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Apple day - Family day helps Hackney go green

23/10/2008

"Too often people only associate innovation with technology. The Big Green Challenge was launched to encourage communities to reduce their carbon footprint but also to educate them about how they can make a difference."

Adults, children and farm animals will be using an apple-themed fun day to mark the official start of the Back 2 Earth team's Big Green Challenge this Saturday 25^th October at Hackney City Farm.

The Back 2 Earth project at Hackney City Farm is one of 10 finalists in the UK-wide Big Green Challenge - an initiative of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to find better and new ways to tackle climate change.

Saturday's event will kick-off the project which aims to reduce the farm's CO2 emissions by 30 per cent in year one and 60 per cent by year two.

As a finalist, Back 2 Earth has secured a £20,000 grant to pilot their project. The farm will now recruit a team of 15 "Green Ambassadors" who will be trained in a range of new skills, which they will then take out into the wider community.

The project plans to slash local carbon emissions through a series of workshops to engage residents and businesses in the project. A roving pedal-powered market stall will be appearing around Hackney, offering practical advice on what people can do to take action on carbon reduction, as well as keep the community updated on progress at the farm.

After 12 months, the Big Green Challenge judges will decide on the overall winner - or winners - with the prize money going to those projects that can prove their ideas will have an impact on their carbon footprint.

Bronwen Wilson, Back 2 Earth project manager, said "There is so much emphasis on one giant solution to climate change which often alienates ordinary people. We want to promote accessible solutions that can be implemented by anyone and we are thrilled to have been awarded this kind of support to help locals become sustainable."

NESTA CEO Jonathan Kestenbaum said, "Too often people only associate innovation with technology. The Big Green Challenge was launched to encourage communities to reduce their carbon footprint but also to educate them about how they can make a difference. The Back 2 Earth project at Hackney City Farm is an excellent example of how social innovation can help the environment and create a model that could be replicated by other organisations and communities around the UK."

Contact:

NESTA Press Office: Jo Oakes on Tel: 0207 438 2609, email Jo.Oakes@nesta.org.uk, or Catherine Anderson on Tel: 020 7438 2609, email Catherine.Anderson@nesta.org.uk

Notes to editors

NESTA

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. Our mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy. www.nesta.org.uk

The Big Green Challenge

Launched in October 2007, the Big Green Challenge is a £1 million prize fund to encourage and reward people working together to find new and better ways to tackle climate change. NESTA is challenging not-for-profit groups and organisations to develop and implement approaches to achieve significant reduction of C02 emissions in their communities.

Through the Big Green Challenge, we aim to reveal, and better understand, the potential power of new forms of community-led action on climate change - and improve the infrastructure (support, finance, organisational structure and policy) needed to maximise the potential of these innovations.

Back 2 Earth - Hackney, London

Back 2 Earth is based at Hackney City Farm and aims to be a community resource and environmental improvement centre, implementing its 60 ideas for carbon reduction which include environmental workshops, courses and rainwater collection and reuse.
www.hackneycityfarm.co.uk