Implementing Sustainable Development Through a Bristol Green Capital - Essay Example

What Are The Challenges In Implementing Sustainable Development Through A Project Such As Bristol Green Capital? Discuss With Reference To Your Group’s Experience and How This Differs from Other Groups Table of Contents Introduction 3 Overview of the Groups 4 Transition Bristol 4 Bristol Partnership 5 Low Carbon South West (LCSW) 6 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) 8 Knowle West 9 Comparison and Contrast of Views between Groups 10 Conclusion 13 References 15 Introduction Sustainable development is often considered as one of the key aspects in successful project management to ensure successful accomplishment of the determined objectives in benefit of the community and the company overall. In the present day context, a substantial rise in the degree of awareness can be observed in various nations and cities regarding sustainability of the environment, as the resources are getting scarce day-by-day, which has further played a crucial role in propounding the contemporary way of project management initiatives (Whitehead, 2002). From a generalised perspective, it can be argued that sustainable development is a combination of growing concerns related to socio-economic problems and environmental obstacles (Hopwood & et. al., 2005). Sustainable development can be defined as an approach towards human development wherein the resources used meets the human requirements along with maintaining the sustainability of the eco-system within the surrounding (Bulkeley & Betsill, 2013). Accordingly, it is considered that human requirements are to be met in the present day through sustainable development, as stated by Ye & et. al (2005). Emphasising the stated dimensions of sustainable development, this paper aims to discuss the challenges faced in practicing the mentioned notions in projects such as Bristol Green Capital. This particular entity operates as a ‘free membership organisation’. Correspondingly, it aims at developing Bristol a city offering high quality life to its residents maintaining a significantly low carbon emission (Bristol Green Capital Partnership, 2014). Accordingly, to gain an in-depth understanding of the functionalities of this organisation, 5 groups have been taken into consideration for this study, which include Transition Bristol, The Bristol Partnership Team, Low Carbon South West, Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and The Knowle West Area Neighbourhood Development Forum. Following a brief overview of these groups, a critical assessment of the differing views of the selected groups will be performed in this study. Aligning the findings from the assessment, conclusions will be drawn on the challenges faced by the project when focusing on sustainable development of the city. Overview of the Groups Transition Bristol Transition Bristol is a volunteer-led enterprise, acting in support for Bristol Green Capital facilitating city-level resilience assignments in Bristol (Transition Bristol, n.d.). Peak oil has been a huge challenge in Bristol, wherein the group is trying to formulate a creative reaction to this challenge (Finn, 2007). It is believed by the group that self-sufficiency of energy, food and expertise require being initiated in the community so as to ensure that the community, overall, develops the capability to manage environmental set-backs externally (Bristol City Council, 2014). The group came into existence as a Limited Liability Company in the year 2007, formed by Sarah Pugh. Since then, the group members have been inclined towards converting Bristol’s transition from the system that is totally dependent on energy to a sustainable and vibrant city. It is believed by the group that if the dependency of the city’s energy sources shifts from fossil fuel to a more sustainable eco-friendly source, there is a possibility that living standard will get enhanced (Carey, 2007). It has been viewed that Transition Bristol has been successful in stimulating a culture, which considers working together is the best approach to achieve sustainable development. Transition Bristol has also been successful in creating substantial degree of awareness among the people in the society, which in turn has triggered peak oil report. As per this report, it has been observed that presently, people in Bristol rely on ample supply of low-cost oil, which would possibly result in oil crisis within the preceding few decades. According to the report of Transition Bristol, 40% of foodstuffs are imported by the UK annually, even though the nation has the potential of becoming self-reliant. Moreover, the report highlights that 2,000 hectares of land is available in Bristol that can be used for harvesting food crops. The report also states that there are more than 2,000 businesses for supplying food in Bristol to various hospitals, schools and the businesses, which are despite directly dependent on the market of St. Philips, hindering the equal distribution of the resources. Likewise, the report also indicates a shift in its trend from local shops to supermarkets, while currently 40%, of the food is being wasted in the UK. Thus, due to these challenges, Transition Bristol has built certain priorities that include stimulating an initiative for making the cities totally free from oil. Correspondingly, Transition Bristol has also prioritised on producing more food within the nation that would result in self-sufficiency (Carey, 2007). Bristol Partnership