Team London Bridge (TLB) is developing a sustainability strategy for the London Bridge Business Improvement District, with a vision to be one of the greenest, most beautiful, environmentally sensitive, civic minded business districts in the world. They appointed Useful Projects to design and facilitate stakeholder engagement workshops in order to enhance TLB’s work on sustainability and responding to the climate emergency.
We developed a framework for the engagement workshops based on four key themes:
- Carbon positive: reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2030.
- Climate positive: Building climate resilient neighbourhoods that adapt to climate change.
- Zero waste and circular by design: Adopt circular processes around resource consumption and waste generation.
- Radical increase in biodiversity: Deliver biodiversity net gain to enhance the natural and built environments.
Useful Projects has facilitated two workshops so far: one with landowners and developers, and another with businesses. There was an overwhelming consensus amongst all participants that the climate emergency was the appropriate focal point for the area’s sustainability strategy. Participants also agreed that working together, with the support of TLB and Southwark Council, was the best approach to deliver tangible impacts.
Additionally, several opportunities were identified for reducing carbon emissions including joint procurement, consolidated waste management processes, promoting active travel, and reducing energy usage in buildings. Useful Projects will continue to support TLB in organising three more workshops and we will prepare a final report that outlines communal targets and next steps.
