Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; the third largest in England after Greater London and the West Midlands. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford.
Greater Manchester spans 493 square miles (1,277 km2), which roughly covers the territory of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, the second most populous urban area in the UK. Though geographically landlocked, it is connected to the sea by the Manchester Ship Canal which is still open to shipping in Salford and Trafford. Greater Manchester sits within the historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire and borders the ceremonial counties of Cheshire (to the south-west and south), Derbyshire (to the south-east), West Yorkshire (to the north-east), Lancashire (to the north) and Merseyside (to the west). W
Manchester community action[edit | edit source]
Sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]
- Action for Sustainable Living
- Envirolution UK, community cooperative based in Greater Manchester which aims to create a catalyst for environmental & social change
- Merci, ideas into action for a sustainable future
♥ Community involvement[edit | edit source]
People’s Plan, an independent public engagement programme, by and for citizens and civil society of Greater Manchester
♥ Climate action[edit | edit source]
Climate emergency declared in 2019. Manchester aiming to be a zero-carbon city by 2038. Zero Carbon Manchester, Manchester City Council
Community energy[edit | edit source]
Bee Sustainable, Bury - Carbon Co-op - Community Energy GM, helping community organisations come together and install renewable energy - Halton Lune Hydro - Moss Community Energy - Saddleworth Community Hydro - St John’s Sunshine, Old Trafford
Cycling activism[edit | edit source]
Love Your Bike campaign based in Greater Manchester, co-ordinated by Manchester Friends of the Earth - Critical Mass bicycle rides in Manchester
Blogs
Food activism[edit | edit source]
- The Kindling Trust, kindling.org.uk, added 17:37, 11 February 2021 (UTC)
- Abundance Manchester, voluntary project which picks surplus or unwanted fruit from gardens and public trees around South Manchester and distributes it to local groups and communities
- Food Futures
- Hulme Community Garden centre
- Incredible Edible Prestwich and District
- Incredible Edible Salford on facebook
- Manchester Veg People, multi-stakeholder co-operative of local organic growers and buyers who are working together to help develop a new model for the local food supply chain
- Sow the City
Open spaces[edit | edit source]
Manchester has six designated Local Nature Reserves which are Chorlton Water Park (Wikipedia), Blackley Forest, Clayton Vale and Chorlton Ees, Ivy Green, Boggart Hole Clough (Wikipedia) and Highfield Country Park (Wikipedia). [1]
Reduce, reuse, repair and recycle[edit | edit source]
Recycle for Greater Manchester
Trees, woodland and forest[edit | edit source]
City of Trees, movement to re-invigorate Greater Manchester’s landscape by transforming underused, unloved woodland and planting a tree for every man, woman and child who lives there, within a generation
Red Rose Forest, community forest in western and central Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1991 and is expected to take 40 years to develop and mature, with the aim of involving communities in safeguarding and creating a woodland flora for the future, and helping preserve the fast disappearing flora of British woodlands. The population within the Forest boundary amounts to 1.5 million, making it the largest urban community forest in the United Kingdom.
The main aim is to get greenery where people can appreciate it every day. This includes street trees, green roofs and green spaces. Red Rose Forest's Green Streets team works with local communities on unique and innovative greening projects to improve the quality of life for urban communities. The value of greening as a means of tackling a range of social, health and economic issues is huge. Red Rose Forest offers many ways for the people to get involved in their environment including the general public through their Friends of the Forest scheme, businesses through sponsorship and communities through the Green Streets project. W
Towards sustainable economies[edit | edit source]
Steady State Manchester, for local prosperity, justice & ecological safety
Resources
The Viable Economy steadystatemanchester
Resources[edit | edit source]
- Greater Manchester Poverty Commission findings published January 2013, calls for special measures which will assist more than 600,000 Greater Manchester residents who are experiencing the effects of extreme poverty. In addition, calls for action to prevent nearly 1.6 million people (nearly half the population of Greater Manchester) sliding in to deeper poverty.
Apps for sustainability[edit | edit source]
Recycle for Greater Manchester Phone App
Citizens data initiative[edit | edit source]
DataGM, freeing Greater Manchester's public data
Funding[edit | edit source]
Video[edit | edit source]
News and comment[edit | edit source]
2019
Boardman shows path to break cycle of Manchester’s car commuter hell, Tanya Aldred, Jan 13 [2]
Local councils heading for fracking showdown with government. Greater Manchester tells firms they are not welcome, Jan 4 [3]
2018
Greater Manchester is set to radically overhaul the way it delivers public services, Nov 29 [4]
Oldham's Community Transformation, Nov 14 [5]
Greater Manchester is setting out its ambitions to become one of the leading green city-regions in the UK and Europe, at today's inaugural Green Summit, Mar 21 [6]
2017
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has announced Chris Boardman as Greater Manchester’s first-ever Cycling and Walking Commissioner, Jul 28 [7]
Urban trees breathe life into Salford street, May 17 [8]
Project aims to grow a 'city of trees', Jan 21 [9]
2016
An idea for Manchester’s new mayor: let the people decide where the cash goes, Oct 17 [10]
2015
Manchester cycles in Copenhagen’s tracks, October 22 [11]
2014
Rochdale Borough starts construction of the UK’s ‘first publicly owned solar farm’, September 22 [12]
2013
How a Manchester co-op is getting the food revolution moving, June 20 [13]
News sources
Platform, The everyday portal for sharing knowledge and intelligence on sustainability across Greater Manchester.
Events[edit | edit source]
2017
May 17 - Achieving a viable economy – is community business the answer? by Steady State Manchester, eventbrite.com
2015
September 12 - 13 - Open Eco homes, Carbon Coop
September 12 - Open Day Saddleworth Community Hydro
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Interwiki links[edit | edit source]
Wikipedia: Manchester, Greater Manchester, Manchester Congestion Charge, Greater Manchester Transport Innovation Fund