Environment Hub Hot Topics

2009 and all that

YHREF's pick of content added to the majestic Hub database in 2009.

Best from the Hub Database in 2008

The pick of local and regional documents and projects added to the Environment Hub database in 2008.

Economic Benefits of Green Infrastructure

In recent years, thinking on green infrastructure has moved from ecology to economics. Resources such as the countryside, coast, wetlands, urban parks, street trees and their ecosystems are seen as critical for sustainable economic growth and social goals, not just a way of supporting wildlife and ‘the environment’.

Consultants GENECON LLP are working to establish practical ways of valuing Green Infrastructure, and raising awareness of the strategic importance of Green Infrastructure to sustainable growth. The consortium is led by Natural Economy NW and managed by the Tees Valley JSU, and includes a wide range of agencies including northern RDAs and the Northern Way.

The ultimate aim of the work GENECON is undertaking this year is to help move investment in GI into the mainstream of public and other funding. GENECON has been asked to develop practical approaches to valuing GI, based on existing methods used within government and its agencies as well as the private and third sectors, and building on earlier work in this field by Amion and ECOTEC. An important part of the contract is to assist Tees Valley Joint Strategy Unit in developing a Business Case for the Green Infrastructure Strategy for the Tees Valley City Region.

GENECON has consulted widely in the first phase of its work, preparing a paper on Green Infrastructure and related concepts and potential beneficiaries of GI investment. That paper, which draws together definitions of Green Infrastructure and related concepts (ecosystem services, grey infrastructure, critical infrastructure, quality of place etc), has been published in draft on GENECON’s website.

The consultants are now in the second phase of work, gathering and developing methods for valuing the economic, social and environmental impact of GI investment. Findings, including an operational toolbox of valuation methods will be disseminated later this year.

Forestry Key References

Supporting documents and research for 'The Value of Trees in Our Changing Region - The Regional Forestry Strategy for Yorkshire & The Humber Region'.

Local Strategic Partnerships

An LSP is an umbrella partnership that brings together organisations from public, private, community and voluntary sector in a local authority area. The key objective of the LSP is to improve the quality of life in that area. Because an LSP is locally based, the community are well placed to influence its decision-making. This provides the community with the opportunity to have their say on what services should be provided to meet their needs

One Region Living

The One Region Living Seminar Series 2008 is all about understanding and applying some of the current big ideas about sustainability: 'living within environmental limits', 'one planet living', 'the low carbon economy' and so on. What do these concepts really mean for us in the Yorkshire & Humber region? How can we apply them in a practical way to planning and decision-making?

The City Regions in Yorkshire & the Humber

A City Region is the official realisation that a municipality's economic, cultural and demographic reach can extend beyond the political boundaries of the city itself. The term city region has been in use since about 1950 by urbanists, economists and urban planners to mean not just the administrative area of a recognisable city or conurbation but also its hinterland that will often be far bigger. Conventionally, if one lives in an apparently rural area, suburb or county town where a majority of wage-earners travel into a particular city for a full or part-time job then one is (in effect) residing in the city region.