Click below to watch the interview:

Ben Gill, One Planet Communities Country Manager, will be speaking during ECOWEEK 2011(12 – 18 December) in Athens, Greece.  Details below:

Time: 14:00-15:00

Date: 12 December 2011

Title: Creating Healty & Happy Communities (in a crisis): the One Planet Community approach

For a full programme, please click here.

28th November – 8th December 2011

Durban, South Africa

At COP17 we want to  share the lessons from our international portfolio of One Planet case studies with delegates, we are:

• exhibiting in the UNFCCC exhibition and;
• holding a joint side event with the World Green Building Council ‘Voices from South Africa’ taking place in Room 3 at the International Conference Centre at 6.30pm on the 3rd December. For event details please download the flyer.

You can also follow our blog to find out more about our activities and get inside information on the negotiations.

Over two days in September, key decision and policy makers from across industry and government gathered to consider how to tackle the key sustainability challenges facing Melbourne and Australia, both now and in the future. With Melbourne’s population set to grow from four to five million by 2030 and the long life-span of the built environment, it was agreed by attendees that the homes and communities built during this period will help set the course for Melbourne’s form and function into the next century.

On day one, Ralph Horne, Director of the Centre for Design, facilitated proceedings, helping participants to identify the key issues and challenges that they face on their own projects. The day began with our own Pooran Desai giving an overview of BioRegional, BedZED and the One Planet Living principles. Pru Sanderson, former VicUrban CEO, then ran through the sustainability issues that Melbourne faces and identified eight key factors that both industry and government need to address:
1.    Too much going right in Melbourne [so no pressure to change]
2.    Melbournian’s civic pride
3.    Population Growth
4.    Density – general a low density city
5.    The ‘castle’ mentality
6.    Fear of the unknown
7.    Power of inertia
8.    Fear of engagement

A diverse series of prominent speakers, including Stella Avramopoulos (CEO – Kildonan Uniting Care), David Waldren (Grocon – General Manager) and Kerry Thompson (CEO – Wyndham City Council), then provided insight into a range of issues that they are dealing with on a daily basis; from tight development margins and confusion within the market place to the financial stress of homeowners located on the fringes of outer Melbourne.

That afternoon it was down to business, with attendees working in small groups to ‘unpack’ the issues highlighted by the panel and consider whether BioRegional and the One Planet principles has a role to play in making Melbourne more sustainable. The issues and opportunities highlighted in the session set the agenda for the next day’s workshop.

On day two, Mike Hill, Co-founder of WestWyck EcoVillage, facilitated. Our aims were to identify potential pilot sustainability projects, brainstorm ideas for Open Sourcing the One Planet principles and communicating the benefits of sustainability.

To get things rolling, Mike called for attendees to volunteer projects as case studies and answer the following questions:
-    Why would the One Planet principles apply to the project?
-    What gaps are there in the sustainability sector tools and support systems?
-    How can the One Planet principles help plug the gaps?
-    Is there an argument for officially joining the One Planet initiative?

Some of the projects that the One Planet principles were applied to include a large greenfield development site, a small urban infill development, a local council area and a small regional town. Attendees dived straight into this session, working in teams to respond to each of the objectives, while debating how best to apply the One Planet principles.

So, are the One Planet principles useful for urban development in the state of Victoria? The overwhelming response from the attendees was an emphatic YES, followed by – how can we get involved? This is a great start and we’ll keep you updated on further developments…

To find out how you can work with BioRegional to apply Ecological footprinting and the One Planet principles on your next project, please contact us.

BioRegional would like to thank Ralph, Paula and the rest of the team at RMIT University’s Centre for Design who hosted the event in partnership with BioRegional Australia. In addition the BioRegional Australia team would like to thank Mike Hill – without his support this event would never have happened.

In the next edition of One Planet News there will be a feature article on our ideas for Open Sourcing the One Planet principles.

The purpose of the new Planning Advice Note is to provide some basic technical considerations, as well as offer inspiration, on how food growing can be incorporated into proposals for new developments. Brighton & Hove City Council supports the provision of food growing opportunities within the city as part of its commitment to sustainable development. Click here to download the full document.

One Brighton was one of the case studies mentioned in this new planning guidance. Its rooftop allotments were also featured on Meridian TV.

http://www.itv.com/meridian-east/height-of-taste09927/

We are pleased to announce that BioRegional has just won funding from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Global Prosperity Fund to help shape supportive policies for low and zero carbon community real estate projects in Chongqing, south west China.

Our Chongqing based team will work in partnership with Vanke, China’s largest real estate developer, to review existing institutional, technical and economic barriers to achieving two emissions reduction scenarios: net zero carbon (in line with the One Planet Common International Target) and a 45% reduction (in line with China’s 12^th Five Year Plan targets).

Having identified the barriers the team will then model what support mechanisms would be necessary to enable a real estate project to be commercially viable when meeting the emissions reduction targets. Evidence-based draft policies will then be developed with Chongqing Municipal Government and applied to three low carbon demonstration projects (including BioRegional’s planned Chongqing One Planet Community) in order for policy makers to assess practical feasibility. The findings will be publicly available in Spring 2012.

