key strengths - environment :: love middlesbrough

At one time, Middlesbrough was the fastest growing town in England and even supplied the steel for the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

More than 150 years as a world-leading industrial centre have uniquely equipped Middlesbrough to play a vital role in the development of the clean energy technologies that are essential to counter climate change.

The industry which makes its home here today is much greener than before, the town now enjoys the status of Environment City, one of only four in the country.

Key Facts

Middlesbrough Council was awarded Beacon status for tackling climate change in March 2008. It is the only local authority north of Worcester to be tasked with leading the UK's local authorities in this crucial work.
Middlesbrough has 5 Green Flag Park awards, the national excellence standard for green spaces. These awards are for Albert Park, Fairy Dell, Pallister Park, Hemlington Lake and Linthorpe Cemetry.
Stewart Park was recently voted the North East’s favourite picnic spot and awarded the third best site across the UK overall.
The largest carbon-neutral development in the UK is being built at Middlehaven in Middlesbrough, the port whose establishment in 1840 heralded the birth of Middlesbrough as a world centre for industry and innovation.
Middlesbrough in partnership with Forum for the Future and Middlesbrough Environment City hosted its second national conference on local action on climate change on 10th and 11th March 2009.
Middlesbrough is a world leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cells and supports a cluster of companies that are leading the UK in the biofuels, clean coal, energy from biomass and offshore wind power sectors.
Middlesbrough Football Club is pioneering the use of wind power in football by the siting of a wind turbine near to the Riverside Stadium at Middlehaven.

Grundy's North: Middlesbrough's Parks

One Planet Living Principles and Middlesbrough Video

Earth Hour and Climate Change Week

Earth Hour is an international event where the lights to important landmarks across the world are switched off for an hour to highlight the cause of climate change and the role of fossil fuels – such as those burned to produce electricity - in causing it.

Middlesbrough Council will be marking Earth Hour this spring by turning off the lights to the Dorman Museum for an hour on Saturday, March 26 from 8.30–9.30pm.

The museum lights will be turned off by Middlesbrough’s Member of the UK Youth Parliament, Tom Robinson. Tom said: “Earth Hour is a highly visible way to underline what is a great problem facing our world. The dangers of climate change are well known and it is up to each of us to curb our own contribution to greenhouse gases and climate change.”

The Council is also encouraging residents to mark Earth Hour in their own homes – by ensuring that no electric lights are left on unnecessarily. Sign up now at http://www.earthhour.org

Floodlighting on the Transporter Bridge will also be switched off at 8.30pm and will not be switched back on until the clocks go back in October.

The Earth Hour event is also part of International Climate Change Week from 21 – 28 March which will see other environment-linked events in Middlesbrough.

On 22/23 March Macmillan College is hosting a two-day schools environmental event which has been organised by Middlesbrough Environment City. Schools from across the town will get to grips with environmental issues.

On Monday, March 21 a team from Middlesbrough Council will also be taking part in the Climate Week Challenge.

More than 100,000 people from over 1,000 schools or organisations are lined up to take part in what has been billed as the biggest-ever live environmental competition.

Details of the Challenge can be found on the Climate Week website http://www.climateweek.com

Download: Sustainable Business Showcase Events

Sustainable Business Showcase Events Mar-Apr 2011

Boro Becks Team

A new team to help bring the people of Middlesbrough closer to the town’s becks has set out on a three year mission.

The Boro Becks Team, made up of Christine Corbett, Barry Jobson and Sammy Brown, has been formed as part of a new partnership project.

The team will work on a wide range of initiatives to help improve the environment of the becks and encourage more people to use the becks as enjoyable natural spaces.

The becks in Middlesbrough, Ormesby Beck, Marton West Beck, Spencer Beck and Middle Beck, flow through the town to meet the Tees.

They play host to a rich variety of wildlife including birds such as jays and woodpeckers and mammals including otters and hedgehogs.

The Middlesbrough becks are also nationally recognised as a habitat for the endangered water vole.

On top of that they boast great footpaths for walking, cycling and food foraging.

Meet the Boro Becks Team

Christine Corbett, from The Boro Becks Team, said: “The project is all about helping people re-connect with the becks.

“We are here to continue the momentum generated by past projects, encouraging people to get back on to the becks and enjoy them.

“We would like more people of Middlesbrough actively involved in the management of the becks which are important community green spaces.”

The project is being run as a partnership between Middlesbrough Council, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency.

The project is supported by Natural England through Access to Nature as part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Programme.

Sammy Brown, from the team, said residents in Middlesbrough think fondly of the becks.

She said: “We have been speaking to people about when they were younger and how they would play in the becks and their childhood memories of the becks.

“We want today’s children to have the same opportunities to explore and enjoy the becks with their families.”

Barry Jobson, the Becks Ranger said: “It’s all about getting the message out that the becks are a fantastic place to be and Middlesbrough is very lucky to have them.

“They are Middlesbrough’s linear parks, really important wildlife corridors which link the town with the countryside.

“These are the areas that were once farmland and when the houses were built around them these are the remnants that were left so there is a lot of wildlife here that you would expect in the countryside.”

The Boro Becks Team is putting together an events programme for next year, with schools and colleges, community groups and the general public.