Green Bristol gets into the swing of things

First programme of events is announced for city’s year as European Green capital in 2015. Expect giant blue whales, solar-powered hot air balloons and swings in among the conferences, says Chris Brown.

In less than two months though, Bristol is set to strut its stuff on the world stage as Europe’s sixth ‘Green Capital’ – an award it received last year as a testament to its environmental credentials and ambitions. 

The path to winning the title was not easy (we lost twice in a row) and the past few months have been beset by complaints and organisational chaos which led to the departure of Kris Donaldson last month from his £100,000 a year role to organise Bristol’s year as green capital.

But last month, in a low-key press conference, the movers and shakers of Bristol’s green capital unveiled the first programme of events for the coming year.

Among the 40 initial events outlines are 200 swings to be installed around the city, a giant blue whale sculpture on the Harbourside, a solar-powered hot air balloon to be unveiled at the balloon fiesta, as well as a raft of projects, summits and conferences.

Luke Jerram, the man behind the Park Street water slide, is a key figure in the art projects lined up, while the organisers say the programme “promises to be the best-funded and most-comprehensive launched by any European Green Capital”.

Mayor George Ferguson said: “This is a great start. It is an initial programme which really gives people a feel for what to expect during our year as European Green Capital. We’re talking new jobs, exciting events, long-lasting environmental projects, better environmental education, more energy efficiency offers, more protection for green spaces and on-going improvements in our transport infrastructure.

“What you see today is only the beginning of what will be a city wide set of initiatives. There will be many more announcements to come, each adding something special to the comprehensive programme.”

It’s ambitious, though the likes of previous Green Capitals Hamburg and Nantes may have made the more eye-catching statements as they took their show on the road around Europe. 

The eyes of the world will be on Bristol though when it takes its show to the COP 21 climate change conference in Paris at the end of the year, when world leaders will gather to discuss battling climate change.

But critics’ voices have been growing over Bristol’s plans for 2015. During the summer there were voices expressing anger and frustration at the disconnection between the Bristol 2015 Ltd company – created to organise the city’s green capital year – and the wider community.

It came to a head at the start of last month when Kris Donaldson, described by the mayor as the “best person in the world” to run the event, being axed from his £100,000 a year role.

The chief executive of the city council Nicola Yates is now charged with taking on much of Donaldson’s role (in her spare time that is), but questions are still being asked about whether the people of Bristol will be truly engaged by the event and, crucially, how much they will benefit.

“Will young people from Lawrence Hill, Hartcliffe, Southmead, Brislington and beyond get access to training or careers advice on working in low carbon jobs?,” asked Labour parliamentary candidate Thangam Debbonaire. 

“Will commuters get a real and reliable choice about affordable public transport to clean up our air and unblock our congestion?

“We all want a low carbon future and interesting debates and school talks are all very well, but we really need to know how the lives of Bristolians will be affected into the future.”

Meanwhile, Green Party councillor Rob Telford and others were critical that certain events were being packaged up as Green Capital year events, when they were already due to go ahead anyway.

“There is good stuff in there [the programme], but some of it is simply rebranding what was already going on,” he said.

“We need to remain positive but more effort could have been made to take this out to the communities of Bristol. 

“We must get more people aware of the events and highlight how people are already doing great, green things. Each of the city’s 35 wards could have been highlighted and given a major event to host.”

Liz Zeidler from the Bristol Green Capital Partnership – the umbrella group for green community groups – insisted that a city that is “riddled with amazing projects” now has the support to allow small groups to thrive in 2015. 

“There is capacity now to allow us to think about what is going on in the city, so these groups can get the attention they need and deserve,” she said.

As the clock ticks towards Green Capital year, expect the debate to swing more furiously…

Following the green capitals’ lead

2010 – Stockholm

The very first European Green Capital, Stockholm’s aim was to “share our pride with the people, as what they do for the environment every day in Stockholm is what brought us the award in the first place”.

Among the initiatives during 2010 were: 

??? Ask the people to nominate the city’s unsung ‘environmental hero’

??? A study visit programme, bringing 120 delegations to the city

??? An international conference, as well as local events to promote the city’s work

??? Official opening of a new tramway

2011 – Hamburg

The German city launched the “Train of Ideas” – with seven carriages, each one looked at a different aspect of life in a green city such as mobility, energy, climate protection, nature, economy and consumption. 

Visitors to the mobile exhibition were able to see how cities can become more sustainable and environmentally friendly places.

It stopped in a number of cities including Warsaw, Malmö, Copenhagen, Brussels, Vienna, Barcelona and Marseilles. 

2012 – Vitoria-Gasteiz

This relatively unknown city in the Basque country of Spain worked hard at engaging its citizens in getting involved in the green capital year. 

The city devised the Ekolabora scheme for 2012, which aimed to allow its people to get involved in its environmental development, as well as: 

??? Signing up 700 businesses to make a Green Pledge to make one environmental improvement to their production process during the year;

??? Sports clubs endorsing a project to make sporting events more environmentally friendly and to encourage healthier lifestyles.

2013 – Nantes

The Aéroflorale II plant expedition was the centerpiece of the French city’s year. With its crew of scientists and explorers, the giant craft hosted “biological experiments and discoveries”. It aimed to spread the Green Capital message as it embarked on a tour of European cities. It also hosted international conferences, themed weeks, workshops and visits, including the fifth World Forum on Human Rights.

2014 – Copenhagen

Cited as the inspiration for Bristol’s green dreams, the Danish capital produced a year of events, including conferences, site visits and master classes focussing on five main themes:

??? The City of the Future

??? Resource Efficiency

??? The Blue and Green City

??? Green Mobility

??? Climate