East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of NUTS for statistical purposes. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except North and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. The region has an area of 15,627 km2 (6,034 sq mi), with a population over 4.5 million in 2011. The most populous settlements in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton and Nottingham. Other notable settlements include Boston, Chesterfield, Corby, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Loughborough, Newark-on-Trent, Skegness, Wellingborough, and Worksop.
Relative proximity to London and its position on the national motorway and trunk road networks help the East Midlands to thrive as an economic hub. Nottingham and Leicester are each classified as a sufficiency-level world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
East Midlands community action
Sustainability initiatives
- Melbourne Area Transition, voluntary group in South Derbyshire
- Transition Belper
- Transition Buxton
- Transition Chesterfield
- Transition Horncastle
- Transition Town Louth
- Umbrella Fair Organisation, Northampton-based community co-operative of local people promoting sustainable living and community cohesion
- Wirksworth Transition, on facebook
Local sustainability initiatives
Please see our Local communities in East Midlands pages, where of course you can share any more information you may have about local sustainability initiatives.
Community involvement
Loundsley Green Community Trust, Chesterfield
Climate action
Carbon Neutral Nottingham 2028, nottinghamcity.gov.uk, added15:15, 28 August 2020 (UTC)
Climate East Midlands - Everybody's Talking About Climate Change, climate change portal for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Community Support
Biodiversity
The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust founded in 1963 is a wildlife conservation charity working to protect and enhance the wildlife and habitats of Nottinghamshire. They care for over 60 nature reserves covering more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of wildlife habitat ranging from wildflower meadows to wetlands to ancient woodland. Key reserves are Attenborough Nature Reserve and Idle Valley Nature Reserve.
They engage the local community through events, information, volunteering and education opportunities and seek to ensure the county is a healthy and wildlife rich place to live. They are one of the 46 members of The Wildlife Trusts and have 11,000 members.
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust also advise other landowners how to manage their land to benefit wildlife.
Attenborough Nature Reserve is a nature reserve at Attenborough, Nottinghamshire, England, located 4.3 mi (7 km) south west of Nottingham city centre. It is owned and managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, supported by Broxtowe Borough Council, following the completion of purchase from Cemex UK in December 2020.
At its centre is a building called Attenborough Nature Centre, comprising visitor services and educational facilities.
The Idle Valley Nature Reserve, also known as Lound Gravel Pits or Sutton and Lound Gravel Pits, is a wetland Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) situated north-west of the town of Retford in the Bassetlaw district of north Nottinghamshire. The nature reserve is situated along the western bank of the River Idle and east of the villages of Sutton cum Lound and Lound. The nature reserve is managed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.
Community and voluntary action
One East Midlands, regional network
Community energy
Torrs Hydro, New Mills, Derbyshire, community owned hydro electric scheme. Torrs Hydro is a community share scheme supported by local action group, H2OPE and the Co-op Community Fund. The community group of 230 members invested over £125,000 and then raised the remainder of the scheme’s full cost (£330,000) from community bank loans and grants. The scheme earns an income from the energy exported to the local Co-op supermarket. According to DECC "This is a clear example of the power of local action and the sound investment from hydro projects that can be rolled out across the UK." [1] October 28, 2010
Food activism
- Serpentine Community Farm, Buxton
Open spaces
There are two nationally designated areas of outstanding natural beauty - the Peak District and the Lincolnshire Wolds [2]
Sustainable transport activism
Grantham Canal, (Wikipedia): Since the 1970s, the Grantham Canal Society have been working towards its restoration, and two stretches are navigable to small vessels.
Nottingham Express Transit (NET) is a 32-kilometre-long (20 mi) tram system in Nottingham, England. The system opened to the public on 9 March 2004 and a second phase, that more than doubled the size of the total system, opened on 25 August 2015, having been initially planned to open two years earlier.
The network is operated and maintained by Nottingham Trams Ltd on behalf of the Tramlink Nottingham consortium. It was operated by Arrow Light Rail, another consortium, from 9 March 2004 until 16 December 2011. Arrow Light Rail had been contracted to operate the system for 30 years; the addition of lines to the system led to retendering.
Towards sustainable economies
Trees, woodland and forest
Several towns in the southern part of the region, including Market Harborough, Desborough, Rothwell, Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, Oundle and Stamford, lie within the boundaries of what was once Rockingham Forest – designated a royal forest by William the Conqueror and was long hunted by English kings and queens.
The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. Areas of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and south-east Staffordshire covering around 200 square miles (520 km2; 52,000 ha) are being planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with new plantings. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood.
Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire attracts many visitors, and is perhaps best known for its ties with the legend of Robin Hood.
The National Forest (England) W
Resources
Education
The Social Science Centre, Lincoln, Free Co-operative Higher Education
Maps
Cycle Map, mappa-mercia.org
News and comment
2020
Going wild? A radical green plan for Nottingham's unloved shopping centre, Dec 4 [3]
Returning Land Back to the Commons. [4] Feb 10
2019
Green new deal for Nottingham wins top Guardian award. [5] Nottingham city council announced in January that it intended to become the UK’s first carbon-neutral city by 2028. Nov 27
2017
Europe's largest community battery to be installed at Nottingham development, Jun 29 [6]
Pioneering community energy storage project in Nottingham connects its first household battery storage system to the grid, May 11 [7]
2016
Nottingham Eco-Expressway in UK electric first, Oct 3 [8]
Now Britain needs clothes banks too. What sort of society are we living in? Frances Ryan, Feb 11 [9]
2015
Swadlincote to make waste history: Sainsbury's awards the town £1 million to become the pioneers of wasting less and saving more, December 1 [10]
Solar panels to be installed in 3,000 Nottingham homes, June 3 [11]
Transition Buxton take on former council plant nursery, January 14 [12]
2012
How a community association can spark community action, December 4 [13]
Events
2016
June 3 - 5 Belper Goes Green 2016 ECO Festival
2014
August 16 - 17 Umbrella Fair Festival, Northampton
July 24 - 27 Northern Green Gathering
Local communities in East Midlands
UK Talk - UK Village pump CASwiki... Places - Topics - Resources - News / About - Join - Talk - Village pump / UK |
External links
- Wikipedia: East Midlands, The National Forest (England) W
- Sharewear Clothing Scheme, Nottingham
References
- ↑ decc.gov.uk, Press release: 10/113
- ↑ wikipedia:East_Midlands#Environment
- ↑ theguardian.com
- ↑ transitionnetwork.org
- ↑ theguardian.com
- ↑ Nottingham Post
- ↑ The University of Nottingham
- ↑ BBC News
- ↑ theguardian.com
- ↑ j-sainsbury.co.uk
- ↑ Nottingham Post
- ↑ Transition Network
- ↑ Guardian Professional