Enfield Council already has ambitious sustainability goals for the Meridian Water scheme, including making the development zero carbon, zero waste and embedding circular economy principles. The UKGBC programme will bring together a wide array of businesses, policy-makers, not-for-profits and universities to examine how to turn these ambitions into reality on the 10,000-home, 25-year regeneration project.

The team anticipates in-depth exploration of themes such as innovative approaches to finance and value; procuring for radical outcomes; and innovations in community engagement and governance.

Crucially, the programme will look beyond just one scheme, to produce a ‘Playbook’, designed to support leadership on large-scale development or regeneration schemes across the country. This is likely to be particularly useful for knowledge-sharing across local authority and the public sector, but should also be widely applicable to private sector clients.

The process will be supported by a steering group that includes Avison Young, BuroHappold, Connected Places Catapult, Jacobs and Useful Projects.

Enfield Council Leader, Cllr Nesil Caliskan, said:

“We are absolutely committed to providing sustainable solutions to major projects and I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of this partnership with the UK Green Building Council.

“This partnership will help contribute toward our goal of making the Council carbon neutral by 2030 and the borough carbon neutral by 2040.”

John Alker, Director of Policy and Places at UKGBC, said:“There is no longer a debate as to why we should strive for zero carbon, circular and environmentally regenerative outcomes on major new development schemes. The challenge is how we deliver this in practice, in a way that strengthens communities and supports a thriving local economy. We are looking forward to exploring radical approaches to address this challenge through a genuinely collaborative process, one which we intend to be of value not just for Enfield Council, but for any local authority with a commitment to sustainability leadership.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

The Meridian Water Environmental Sustainability Strategy was written by Useful Projects for Meridian Water and London Borough of Enfield.

Background to UKGBC’s Foreground programme to-date

In 2019, with support from EIT Climate-KIC, UKGBC ran successful pilots of the Foreground programme in Manchester, London and the South West. Focussed on strategically significant urban development projects, the UKGBC team convened the host cities and their partners together with expert practitioners from across the built environment sector, in an intensive two-day workshop process to inform and influence the sustainability aspirations of the respective schemes.

More information on Foreground is available here.

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