Mersey Basin Campaign | Items tagged community

Publication dateMarch 2008 MBC127 Spotlight - Annie Merry Source talks to Annie Merry, Director of Faiths4Change, a multi-faith environmental project that helps bring people from different faiths and backgrounds together to make small-scale environmental improvements to deprived urban areas across the Northwest.

Publication dateJune 2008 MBC134 Weir-ed and Wonderful During the industrial revolution mills generated their power by utilising the force of nearby rivers. Now in the 21st century micro-hydro schemes are popping up along our waterways using modern technology to generate green energy from our rivers. Jason Teasdale goes out to investigate various schemes located across the Northwest and learns about the challenges and opportunities faced by these small-scale hydropower schemes.

Publication dateMarch 2009 MBC142 Environmental Champion - Pete Bradshaw Source talks to Pete Bradshaw, corporate social responsibility manager at Manchester City Football Club. He discusses how his previous career led him to his current position and explains the ways Manchester City FC are working with communities to promote sustainability.

Publication dateJune 2007 MBC207 Audio - Mersey Baton Relay Jim Court of Stockport Community Cycling reflects on his part in the Mersey Baton Relay.

Publication dateApril 2008 MBC208 Audio - Unilever Dragonfly Awards - Virginia Hunt Unilever Dragonfly Awards individual winner Virginia Hunt of Cheshire talks about her volunteering work, and what inspires her.

Publication dateApril 2008 MBC210 Audio - Unilever Dragonfly Awards - St Luke's Church Crosby Leaders and young volunteers from St Luke's Church, Crosby, winners of a Unilever Dragonfly Award in 2008, talk about their environmental project and why they volunteer.

Publication dateSeptember 2001 MBC213 Integrated Catchment Management and Planning for Sustainability: The Case of the Mersey Basin Campaign This research examines the emerging role of 'planning for sustainability' in the context of river catchment management, with the Mersey Basin Campaign as the principal case study. Good water quality and a healthy water cycle are essential for sustaining ecosystems and the human and industrial activities within them. For this reason, Integrated Catchment Management is a vital component of the emerging sustainability agenda. The last two decades have seen a call for increased integration in water management, driven by recognition of the limits of a fragmented organizational approach and an increased understanding of the interconnected nature of many of the problems that affect water quality. Symptoms of water-related problems are often detected far from their sources. Efforts to improve the water environment require action at multiple geographic scales, and involve many different sectors and actors. The newly enacted European Union Water Framework Directive requires each Member State to produce an integrated management plan for every river basin. These plans must be formulated with a high degree of community and stakeholder involvement. The Mersey Basin Campaign offers a valuable case study in how to achieve this ambitious objective. This research has examined two of the Campaign’s delivery mechanisms, partnership networking and strategic planning, linking across spatial scales. Interviews with 25 key players, participant observation and programme literature provided a wealth of data. In-depth analysis combined an inductive approach, based on grounded theory, with an exploration of key themes in the light of systems thinking. This qualitative methodology allowed an extensive exploration of key characteristics of communication and strategic planning in the Campaign. Discussion of the nature of stakeholder partnerships clarified factors for their successful development. These include: shared vision and aims; broad engagement of sectors and stakeholders; equitable representation of interests; high level of participation in planning processes; synthesis of bottom-up and top-down planning; continuous, dynamic development; many opportunities for organizational learning; starting small with projects that lead to success stories; opportunities for informal interaction; and openness and transparency. The research findings offer lessons from the 15 years of experience of the Campaign, which can be applied to similar initiatives, as well as pointers for improving the effectiveness of the Campaign itself.

Publication dateDecember 2009 MBC224 Case study: Hands-on History at Mersey Vale Nature Park This case study is part of a specially written series focusing on our local action projects. They are designed to show you how some of our best projects were delivered. Each case study provides background information, examines the original project idea, methodology, funding information, looks at who was involved, and draws out lessons learned from the experience. We hope these case studies will prove useful and inspirational, especially for those delivering similar work. This case study focuses on the Hands-on History project at Mersey Vale Nature Park, Stockport. This was a day of hands-on heritage activities for schoolchildren at the park.