calling all green queens

Do you live in the East of England? Are you worried about carbon emissions, or part of a group trying to encourage other people to do it? Well, if you are, The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) wants you to come forward and take part in an innovative competition to win a share of £2.5 million of public funding.

The call is part of Cut your Carbon, a three-year campaign launched today by EEDA that aims to bring together communities in the East of England to tackle climate change. Groups taking part will be able to measure their carbon footprint to see the success of their actions. They can try to win EEDA match funding of up to £200,000 for projects that apply fresh thinking to cutting carbon emissions. The campaign has already won the support of Anglian Water, Defra, E.ON and Suffolk County Council.

Richard Ellis, chair, EEDA says:

“We are looking for everyday super heroes who are passionate about taking action and plugged in to their local communities and, for the pathfinder round which opens now, already actively doing something to tackle carbon emissions – to come forward and take part in the competition.

“When people accept ownership of an issue and take action to address it you have a recipe for dramatic change. Group those individuals into a community and imagine how that will magnify the impact they can have. Climate change is an issue that needs to be tackled in this way. Given that the East of England is the recognised ideas region, I am really looking forward to seeing and funding some really inspiring and effective projects over the next three years.”

The competition

A panel of high profile judges from a diverse variety of backgrounds will help decide which projects are inspiring and innovative enough to receive funding. The panel will be co-chaired by Richard Ellis, EEDA chair and Jonathon Porritt, chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, and also includes Fay Mansell, chair, National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) and Tim Pyke, head of climate change, E.ON UK, among others.


Examples of projects that might be submitted include a renewable energy solution for a community building or group of households, a low carbon transport solution, or other community initiatives involving food miles, water or waste management.

Good ideas

EEDA has already identified a number of active communities that have ambitions for winning EEDA funding. A list of the communities and their projects is below:

• Green Sproughton (Suffolk) – renewable energy (wind and water) for community buidlings; and the development of cycle path network.

• Othona open Christian community (Essex) – renewable energy (biomass boilers and wind); grey water/rain water recycling; and even a green gym where the equipment generates power.

• Reepham Environment Working Group (Norfolk) - a biofuels project

• St Mary's Church, Welwyn (Herts) - renewable energy solutions; it has already installed an innovative ground source heat pump solution for the Church

• Sustainable Girton (Cambridgeshire) – a large wind-powered turbine to supply energy to community buildings

• Zero Carbon Castle (Bedfordshire) - a project to achieve 60 per cent carbon dioxide emission reductions in classic Victorian terrace housing.