Similar to Transition Bristol, Bristol Partnership is aimed towards refining the quality of human life, enhancing the economy of nation and improving the local facilities. It also aims to obtain the community support to achieve sustainable development by inspiring the people of Bristol to take innovative approaches towards the accomplishment of sustainable development (Bristol Partnership, 2013). Bristol Partnership through Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) intends to bring together private, government and non-profit companies and create a strategic decision towards elevating the community (Bristol City Council, 2013). LSP practices certain tasks in its operations to formulate and implement strategies that would result in elevating the living standard within Bristol. LSP also have the task of gathering local plans and initiatives by functioning with local authorities that would help in accomplishing the target of sustainable development. According to the Bristol 20:20 Plan, it has been projected that the city would be the best place to illustrate sustainable development standing as an example for other cities to follow a similar approach (Bristol City Council, 2014). However, the group has depicted few major challenges for the city to obtain the desired sustainable development advantages in the Bristol 20:20 Plan, which includes uncertain climate change, frequent construction of houses and rise in the number of vehicles used for transportation by the people (Hall, 2009). Besides, there are certain opportunities of the plan wherein creativity and a culture of sustainable development would be initiated in the community, due to which every area of the community would be affected, such as business, science, media and technology. It has been projected that there are four possible outcomes of this plan; viz. inducing a safer and stronger community, reducing the inequality of health and wealth in the society, resulting in sustainable affluences and igniting a higher enthusiasm among children along with families to stimulate sustainable development within their community (Hall, 2009). Low Carbon South West (LCSW) Low Carbon South West (LCSW) studies multiple perspective of sustainable development in the south-western parts of England with the purpose to ensure low carbon emission in the region (Low Carbon South West CIC, 2013). It is a Community Interest Company that is mainly focused towards saving energy, reducing wastage and money by evaluating the usage of carbon in Bristol. In precise, as a support group to Bristol Green Capital, LCSW has taken the initiative of reducing the level of carbon emission produced from various businesses and companies. Notably, there are various sectors considered by the LCSW to apply the framework of low carbon emission (Low Carbon South West CIC, 2013). For instance, in order to assure sustainable development, the group focuses on promoting sustainable excellence in regions such as Bristol, South West England and Bath. With the help of trade relations and sector partnerships, the group aims to achieve sustainable excellence in the South West, Bath and Bristol regions. Sustainable transport also falls under the initiative of LCSW that is primarily intended towards bringing innovation in the transportation system through companies such as Esoterix (Bristol City Council, 2012). Renewable sources of energy have also been given huge consideration by the group along with the practices of waste management by the city council. In this regard, LCSW has set certain targets that include reducing the extent of carbon emission by 26% within 2020. The target also includes a low carbon hierarchy of reducing, replacing and neutralising. Correspondingly, LCSW has put forward a proposition to the central government and local council for a thermal energy grid wherein a 10 kilometres pipeline would be established for reducing carbon emission (BBC, 2012). However, this proposition still awaits the financial support to be provided by the central government. It is believed that the projects that have been planned in Bristol would encourage other cities through Europe and the UK to reduce the extent of carbon emission in the nation (BBC, 2012). Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) As another support group of Bristol Green Capital, Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) mainly focuses on sustainable economic growth providing new employment opportunities to people in the private sector. These opportunities can be created by supporting various sectors such as tourism, marine, defence and aerospace. It is believed that innovation is the only aspect that would support sustainable economic development (Crown, 2013). This group assumes that new market development, increased competition and establishment of new infrastructure would help in achieving the target of sustainable development in Bristol. In relation to the people, the group considers that enhancing the skills of local people in the Bristol region would offer a huge contribution to economic sustainable developments. Likewise, improving the skills of the workforce according to the industrial requirements along with holding the prevailing talents in the city is also considered as a further step to economic development. Moreover, raising the ambitions of the younger and older groups of people would also play a huge role in the overall sustainable economic development of the city. In the context of business and place, it is believed by the group