Registration is open.

BMKALC’s President will welcome back attendees to our first in-person conference since late 2019 and will set the scene for the day.

Speaker: Countess Elizabeth Howe

This topic has never been more relevant; particularly as local councils are being urged to help adapt and mitigate the effects of our changing climate and growing Biodiversity Crisis.

As a town or parish council, it can be a daunting process knowing where to start in addressing the threat of climate change or biodiversity loss – or simply how to act meaningfully. Nevertheless, it is at a community level in the UK where councils and organisations are making the greatest difference and helping to implement positive action.

No matter what scale your council operates at, there are always pragmatic and beneficial opportunities available to help address this growing issue. This presentation identifies the practical changes and steps councils can realistically implement; to operate more sustainably and act as a genuine catalyst for adaption within your community.

Mike Deegan has over 20 years experience working in nature conservation and a decade as a councillor with his local parish council, where he developed award-winning biodiversity and community projects.

Since 2019, Mike has been supporting local councils and charities as a consultant with a range of services; including biodiversity projects and mitigating impacts of climate change. His expertise in working with such organisations means he fully understands how Town and Parish Councils operate – and the range of practical opportunities available to conserve and create local habitats for wildlife.

Bucks and MK are one of the main hotspots for neighbourhood planning in England with over 60 plans made or underway or under review. All have aimed to tackle green issues in their policies and proposals in one way or another, with varying degrees of success.

In Neil’s experience, local communities are becoming more interested in these issues and are wanting their neighbourhood plans to make a difference. What was an exception in policy making five years ago is now front and centre. New national policy initiations – the Environment Act 2021 especially – will only encourage this further.

Neil will share a range of examples of these policies and explain their evidence and intention. They include green infrastructure network mapping, site allocations, designating biodiversity net gain sites and incentivising zero carbon building standards.

It’s never been more important for local councils to effectively communicate and engage with local communities. Pro-active and sustainable community engagement is the key to council communications success. In this session Breakthrough Communications explores how to communicate your council’s vision, priorities and services to the communities you serve, within the resource constraints of your council.

A brief exploration of responsible investment and our community impact.

CCLA’s purpose is to help investors maximise their impact on society by harnessing the power of investment markets. They have been investing responsibly and ethically for more than 50 years. They don’t claim to have the answers to many societal challenges. Still, they do have specific skills and an interest in social and economic justice, which they think makes us unique in the investment industry. They are very interested in talking to delegates about what more ‘good’ they could do together for a better world.

CCLA Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Does your council take its Climate responsibility seriously? Hear how Blachere Illumination can help you reach your goals as the only provider of Eco Responsible lighting.

Blachere Illumination are global leaders in the provision of Eco Responsible Festive lighting. We now have 2 Eco Ranges BIOPRINT and also our ground breaking RECYPRINT where we recycle plastic bottles into beautiful decorations. Our patented exclusive innovations have also been recognised by WWF who have asked us to become one of their commercial partners to recognise our achievements in this field.

Workshop led by Alexander Beckett – Climate Change Programme & Partnership Manager, Planning, Growth and Sustainability 

Grant funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects

At the conference there will be three workshops on during the afternoon session. These are for limited numbers of participants. To attend these workshops please book into each one individually choosing your preferred time – see booking links on the Conference page information above.

Bookings for the FREE workshops are only available to attendees of the conference with a valid event ticket.

Parish & Town Councils may often feel that Green Rooftops Projects are out of their reach, that is not the case, Green Rooftop projects range from the little (bicycle sheds and storage sheds) to the large (sky gardens on public and commercial buildings). Chris Bridgman (Bridgman and Bridgman) and the Sustainability team from Milton Keynes City Council will take you through A step-by-step guide to designing, planning and building  green roofs

Note: At the conference there will be three workshops on during the afternoon session. These are for limited numbers of participants. To attend these workshops please book into each one individually choosing your preferred time – see booking links on the Conference page information above.

Bookings for the FREE workshops are only available to attendees of the conference with a valid event ticket.

Neil will tell the short story of a site allocation in a draft NP that has been shaped by the local green infrastructure network opportunities. It may prompt attendees to think about how to do the same in their NPs or to respond to planning applications where such opportunities should not be missed.

Note: At the conference there will be three workshops on during the afternoon session. These are for limited numbers of participants. To attend these workshops please book into each one individually choosing your preferred time – see booking links on the Conference page information above.

Bookings for the FREE workshops are only available to attendees of the conference with a valid event ticket.

Chris Bridgman of Bridgman and Bridgman will guide delegates through the history, types and benefits of Green Roofs, Green Roofing in practice for new buildings and retrofitting existing rooftops and the Milton Keynes City Council Green Roof Project.

Bridgman and Bridgman | Living roof services – we create sustainable living roofs bridgmanlandscapes.co.uk

Bridgman & Bridgman, working with living roof designer Dusty Gedge of the Green Infrastructure Consultancy, have installed a pioneering new green roof system to 15 bus stop shelters for Milton Keynes Council. Considered to be carbon negative, it is the first time this approach has been undertaken on such a scale anywhere in the world. The size of the shelters in Milton Keynes range between 8-16m2 .

Each of the 8m2 bus stop shelter green roofs is constructed from 312kg of recycled waste plastic – the equivalent of 18,720 carrier bags – and delivers 480kg of direct CO2 emissions savings via the use of end of life recycled plastics. In total, the construction of the new green roof bus stop shelters has recycled over 5 tonnes of waste plastic – the equivalent of 332,280 carrier bags and delivered over 8 tonnes of direct CO2 emissions savings.

Alexander Beckett

Nature Based Solutions to Climate Change

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and planting 543,000 trees on its estate by the end of 2031. Ecosystems provide a broad range of provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. This talk provides an overview of how ecosystems are being managed and improved by the Council to deliver against the commitments made in Climate Change and Air Quality Strategy.

Dusty a consultant working in London, UK and Europe. He is the current President of the European Federation of Green Roof Associations (EFB) and founder of Livingroofs.org, and a board member of GRO – the UK green roof trade body. Though he has a particular interest in biodiversity and urban nature, his work in the built environment also focuses on climate resilience and the promotion of greener cities through multi[1]functional green infrastructure. 

In 2021 he was appointed Industry Expert-in-Residence at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL continuing through early 2022 on a specific project focussed on carbon neutral green roofs. He is co-founder of Gentian Ltd which aims to map, monitor the quality of urban green infrastructure for biodiversity and climate resilience. 

A recognised designer, technical and policy advisor on green roofs and urban green infrastructure (GI), he has worked on GI Projects in the UK for the last 25 years and recently worked on the Greening Riyadh project. He is currently working on a number of design projects to deliver wetland green roofs and is part of the team working on Blue roof guidance for CIRIA. One of the founders of WorldGreenRoofDay, he acts as the public face of the event. He also co-wrote the online small-scale green roof guide, with John Little www.greenrooftraining.com He is also a published author and has been instrumental in writing strategic reports on green roofs and green infrastructure, the most recent of which is the new London green roof report.

Dusty has also been a TV presenter and is a recognised speaker at conferences and events around the world.