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the borough, a climate change risk assessment, and a Technical Report that analyses how climate change may affect Rugby Borough in future.
Completed Project
21 Feb 2024
West Midlands Combined Authority: West Midlands Net Zero Business Pledge
The West Midlands Net Zero Business Pledge was launched by Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, in March 2021 and now has over 100 pledged organisations including many SWM members such as National Express West Midlands and Mott MacDonald.
Completed Project
23 Jan 2024
Environment Agency: Scaling up the climate change adaptation response in the West Midlands
We have worked in collaboration with the Environment Agency for the past two years to help accelerate and scale-up the region’s response to climate change adaptation. While there is an increasing recognition that we are experiencing a greater number and intensity of extreme weather events, progress on dealing with their risks and impacts remains slow. This collaboration aims to drive forward activity across multiple sectors in the region, to increase resilience and encourage adaptation action.
Completed Project
23 Aug 2023
Birmingham City Council: Sustainable Tourism Hub
SWM worked with Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Growth Company to produce an online Sustainable Tourism Hub.
Completed Project
30 May 2023
Midlands Forest Network: Audience Audit
SWM carried out a high level audience audit for the Midlands Forest Network Partnership to assist with the stakeholder engagement element of their plans to expand the forest network across the region.
Completed Project
16 Jan 2023
Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council: Warwickshire Public Sector Net Zero Group
SWM was commissioned by Warwickshire County and Warwick District Councils to support the county’s brand new Public Sector Net Zero Group.
Completed Project
8 Nov 2022
Local Government Association: Climate Change Sector Support Programme - Regional Retrofit Action Plan Training
Delivered through a collaboration between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Sustainability West Midlands, the Regional Retrofit Action Plan Training brought together council officers to address retrofit challenges at the local and partnership level. The training supported the development of councils’ regional work by exploring how to effectively utilise and support key partners and stakeholders both nationally and regionally, focusing on three key themes: training providers, communities, and the private sector.
Completed Project
22 Dec 2021
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Embedding sustainability principles into the heritage sector
This project concluded nearly four years of support to the Heritage Fund, the overarching outcome being the full embedment of sustainability across the organisation, both through staff training and the development of a framework to allow staff to assess applications for their sustainability credentials in a consistent way in future.
Completed Project
18 Nov 2021
Climate Change Committee: Improving the accessibility of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment -Part 2
Part two of this project, which provides support to the Climate Change Committee on improving the accessibility of outputs associated with the Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk, focused on producing outputs that considers the above advice, to bring thousands of pages of text to life and make the key findings and messages clearer, more digestible and understood by the primary audience, which is central Government.
Completed Project
17 Jun 2021
Midlands Net Zero Hub: Midlands Low Carbon Sector Study 2021
SWM and kMatrix were commissioned by the Midlands Energy Hub to provide an evidence-based study to understand the current state of the Low Carbon Environmental Goods & Services (LCEGS) Sector in the Midlands, where support is needed to help grow this sector, and the role the sector can play in driving a low-carbon recovery from Covid-19.
Completed Project
15 Jun 2020
Climate Change Committee: Improving the accessibility of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment – Part 1
SWM provided advice to the Committee on Climate Change on how to improve the accessibility of the the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Evidence Report, due for publication next year. The project looked at better use of communications, providing engagement opportunities and reframing of outputs.
Completed Project
15 May 2020
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Sustainability webinar for Heritage Fund staff and applicants
This project brought to a head over two years of support to the Heritage Fund as we ran a webinar for around 65 staff and potential grantees on how sustainability aspects can be better embedded into funding applications.
Completed Project
5 May 2020
Midlands Net Zero Hub: Midlands Energy Hub Board
SWM have been on the board of the Midlands Energy Hub since it's establishment in 2018. Working in partnership with the UK Government through BEIS, the Midlands Energy Hub is supporting the delivery of a carbon neutral Britain at a local and regional level.
Completed Project
5 May 2020
Midlands Net Zero Hub: Rural Community Energy Fund
SWM have been on the board of the Midlands Energy Hub since it’s establishment in 2018. The Hub oversee delivery of the Rural Community Energy Fund across the Midlands.
Completed Project
2 Apr 2020
Warwick District Council: Heat Networks Project Manager
SWM were commissioned by the council to oversee procurement and monitor and evaluate the work of technical consultants assessing the feasibility of two district heating networks.
Completed Project
14 Feb 2020
Climate Change Committee: How does people’s behaviour affect their response to extreme weather events?
This project looked at how people have reacted to extreme weather and why, and what behaviours people and communities demonstrate when they are preparing for, responding to and recovering from an extreme weather event.
Completed Project
7 Aug 2019
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Ensuring our heritage is Fit for the Future
SWM has been commissioned to provide sustainability appraisals of applications for grant funding to the National Lottery Heritage Fund
Completed Project
16 Oct 2018
National Lottery Heritage Fund: Embedding sustainability into Heritage Lottery Fund operations and grant assessments
HLF commissioned SWM to convene a series of national workshops for staff so that they can become more knowledgeable about sustainability and therefore more confident how to assess the credentials of grantee applications.
Completed Project
17 Jul 2018
North Warwickshire and Hinckley College, South Leicestershire College and Midlands Academies Trust: Embedding sustainability across North Warwickshire and Hinckley College
North Warwickshire and Hinckley College commissioned SWM to reinvigorate the sustainability agenda across the institute by convening a workshop that brought together staff from across the college, as well as writing a report that reflected progress to date, recommendations for future activity and good practice examples from elsewhere.
Completed Project
17 Jan 2018
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS): Fit for the Future II
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commissioned SWM to analyse LEP, combined authority and city region progress and appetite to tackle climate change, embrace a low carbon economy and reduce carbon emissions.
Completed Project
10 Jul 2017
Environment Agency: Flood community engagement plan: Initiation workshop
The Environment Agency (EA) commissioned SWM to convene a workshop that took place on 30 March 2017, bringing together staff from across the West Midlands area to begin the development of a Strategic Community Engagement Plan that aims to help the organisation effectively target communities at risk of flooding.
Completed Project
8 Jul 2017
Energy Systems Catapult: Engaging with LEPs and the energy agenda
The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) commissioned SWM to undertake a review of energy and low carbon activity and commitments in all 38 LEPs in England.
Completed Project