SWM News May 2018 - SWM is recruiting!

Over the past few years, SWM has diversified our range of funders and support to local organisations and grown our membership. The time is now right for SWM to grow and as such we are recruiting for a full time Sustainability Adviser to join our team. This is an exciting role for an individual at the early stages of their career with experience of managing projects and resources, working on sustainability issues in the public, private or third sector and in the delivery of sustainability research and advice.

The Sustainability Adviser will lead on network management and support in other areas including communications, marketing, research and development. They will lead on a range of projects and deliver sustainability advice.

Full details of how to apply are on our website and the deadline is Friday 29 June.

We also welcome two new members to SWM; Julie Pope who joins us as Office Administrator and Emma Carter who is our new Finance Director. Special thanks go to Rob Buckman who has supported SWM as our Finance Director for over nine years and who has made a huge contribution to the organisation. We wish Rob success in his new role as Head of Finance with the Green Party.

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

• By 31 May. Veolia Environmental Trust grants are for not-for-profit groups in the vicinity of a Veolia site supporting the natural, social and built environment.
• By 4 June. The Product Readiness Competition can help SMEs and their supply chain take low carbon vehicle technologies from demonstration through to production.
• By 27 June. The Advanced Propulsion Centre’s tenth funding competition has up to £30 million available to develop low carbon powertrain technology.
• By 25 July. Opening Monday, the Strength in Places fund takes a place-based approach to research and innovation funding, to support local economic growth.
• By March 2019. SMEs can obtain free energy audits and 40% grant funding towards energy efficiency measures in Greater Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country areas.
• On-going. The Community and Environment Fund is to provide benefits to communities along the route disrupted by the construction of HS2.

Over the past year we have promoted >£600 million of accessible funding.

• Climate Change Solutions is running a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Showcase at the University of Birmingham on 31 May.
• Groundwork West Midlands will run an Environmental Awareness Training Course  on 31 May, educating individuals about key environmental principles and practice.
• Coventry & Warwickshire Green Business Programme is running a two day Intermediate Revit for Architecture training course on 6 and 7 June.
• Worcestershire County Council is running a Clean-Tech Innovation Conference on 6 June for local companies to showcase cutting edge clean technologies.
• SWM is convening the latest Innovative Low Carbon Working Group meeting on 7 June in partnership with the Innovation Alliance for the West Midlands.
• sben is running an environmental visit to IT company Stone Computers, recipients of the Staffordshire Chambers Environmental award, on 7 June.
• The European Bioenergy Research Institute (EBRI) is running a Value from Waste masterclass on 13 and 14 June.
• Cenex is running a Clean and Smart City Conference on 14 June which focuses on improving air quality through vehicle technology.  
• University of Birmingham, with partners, is running an event on 14 June that will showcase opportunities for your business from greening the city’s transport.
• Climate Change Solutions’ Schools for the Future event is on 15 June with a focus on how schools can finance and deliver energy efficiency and install renewable energy.
• Severn Trent is making its energy usage data public and is inviting organisations to an energy hackathon on 18 and 19 June in Coventry.
• Energy Systems Catapult’s transforming places through clean growth event is on 19 June to engage local authorities in mapping future local energy.
• Coventry & Warwickshire Green Business Programme is running an IP and Business Consultation on 27 June allowing SMEs to gain advice on intellectual property.
• Coventry & Warwickshire Green Business Programme’s Greening Your Fleet event on 29 June will encourage your business to invest in low carbon vehicles.
• SWM in partnership with our member Fit for the Future Network is running an event entitled ‘Biodiversity: Its role in sustainability and tackling climate change’ on 12 July.
• SWM is supporting Worcestershire LEP with workshops for local organisations to help shape their new Energy Strategy. More information in due course!

A full list of our members is on our website.

• SWM welcomes its new members: CPRE West Midlands and TP Knotweed Solutions.
• SWM says farewell to Gareth Evans, Volunteer Communications Officer on placement from Coventry University. We wish him happy travels and all the best for his final year.
• SWM helped Ashden launch a national sustainability network for combined authorities earlier this month.
• SWM also shared its new report at the above event, which looks at how the combined authorities are performing against a series of sustainability metrics.
• SWM helped the WMCA to hold its first Environment Board which included draft briefings on planning standards and developing a strategic approach to air quality.
• SWM has been supporting North Warwickshire and Hinckley College with its sustainability agenda; contact us to find out how we can do the same for you!
• SWM has been supporting LEPs with stakeholder engagement to help develop their energy strategies. The latest workshops we ran were for Stoke & Staffs LEP.
• EBRI’s Interim Evaluation Report looks at the achievements it has made to date; it is making excellent progress on many aspects!
• Energy Systems Catapult has been appointed to support a consortium project on how to reward drivers who use electric vehicles to support the UK’s power grid.
• SWM has published a case study of our sustainability assessment of reusable sharps containers at University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust.  
• SWM supported Staffordshire University’s excellent GradEx event for the fifth year running by judging geography student presentations on their dissertations.

SWM members can send their events, research or other contributions to enquiries@swm.org.uk to be included in the next issue for no extra charge. Not a member? There are many advantages to SWM membership; find out more here.

• Rushlight Summer Showcase is a marketplace event that brings together over 150 cleantech developers and sustainable solutions’ providers in London on 14 June.
• The Sustainable Estates Forum for estates teams and suppliers in higher education, healthcare, leisure, retail, commercial and residential sectors is on 21 and 22 June.
• The National Sustainability UK Expo will take place on 26 June in Coventry. SWM will be exhibiting and speaking about our support to local businesses.
• Government has announced the launch of a £102 million investment programme in new local energy approaches and a new research consortium.
• BEIS is to continue to run its Heat Network Investment Project after a successful pilot; a Midlands engagement event in July 2018 is likely.
• Groundwork UK’s Community Awards will honour those small groups making a big difference to our quality of life; there are ten different award categories.
• A new app called E-Mission, designed to track the carbon ‘forkprint’ of your diet, will launch on 4 June in Birmingham.
• The Green Alley Awards are recognising organisations that are transforming the waste and recycling industry. Deadline for applications is 1 July.
• Defra has published a draft Clean Air Strategy 2018 which outlines the ambition to reduce pollution whilst boosting the economy. A consultation closes on 14 August.
• Public Health England has developed a new tool which calculates the NHS and social care costs of air pollution.
• Meres & Mosses Business Environment Network’s event on 4 July focuses on habitat creation and the impact it can have on your business.

GDPR: Tomorrow, the Data Protection Act 1998 will be superseded by the Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The basic premise is around a greater transparency of what individuals' data is being used for, by whom and how. With reference to your subscription to the SWM monthly newsletter, please be aware that you can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the foot of each newsletter. If anyone has any questions about how we use your contact details, please get in touch with us at any time or check out our privacy policy.

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