Welcome to the SWM Newsletter - March 2017

Our Comment: WM Mayor - Latest on Sustainability

On 4 May 2017 power is being put into the hands of local people. Six regions in England will hold elections to elect new Combined Authority Mayors including the West Midlands. The metro mayor will have control over the whole West Midlands Combined Authority area. They will work with existing city leaders to take forward their strategic plan.

Three of the mayoral candidates (Andy Street, Beverley Nielsen and James Burn) attended our Annual Conference last November for the first hustings of the campaign. Their views and ideas regarding sustainability were shared and challenged but at this early stage, many of their priorities were yet to be defined.

We contacted the five contenders for WM mayor this week to ask for their latest position on sustainability. Read ‘Our Comment’ to find out what they said.

It’s up to you to decide who will represent the West Midlands, not just in Westminster but also on the world stage. It will be a historic event, so make sure you’re part of it. Find out more at www.gov.uk/ourmayor.

Anna Bright, Chief Executive, on behalf of the SWM team

The rest of this newsletter is packed full of our events, resources and funding – get involved.

SWM news, events, networks and projects

• Thanks. This month we said goodbye to Rachael Biggs who had been supporting SWM as a volunteer for five months, working on our communications and other projects. Thanks for all your hard work Rachael!
• Funding. The latest European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) calls in the West Midlands are now open, including for the low carbon priority.  We provide technical advice to applicants looking to apply for low carbon projects in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area; contact us for more information.
• Mayoral elections. SWM Chair Peter Braithwaite will chair a debate with the mayoral candidates on the natural environment on Friday 7 April at Birmingham City University. Organised by The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, the event asks ‘what does the election of a West Midlands Mayor mean for nature?’
• Funding. SWM is providing a free workshop for SMEs in the Black County, Birmingham and Solihull on Wednesday 26 April in Wolverhampton. Working with Groundwork WM and local growth hubs the workshop will highlight free support from the Low Carbon Growth Support Project, and other aspects of running your business efficiently.
• Partnerships. As part of edie Live at the NEC in Birmingham, SWM Chief Executive Anna Bright will be will be on the Strategy and Innovation Stage on Tuesday 23 May chairing the session entitled ‘The role of innovative partnerships: can collaboration change the world?’
• Innovation. The latest Innovative Low Carbon Working Group meeting that we convene on behalf of Birmingham Science City took place on 1 March at the site of the new National Low Carbon Centre. Presentations came from Greenwatt Technology, Aston University and the Advanced Propulsion Centre.
• Carbon Management. We ran a workshop on Public Sector Carbon Management and Reduction on 2 March hosted by Coventry City Council and supported by Salix Finance, WRM Ltd, Engie and EAUC.
• Resources. The latest Environmental Legislation Update produced in partnership with Groundwork West Midlands is now available on our website.
• Resources. The latest Energy Policy Update produced by Ecuity Consulting LLP is available on our website.
• Resources. “Accelerating the Evolution of Climate Innovation Clusters” is a series of ten peer-reviewed insight documents written by climate innovation experts including SWM who produced Insight 1.4 ‘Ingredients for Climate Innovation Clusters: The UK Case’ The series was commissioned by Climate-KIC UK & Ireland to support their focus on building climate innovation clusters in city-regions across the UK & Ireland.
• City Energy Tools. SWM took part in a workshop to test the ‘Stakeholder Interactive City Energy Demand Simulator’ (SiCEDS) developed by the Energy Saving Trust, UCL Energy Institute, Innovate UK and piloted with Birmingham and Exeter Councils. The tool aims to help local policy makers test different energy policy options to highlight impacts on costs, carbon, fuel poverty, and air quality.
• Business Energy Tools. SWM joined the celebrations at the official opening of the Energy Systems Catapult offices. This showcased a range of initiatives from behaviour change insights to future policy frameworks and knowledge exchange – all to help businesses innovate in low carbon energy supply and control products.
• Urban Living Birmingham. SWM reported last year on the launch of this multi-partner research programme, led by Birmingham University, to identify integrated solutions to challenges such as health inequality and clean energy and transport. At the advisory group this month we continued to feed in good practice from our business and voluntary sector members.
• Promoting the Midlands in Japan. This month SWM went to Japan with our Board member Matthew Rhodes as guests of the UK Government promoting low carbon investment opportunities for the Midlands Engine, West Midlands Combined Authority, and Energy Capital. Presentations are available here.

For more information on how to become a SWM member or get involved in our projects see work with us on our website, or contact us.

Other West Midlands news and resources

• Bioenergy. The new Business Investment in Research project run by EBRI provides support to West Midlands businesses to use bioenergy and new energy systems for business growth. Two bioenergy Master Classes are running on 29-30 March in Wolverhampton.
• Funding. Round ten of the Business Growth Programme is open for applications for SMEs based in Greater Birmingham, Stoke and Staffordshire and The Marches LEPs.  Capital and revenue grants are available under four different categories.
• Jobs. SWM member, LCMB Building Performance, is recruiting a twelve-month fixed term contract Senior Energy and Carbon Reduction consultant to join their team for a project in Birmingham.  Deadline is 31 March.
• Jobs. SWM member Innovation Birmingham has a vacancy for a Project Officer to manage the delivery of the Pioneers into Practice project. Hurry – the closing date is 27 March.

A full list of news, funding and resources is available on the news page of our website and for more national news, check out the website of our colleagues at Climate UK.

Other dates for your diary

• Flood resilience. The Environment Agency are providing a three day Flood & Coast 2017 event in Telford on 28-30 March, including free exhibition and seminars and the option to purchase a conference pass and gala dinner tickets.
• Energy. SWM members BECCI in partnership with Caplor Energy are running three events to help SMEs save energy and discover new grants on offer.  One is in Hereford on 29 March, one is in Wolverhampton on 4 April and the third is in Telford on 12 April.
• Business support. SWM member sben, in partnership with the Carbon Trust, is running a workshop on 17 May for SMEs to find out more about the Green Business Fund.
• Innovation. Save the date – Venturefest West Midlands is returning to Birmingham on 27 June looking at supporting business growth through innovation.

A full list of our members and partners’ events are available on the events page of our website.

We hope you enjoyed reading our newsletter. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter or are interested in becoming an SWM member or have news stories, events, case studies and reports, please visit our website or contact us.