that supporting new business establishments and improving the transportation and infrastructural facilities would play a huge role towards ensuring a sustainable economic development. Access to a broad array of employment and land for business operation would also contribute towards sustainable development along with maintaining a better quality of life, as per the vision of this group. Studying the planned initiatives of LEP it has been viewed that the group is planning to create 95,000 new job opportunities within 2030 along with achieving a growth of 3.4% in the business sector annually (Bristol Solar City, 2014). This plan would further ensure that sustainable development is achieved for long term through the initiation of various projects under LEP. It is also believed by the group that investment in transportation would help in reducing the extent of carbon within Bristol being emitted in the environment that would upkeep economic growth and contribute towards healthy and safer environment (Crown, 2013). Knowle West The principle focus of the Knowle West Area Neighbourhood Development Forum (Knowle West) is towards social development of Bristol through neighbourhood partnership, which can help in bringing together the decisions made by the public sector at the local level. Subsequently, the group has been encouraging that local residents put forward their priorities regarding the kind of improvement they want in their neighbourhood (European Commission, n.d.). Knowle west through neighbourhood partnership aims to reduce the extent of crime and violence within the Bristol city. It also aims to alleviate the standard of education along with reducing the level of unemployment in the city (Bristol City Council, 2014). Waste management and development of health for the local residents also fall under the aim of the group. The group also aims to improve the transportation facilities along with communications in the city through effective management. It is hence believed by the group that the aim can be achieved through appropriate fund management within the 14 Neighbourhood Partnerships that would ensure adequate fund allocation to factors that have been identified for sustainable development (Bristol City Council, 2014). It is believed by the group that the notion of sustainable development comprises of environmental factors, economic factors and social factors. However, the group mainly emphasises on enhancing the social and economic circumstances of the local residents in order to improve the quality of life for the people in Bristol (European Commission, n.d.). Comparison and Contrast of Views between Groups From a broader perspective, it can be observed with reference to the above briefed viewpoints taken by the selected 5 groups in support of Bristol Green Capital that all of them work with a similar objective, i.e. they are completely focused towards sustainable development of the Bristol city. Thus, it can be stated that their viewpoints and outlook towards sustainable development tends to be related intrinsically and strategically with each other. All the groups have a realistic aim towards improving the quality of life for the people in the city through sustainable development. These groups perceive that improvement in the quality of life is a vital step to achieve sustainable development in the city of Bristol (Bristol City Council, 2014). Moreover, it has also been witnessed that all the five groups are inclined towards boosting the overall economy of the region. It would be noteworthy to assert that equal balance in the economic factors of a nation can play a huge role to suffice the requirement of sustainable development, which can be observed in the viewpoints and their similarity when conducting the entitled tasks (Hall, 2009). Likewise, it has also been revealed that enhancing the health of people in terms of their well-being in the community of Bristol has also been given huge attention by all the groups. This is particularly owing to the fact that a healthier society also resembles a sustainably developed society. These factors provide evidences that there is a huge comparison between the aims and objectives of the groups toward their initiative to sustainable development of Bristol. Furthermore, the groups have also been found to be collectively focused towards assuring safety of the community wherein each group considers that a safer community and the people living in it can contribute towards sustainable development to a huge extent. Additionally, the groups have considered innovation as an important aspect for sustainable development as innovation can induce new ideas within people and their ideas can be used in an effective way to achieve sustainable development (Carey, 2007). It would be worth mentioning that self-sufficiency is the core purpose of sustainable development for all the groups wherein it is perceived that sustainable development can be achieved through self-sufficiency within a nation that is capable of meeting all the requirements of its people. It has also been witnessed that creating employment opportunities has been given huge consideration by these groups, which would reduce inequality of income among the people. This in turn would result to sustainable development and create an initiative among the people to enhance the surroundings along with environment of the city in the long-term (Bristol City Council, 2014). However, applying a critical perspective to the functions of each group it can be observed that