Sustainable
construction sustainable communities
Inspire East - Construction industry and Inspire East to create sustainable communities in the East of England
A landmark agreement has been signed which
will help to ensure that new communities created in the East of
England are sustainable and well designed.
The Construction Industry Council (CIC), the organisation
providing a regional voice for professional bodies within the
construction industry in the East of England, and Inspire East,
the Regional Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Communities,
signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the Smartlife Centre
in Cambridge.
The agreement between the two bodies demonstrates their
commitment to working together on a range of areas. These
include joint training as part of the continual professional
development (CPD) of CIC members; shared planning and
communication and the promotion of a range of opportunities for
young people entering any of the built environment professions.
This innovative approach builds on the work of other Regional
Centres for Excellence in the north west and the Academy for
Sustainable Communities, by building relationships and working
jointly with key organisations that represent the built
environment. It will enable them to share knowledge and break
down the barriers between professions to ensure the construction
industry has the skills to deliver the communities of the
future.
Representatives from the two organisations signed a giant multi
coloured ‘wheel’ which is used by DCLG to represent the eight
components of sustainable communities - Governance, Transport
and Connectivity, Services, Equity, Environment, Economy, the
Built Environment and Social and Cultural. The idea behind the
wheel is that each part is essential to making places that are
sustainable and where people want to live and work.
Gwyneth Jones, Executive Director of Inspire East said. “This is
a great opportunity for us to work with CIC, we can add to the
professional skills of CIC members and build ‘generic skills’ in
areas like communicating and engaging with communities to build
a shared vision of communities that are really sustainable.”
David Adamson, the incoming head of CIC said “CIC East places a
high priority on enhancing and bringing more closely together
the many skills needed in the design and construction of high
quality and sustainable buildings, and co-operation with Inspire
East will help us all to achieve that. This is a very exciting
time for those involved in creating a better built environment
to live and work in”
Email:
danieldurrant@eeda.org.uk