Local Economic Solutions for Sustainability
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Localise West Midlands
The Warehouse
54-57 Allison Street
Digbeth
Birmingham
B5 5TH
Tel: 0121 685 1155
Fax: 0121 643 3122
Email: info@localisewestmidlands.org.uk
Registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (not for profit) no: 6239211
LWM current and future activities
Current activities:
- West Midlands Green New Deal and Birmingham Green New Deal
- Community Land Trust in Digbeth
- Extending Localisation
- Regional prosperity agenda:
- Level 4 Courses on Local Food and Engaging Communities in Climate Change for Aston University's Lifelong Learning Centre
- Retail planning activities - with Planners Network UK
Past projects
- Fair Deal for UK farmers
- Birmingham Procurement
- Decentralised Energy for Birmingham
- Retail: report on Shirley proposals
- Local finance for social housing
- Earlier LWM activities
Summary
LWM undertakes the following sorts of work on localisation:
· Provide and publicise information, ideas and examples of good practice
· Facilitate or undertake demonstration projects
· Provide consultancy and other support to groups who are developing localist approaches
· Create supportive networks for localist action
· Challenge the barriers to localisation
· Link with similar projects outside the region and worldwide.
Our work fits mainly into the following five themes:
Housing and Finance - Working with tenant organisations and housing providers to promote local management and financing for social housing; supporting the development of localised mechanisms to provide sustainable, stable financing that benefits real people.
Regeneration - Working with communities to develop solutions to local needs that use local resources. LWM chaired the Eastside Sustainability Advisory Group for some years.
Local food, local production and supply chains - aiming to catalyse an essential shift from the niche status of local food to become part of mainstream supply, particularly through public procurement and regional support activities.
Retail - supporting independent retail in accessible local centres, and developing tools for strengthening local shopping; combating food and service 'deserts'; and localising supply chain links.
Energy - looking at the feasibility of more decentralised energy networks to combat economic, peak oil and climate change issues.