contrasting views exist between these groups to an extent, with respect to their approaches towards sustainable development. These contrasting factors can be clearly explained by looking at the difference in aims of objectives of these groups. For instance, Transition Bristol mainly considers environmental factors for sustainable development. According to the observation, Transition Bristol is mainly concerned about peak oil wherein it is perceived that in the present day, there is a huge supply of oil but in the coming future, there would be a huge crisis for the same, hindering long-run success potentials of the approach. Therefore, the group believes that self-sufficiency is the only way to tackle the problem of oil crisis in the future, which might ignite massive changes within the city rather than promoting its stability, especially in its economic structure. Furthermore, the group focuses on converting Bristol city from an energy dependent city to a sustainably developed city. This particular aim of the group justifies its response to overcome challenges of climate change and instability in the economy. In Accordance, their aim is also to reduce the usage of cars in the city and become self-sufficient in relation to the production of food, which might require the people follow a completely new lifestyle, hindering support from the common public (Transition Bristol, n.d.). This might again come in contrast with the aims of LSP, which has been taking initiatives to establish Bristol as a city that would be considered among the top ten cities, in the entire Europe, with adequate support from the community (Bristol Partnership, 2013). Again, according to the Bristol 20:20 plan, the group aims to create a safer community for the people, reduce the inequality of health and wealth among the people in Bristol and encourage the younger and older group of people towards sustainable development (Bristol Partnership, 2013). Correspondingly, with equalising wealth distribution within the city, young people are quite likely to get persuaded towards luxury and comfort in their lifestyle choices, persuading them to lead a technologically and socially advanced life, unlike what is being propounded by Transition Bristol. Accordingly, considering the aim of Low Carbon South West (LCSW), to save energy minimising the usage of carbon in the city, its intention can be observed to innovate the transportation facility to reduce carbon emission in the region along with adequate environmental management that would encourage self-sufficiency of food and other sources of energy. This might also reside in contrast to the objective of Transition Bristol to reduce carbon emissions by lowering the usage of automobile in the city to lower carbon emission rates. However, this group can act as a vital linkage between the aims of LSP and Transition Bristol. Nevertheless, as LEP is inclined towards sustainable economic growth by supporting various sectors such as tourism, marine, defence and aerospace, it can be observed to have similarities and adequate alignment with the objectives and approaches taken by other groups to make Bristol a self-reliant and sustainable city (Low Carbon South West CIC, 2013). However, it is suggestible that with the growth in the industrial sector of the city, focus must also be delivered towards accelerating the efficiency of the labour force to meet the growing demand, which might otherwise result in volatile socio-economic situation, resulting in the failure of other groups working in support to Bristol Green Capital. In this regard, the objective taken by Knowle West, to foster the educational standards along with reducing the level of joblessness in Bristol. Accordingly, waste management has also been given huge consideration by the group along with improving the transportation system to promote well-being of the society overall (Bristol City Council, 2014). However, as such measures will imply increased legal barriers for industries, participation of industries at an expanding rate shall get hindered, further being in contrast with the objectives taken by LEP and other groups. Conclusion From the above-detailed views of different groups, it can be clearly stated that misalignment within the aims and objectives of these groups may result in immense difficulties for Bristol Green Capital, overall, to achieve sustainable development. Accordingly, a critical view of the aspect revealed that a lack of coordination exists among the groups, principally as most of the groups function independently. This further increases the risks that the actual requirements for sustainable development might not be identified by these groups with a one-dimensional approach. The differences in the viewpoints of these groups, the limitations of complexity might also arise, hindering the ultimate achievement of the respective objectives taken by each group. To mitigate these problem areas, it is recommended that group representatives must be selected from each group and responsibility must be bestowed upon them to communicate their group goals to the other groups and enhance coordination among each other. It is in this context that selecting representatives from each group would help in identifying the loopholes of their tasks and accordingly, decision can be taken to mitigate the problem of sustainable development within the society. References BBC, 2012. Thermal Energy Grid Scheme Proposed For Avonmouth. News Bristol. 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