Innovation in local government is about improving the lives of the people in our
communities. Browse through our case studies to see the many innovative programmes councils are involved
in.
The Cambridge Canopy Project – part of the Interreg 2 Seas ‘Nature Smart Cities’ project – seeks to grow Cambridge’s urban forest, increasing tree canopy cover from 17% to 19% by the 2050s.
Colchester eCargo bike library aims to break down barriers to the use of electric cargo (eCargo) bikes for deliveries instead of cars or vans. The Council got funding for 25 eCargo bikes and five electric trailers. 13 were given to 10 local organisations including Colchester Hospital and a new eCargo bike delivery service. Six are available for short term loans for local organisations, and the rest used by Council staff such as those in Neighbourhood services.
Hampshire County Council are working in partnership to deliver community projects on climate change, have set up an expert forum to engage with community groups and launched residential projects that will support efforts in reducing Hampshire-wide carbon emissions.
Warwickshire County Council has committed to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and is supporting its communities to do the same by 2050 at the very latest. To overcome barriers to action and to enable communities to deliver their own local solutions, the council created a £1 million fund Community Climate Change Fund called Green Shoots.
The London Borough of Sutton has adopted an ambitious Environment Strategy and Climate Emergency Response Plan. Supported by the council’s Transformation Programme, they are taking action to increase domestic retrofit, develop a zero carbon technical standards guide for all council led developments, and prevent the physical impacts of climate change through increasing access to green spaces.
Twenty five partner organisations, led by Devon County Council, including all eleven councils and two national park authorities, are collaborating on the production of a Devon Carbon Plan to show a pathway to getting Devon to net zero by 2050 at the latest.
City of York Council is creating an extensive community woodland on 78 hectares of land to the West of York with the ambition to plant 50,000 trees by 2023 as a nature based solution to climate change mitigation.
In 2019, Central Bedfordshire identified that domestic abuse was part of a complex picture of need, with at least 30 per cent of all children’s services assessments carried out having an element of domestic abuse.