On Tuesday 3rd November our Chairman Chris Short represented the Foundation at a Defra's # OpenEnvironment workshop in London.
The aim of the workshop, hosted by Rory Stewart MP, was to explore in more depth how, through partnership, the 25 year Environment plan can be developed and delivered. The workshop was attended by over 70 representatives from a wide range of organisations. Rory Stewart on behalf of Defra recognizes that this is the start of a conversation and hopes that the next year will see the development of a plan that represents a sound future for the environment across all sectors of government.
Chris says:
So why should we expect this to be any different? There is a long list of plans and strategies that have the right words and say the things that we agree with about reconnecting people with nature and reducing the national decline in the quality of the environment but nothing seems to change. One thing that struck me about this workshop was that most people were talking about ‘systems’ and the need to work local in a way that enables issues to be dealt with in a way that recognizes the connections between issues. This is a matter for government as much as anyone, where departments compete for funding and legislation development time and seem to work in silos.
A common theme throughout the day was to talk about accessibility to data and developing knowledge and learning in a collaborative way. All of this talk might be a long way from the commons in the North West or South West or even in my home county of Gloucestershire but they are central to this thinking. Different interests have for centuries been engaging in conversations and innovating to meet different needs and demands of each common or collection of commons.
So the work that the Foundation has done through projects like Better Outcomes and the Hill Farm Training Programme is just what Defra wants to see more off. It is good to be able to say that we are part of the solution so we should say more about this and make sure Defra hears us – even if they feel a long way away.
