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How can environmental policy be locally appropriate, empowering and deliverable?

14 December 2018

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Banner image from likeaduck via creative commons 4.0


Reported by Mejd Alsari, CSaP Policy Intern (September – December 2018)

The Prime Minister launched the government’s 25 Year Plan for the environment at the beginning of the year, which aims to deliver cleaner air and water, protect endangered species, and improve biodiversity.
Last month CSaP brought together policy makers, academics, practitioners and people from civil society organisations to explore what was needed for national environmental policy to translate into positive changes on the ground. The workshop was chaired by Dame Fiona Reynolds, Master at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

The workshop began with defining the key elements in spatial ecological planning and the key questions that need to be addressed in order to deliver environmental objectives. This was followed by perspectives from invited speakers, and a roundtable discussion to build on the suggested actions.

Participants agreed on the importance of identifying the key areas and actors that will help shape the country especially in the setting of Brexit. Also, there was a consensus on the importance of engaging and empowering local actors in decision-making; to have sustainable solutions which can be implemented across the country in different communities, policy needs to connect with people.

An issue that was frequently brought up during the meeting was the need to explore all national strategies that have implications for landscapes and provide some governance as a nesting of all of these to avoid different national governmental objectives coming into conflict.

Following on from the success of the workshop, CSaP is organising a follow-up meeting to further discuss key issues in the 25 Year Environment Plan.

A summary report of the workshop can be found here.

Banner image from likeaduck via creative commons 4.0