London Calling: The 2012 Sustainable City Awards
"It is clear the UK is now far savvier about sustainability." -- Simon Mills, City of London Corporation[1]
Last week, Great Britain's sustainability professionals took a moment to reflect on the past year's successes at the eleventh annual Sustainable City Awards in London, organized by the City of London Corporation (CLC), the elected municipal governing body of the City of London. Receiving over 130 entries this year, the awards demonstrate the nation's increasing focus on sustainability.
"Initiatives like the prestigious Sustainable City Awards are vital in bringing issues of sustainability to the forefront of the agenda which is why I was so keen to get involved in this year's awards," said Raymond Blanc, one of Britain's most respected chefs, who hosted the awards at Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.
AND THE OVERALL WINNER AWARD GOES TO: ALUMET GROUP
The Overall Winner Award was given to the Alumet Group, an SME contractor and renewable energy specialist whose "Sustainability Drive" demonstrated how sustainable practice can drive down production costs and attract new clients. Alumet also launched "Community Green," an innovative campaign which aims to make West Midlands and West Yorkshire the most sustainable regions in the country. Having secured funding of GBP 20 million (USD 31.5 million) to offer free solar PV for up to 2,000 local residential and commercial buildings, Alumet recoups the investment through the UK's Feed-in-Tariff.
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Reynard is a Justmeans staff writer for Sustainable Finance and Corporate Social Responsibility. A former media executive with 15 years experience in the private and non-profit sectors, Reynard is the co-founder of MomenTech, a New York-based experimental production studio that explores transnational progressivism, neo-nomadism, post-humanism and futurism. He is also author of the blog 13.7 Billion Years, covering cosmology, biodiversity, animal welfare, conservation and ethical consumption. He is currently developing the Underground Desert Living Unit (UDLU), a sustainable single-family dwelling envisioned as a potential adaptation response to the future loss of human habitat due to the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Reynard is also a contributing author of "Biomes and Ecosystems," a comprehensive reference encyclopedia of the Earth's key biological and geographic classifications, to be published by Salem Press in 2013.