BioRegional developed the project in response to two existing barriers limiting the growth of low carbon communities in China’s rapid urbanization. Firstly, the perception amongst real estate developers and government that low carbon communities are commercially unviable; secondly, the absence of effective policies which support low carbon real estate development. The importance of sustainable urbanization for China is put into context by the scale of development, for example the urban population is estimated to expand by 350million by 2025 and 40 billion m² of new floor space will be constructed to accommodate this growth. By tackling these barriers we hope to accelerate the construction of low carbon communities in Chongqing.

Melbourne, Victoria – Edward Niembro, One Planet Communities network Australia Representative, will give a presentation on the One Planet Regions program that is assisting councils to fill in gaps in their sustainability policies and how Australian councils can be recognised as green councils at next years Rio Earth Summit in June 2012.

For more infomation on the conference, please visit:

http://www.halledit.com.au/leadsustaingov2011

Edward Niembro, OPC Australia representative, will give a presentation on the successful One Planet Communities program that is creating ‘green’ flagship communities around the world.

To join the online conference, please click here.

Today, BioRegional’s co-founders are two of five social entrepreneurs being awarded the title of Social Entrepreneur of the Year during the 2011 World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia in Vienna, Austria, taking place on 8-9 June. The Social Entrepreneur of the Year awards are being led by Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, following the opening plenary of the forum.

BioRegional’s co-founders Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai will join a group of leading social entrepreneurs from across Europe and will be active participants providing insights on sustainability and social innovation in the discussions under the meeting’s theme Expanding the Frontiers of Innovation. A dedicated session “Ecosystems for Social Innovation” will bring together civil society and the public and private sectors to share experiences and explore potential opportunities to strengthen and replicate successful models throughout Europe and Central Asia.

“Social entrepreneurs are the driving force behind the innovations that improve the quality of life of individuals around the world,” explained Mirjam Schoening, Head of the Schwab Foundation. “While the primary focus of social entrepreneurs is to make a specific change in one area, such as access to education, affordable housing or unemployment, social entrepreneurs’ approach to delivering a social impact, which uses innovative and effective business models and cross-sector collaborations, has inspired change among governments and in the private sector alike. In effect, social entrepreneurs are not only delivering change to their constituents, they are also transforming the way governments and companies serve their constituents.”

Winners working in France, Germany and the United Kingdom are among 19 Social Entrepreneurs taking part in the meeting, providing an on-the-ground perspective to sustainability and social innovation.

The following five winners have been selected as 2011 Social Entrepreneurs in Europe:

Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai – BioRegional – United Kingdom
BioRegional invents and delivers real-life sustainable communities and businesses. This includes partnering in Peabody’s multi-award-winning BedZED eco-village in London where BioRegional has its main base and seven companies including clean tech for the paper industry and local charcoal supplies to national retailers. BioRegional developed the “one planet living” sustainability design and delivery framework out of their practical experience which is now being used by manufacturers, retailers, local authorities and events such as the London 2012 Olympics and in fifty countries around the world. BioRegional has sister organisations or representative offices in North America, China, Greece, Mexico, Australia and South Africa.

Juergen Griesbeck – Streetfootballworld – Germany
Millions of young people around the world are born into a cycle of social injustice with little opportunity to break out. Through the love of football, streetfootballworld brings individuals and organizations together behind a common goal: empowering young people to rise above their circumstances.

Norbert Kunz – iq consult – Germany
Iq consult seeks to lower unemployment, especially in the eastern parts of Germany, by training, mentoring and funding unemployed and disadvantaged people who are looking to become self-employed.

Laurent Laïk – Groupe La Varappe – France
Groupe La Varappe creates jobs in the south of France for people who have been excluded from society. Groupe La Varappe is composed of two main organizations. One is focused on finding temporary employment for people with minimal qualifications. The other organization focuses on three environmental areas: construction and gardening, waste and renewable energies.

About the Schwab Foundation
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship was co-founded by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, and his wife, Hilde. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has been identifying the world’s leading social entrepreneurs in over 50 countries around the globe. Selected social entrepreneurs of the Schwab Foundation network participate in World Economic Forum events, thus providing unique opportunities for them to connect with business, political and media leaders.
www.schwabfound.org

4th June 2011, Oxford

BioRegional’s co-founders are speaking at TEDxOxbridge – an event bringing together over 20 notable activists, business mavericks, designers, engineers, musicians, politicians, and scientists to share their ideas worth spreading.  Over 250 carefully-chosen attendees will be coming from both Oxford and Cambridge universities and their networks to explore how commerce, science, technology, and the humanities can collaborate to redraw the lines of business.

The event will take place all day Saturday, June 4th, 2011 at Said Business School in Oxford.   Presentations and performances will range from 4 to 18 minutes in length, leaving plenty of space for networking and overflow conversations with fellow attendees and speakers.  Afterward, there will be a drinks reception followed by self-organized topical dinners with speakers, and a late-night after-party featuring two DJ guests.

In person tickets for the event are now sold out but you can watch the talks on a big screen for free at the nearby Jamfactory and get tickets for the after party.
http://tedxoxbridge.com/guest-registration