Welcome to our September Newsletter, including updates on the iCapital Awards, the Bristol Smart City Strategy, and the refresh of the One City Plan.
If you have any comments or would like further information, please get in touch: hello@bristolcityoffice.com
Bristol is shortlisted to be European City of Innovation 2019
We are delighted to announce that Bristol’s One City Approach to join up local governance has been recognised by the European Commission’s European Capital of Innovation Awards and we are one of six cities guaranteed to win €100,000.
Last week members of the City Office and Deputy Mayor Cllr Craig presented in Brussels as one of the 12 short-listed cities. We have now made it into the final six cities, of which one will win the title of European Capital of Innovation and be awarded €1m. The overarching winner will be announced at the award ceremony in Brussels on the 25th September.
Our success has been based in a large part on the fantastic level of engagement, enthusiasm and energy that so many different partners have displayed – thank you for being a part of it.
Bristol Smart City Strategy launched at Sweden Summit
Last week, the city’s first Smart Cities Strategy was launched at the Bristol | Sweden Future Cities Summit at City Hall, where representatives from industry, research and local government from Bristol and Sweden discussed their approaches to enhancing cities via innovation, green energy, sustainable transport and connectivity.
Organised by the city council in collaboration with Business West and Business Sweden, the summit saw discussion around developments such as sustainable heating and cooling solutions; energy storage; electric vehicle infrastructure and use; and improved connectivity and open data access, which all lead to the need for planning and the UN Sustainable Development Goals being tackled in both Bristol and Sweden.
Bringing together existing smart city functions such as the Bristol Operations Centre, Bristol is Open, City Innovation Team and Connected Cities Programme, Bristol’s new strategy outlines a responsible innovation approach to the problems and issues facing the city.
Working with stakeholders, the City Office and other partners across the city, the strategy will be updated regularly and aims to ensure smart city projects will provide opportunities to more people and communities to assist in the city’s inclusive growth and help towards solutions to issues such as public safety, traffic congestion, energy poverty and health and social care.
One City Plan Refresh
The refresh of the One City Plan is gathering pace, with members of the Environmental Sustainability Board making a start with an initial ‘Deep Dive’ session reviewing the actions in the environment theme and accelerating ambition for a carbon neutral Bristol from 2050 to 2030. The session was supported by excellent facilitation by Bristol Energy and the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, who then shared their learnings and approach with the other One City Boards at an informal ‘Multi-Board session’, where all six come together on a periodic basis.
If you would like to feed into the One City Plan refresh process, please do get in touch through our contact page.
One City Engagement Events
There are two key upcoming One City events we are in the process of planning with partners:
The ‘Our Bristol, Our World’ Youth Conference, taking place on 22 October, is a collaboration between the City Office, Babbasa and the Youth Council. This conference will be an innovative event in which young people, professionals and city leaders to come together to hear young people’s views about what matters to them in the city, and propose strategies to help ensure the best possible future for the city of Bristol. This event is testament to our recognition that our young people need to be at the heart of long term planning for the city. You can find out more on Babbasa’s blog and sign up to attend here.
Another key upcoming One City event we are looking forward to is the ‘Race and the City’ Conference, taking place on 18 October. The event, which is the first of its scale in Bristol, is being coordinated collaboratively by the City Office, Bristol’s Race Equality Strategic Leaders group (RESLG), the Commission on Race Equality and the Cabinet Office’s Race Disparity Unit. This event will bring together 250 delegates made up of national government, regional and local strategic leaders as well as specialist practitioners from across all sectors. Key aims will be to establish lasting networks, sharing good practice and learning, discussing future opportunities and challenges faced as well as setting the future direction of travel for tackling Race Inequality across the city and beyond. You can find out more about the Race and the City Conference here.
University of Bristol collaboration
In the spirit of drawing upon the immense intellectual expertise that exists within our city to tackle complex long term challenges, the City Office this month welcomes two interns from the University of Bristol. Zeyno and Talulah are collaborating with the core City Office team and key partners to conduct research into affordable childcare, one of the top three priorities for 2019. Welcome, Zeyno and Talulah! Their research will accelerate progress on establishing an affordable childcare scheme pilot, in turn contributing to making Bristol a fair, healthy and sustainable city in which nobody is left behind. Additionally, the City Office is in the process of confirming a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Bristol, which will help set out the path for long term collaboration as key partners.
If you would like any further information on any of the above items, or would like to get in contact with the City Office, please email us at hello@bristolcityoffice.com