Urban Sustainability in Europe - EEA reports published

EEA reports on urban sustainability in Europe, co-authored by CEP, are now published.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published today two assessments on urban environmental change. These explore how European cities have the potential to lead the way towards a green, sustainable future.

CEP has been supporting the EEA’s work on urban sustainability in Europe since 2017. This has been undertaken as part of the CEP-led framework contract which provides assistance on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions. The two reports that the EEA has published today were co-authored by CEP with our partners LSE Cities:

• Urban Sustainability in Europe – Opportunities for challenging times  – While the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is still being assessed, it is already clear that cities currently face a triple challenge of tackling the health impacts of the pandemic, dealing with the climate and ecological emergency, and addressing social and economic inequalities. This EEA briefing focussing on the huge challenges cities have faced trying to shift to a greener future in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Urban sustainability in Europe – What is driving cities’ environmental change? – This EEA report explores work on what could make up a benchmark on how cities evaluate key drivers of and barriers to urban sustainability transitions. It is based on a survey and interviews with selected European cities.

Conceptual framework for urban environmental sustainability:

The EEA has developed an overarching conceptual framework for urban environmental sustainability to provide the basis for future assessments. The conceptual framework is based on four main components: lenses; context; enabling factors; and building blocks.

The briefing and report are part of a series of products the EEA will publish over the coming months on urban environmental sustainability authored by CEP. Future work will include a flagship report on urban environmental sustainability setting out the EEA’s conceptual framework and summary of analysis or urban nexuses focusing on climate resilience, quality of life, accessibility, healthy environment, food security, circularity, clean energy and sustainable buildings at urban level.

Upcoming report and outputs:

• Urban sustainability in Europe – A stakeholder-led assessment process

• Urban sustainability in Europe – Avenues for change

• Urban Sustainability in Europe – Learning from nexus analysis

• Urban sustainability in Europe – Glossary of key terms and concepts

For further information please contact Ric Eales (Managing Director)

CEP's 25th Anniversary

Blog post by Ric Eales Managing Director of Collingwood Environmental Planning (CEP)

In the attached blog Ric Eales marks CEP’s 25th anniversary by sharing some reflections on the journey over the last 25 years and contemplates the future. 

He initially takes us back to June 1995 when it all began for CEP and explores some of the environmental challenges we faced then, and still face today.  He highlights some of CEP’s key contributions over the last 25 years and what makes CEP different as an environmental consultancy.

Ric also reflects on the current Covid-19 pandemic and the need for effective and forward-looking action that is integrated with tackling the climate and ecological emergency.  The blog presents the results of a brainstorm of ideas around what should be included in a manifesto for the green recovery from the Covid-19 crisis organised into eight broad but interrelated clusters.

Ric hopes that by CEP’s 50th anniversary, we will be able to look back to 2020 and appreciate the transformative changes which enabled us to effectively tackle today’s crisis.

For more information contact Ric Eales (Managing Director).

CEP to deliver a new EEA project on Urban Sustainability

CEP has been awarded a new project to assist the EEA in finalising various products on urban transitions towards sustainability

Europe’s State of Environment Report (SOER2020) published at the end of 2019 by the European Environment Agency (EEA) has created a clear mandate for the EEA to work at the urban level.  The SOER2020 built on the previous report in 2015 that concluded “Living well within environmental limits will require fundamental transitions in core societal systems, including food, energy, mobility, urban, fiscal and finance systems. To achieve such purpose profound changes in dominant practices, policies and thinking are needed”.

In 2017 the EEA established a stakeholder process to help develop its integrated work on urban transitions towards sustainability.  This work has been supported throughout by a CEP-led team which has undertaken three previous EEA contracts on urban sustainability.  These projects have been awarded under the CEP-led framework service contract for the EEA which provides assistance on forward-looking analysis, sustainability assessments and systemic transitions.

Continuing this work, a CEP-led team will be undertaking a new contract to support the final preparation of various products including: a report on environmental sustainability in cities (ESIC); a report on the analysis of eight urban environmental sustainability nexuses; and a report on drivers of urban environmental transitions.  CEP will again be working in partnership with LSE Cities , and will be supported by experts from cChange.

For more information please contact CEP’s Ric Eales (Managing Director) or Rolands Sadauskis (Senior Consultant) for more information.