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Green Party Councillors have welcomed the findings of an independent review(1), which found that Bristol’s year as European Green Capital was an “undoubted success” concluding that “the year was hugely successful, popular and rewarding, with positive outcomes that are likely to last for many years”.
Councillor Martin Fodor, who sat on the Council’s Green Capital working group throughout the year said:
“I am delighted that this independent review has highlighted the many creative and economically valuable projects which captured the imagination of people throughout the city. While it is always important to learn lessons for the future, this review firmly puts to bed any controversy or questions about the success of Bristol’s year as European Green Capital. It states “it is impossible to reach any other conclusion than that Bristol 2015 Ltd performed well and the Green Capital year was a considerable success.”
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for Bristol said:
“This well-evidenced report shows increased levels of engagement in environmental issues, increased visitor numbers to the city and many small organisations benefitting from grant funding. The report also highlights some challenges, in particular the question of how to increase the involvement of BAME and other under-represented communities in environmental issues. So while we should of course celebrate the success of Bristol Green Capital, its legacy must be to increase the involvement of marginalised communities across the city.”
Leader of the Green Councillor Group, Charlie Bolton said:
“Clearly, Green Capital year lasted for a year – and this isn’t a long enough period of time to have a major impact on long term environmental issues such as combatting climate change or improving air quality. It is worth noting, however, that the year saw the production of the ‘mini-Stern report’ (2) which gives details on how to make major CO2 reductions within Bristol. We now need to focus on implementing the recommendations in this report.”
Councillor Fodor concluded:
“Bristol’s year as European Green Capital led to many Bristolians being involved in Green issues for the first time and has put Bristol on the world stage. For example the ‘91 Ways’ project involved all 91 languages in the city, 30,000 school pupils participated in using ground-breaking environmental educational material now available worldwide, and food growing projects were held in every postcode across the city (3). Many of the partnerships developed over the year are continuing to flourish and deliver benefits to both the people of Bristol and the wider environment”
Notes