The new Camlachie Greenspace is among scores of projects and events being planned to mark the city’s journey from an industrial powerhouse to a champion of sustainability.
Glasgow is striving to become one of the most sustainable cities in Europe by 2020.
Green Year 2015 will mark the city’s journey from Steam to Green. Next year is the 250th anniversary of inventor James Watt conceiving of the combustion engine while walking on Glasgow Green. His eureka moment kick-started the industrial revolution which transformed Glasgow and the world.
Glasgow is continuing it’s transformation with a drive to grow its green economy, protect the environment and create sustainable energy projects.
Each month of 2015 will have a green theme such as improving energy efficiency, using water wisely or creating quality open spaces. A packed calendar of events is being planned around the themes which will encourage everyone from businesses to schools and community groups to get involved.
A Green Year mobile phone app is being developed which will enable people to keep up-to-speed with the activities as well as picking up tips on how to become more environmentally aware. A major Green Jobs Fair is also in the pipeline which will highlight the array of employment opportunities on offer in the city’s thriving renewable energy sector and the type of skills and qualifications needed to pursue careers in that field.
A green film festival is also being organised in conjunction with the Glasgow Youth Film Festival.
Glasgow’s exciting Green Year 2015 is being backed by Unitar, the training arm of the United Nations.
Alex Mejia of Unitar travelled to Glasgow from Geneva today (Tues Nov 18th) to join delegates at a conference in the Lighthouse where plans for Green Year 2015 were officially launched.
Bailie Liz Cameron, Chair of Green Year, welcomed Mr Mejia to the city where he addressed the conference and met Bailie Cameron to discuss how Glasgow and Unitar can work together on future sustainability projects.
She said: “I am personally delighted to welcome Alex Mejia to the launch of Green Year 2015 and I look forward to working with him and his colleagues on some events which will form part of the Green Year calendar.
“A wonderful array of events and projects are being planned around the city and I’m thrilled that some community groups are already organising their own activities and weaving sustainability through existing events.
“Glasgow’s Green Year 2015 will build on the momentum created by the Commonwealth Games and showcase how people and partnerships are at the heart of our ongoing sustainable development.” Mr Mejia, Unitar Senior Manager and CIFAL Global Network Director, said: “From the UN perspective, 2015 will be a momentous year. The coming months will see concentrated efforts in negotiation of the Post- 2015 strategic vision on how the world will look in 2030. Glasgow Green Year will be timely aligned with the critical international debates and will showcase the city’s approach to green innovation, carbon emissions reduction and climate change adaptation. We are proud to be associated with the Green Year 2015 through our affiliated office CIFAL Scotland.”
The Green Year celebrations will mark the huge strides Glasgow has made towards a greener future and the various sustainability projects which are in place such as the creation of a network of electric vehicle charging points, the wind turbine at Cathkin Braes, scoping of vacant and derelict land in the city for mini solar farms, the national roll of our Stalled Spaces initiative and the introduction of the popular Next Bike hire scheme.
Green Year will take over the baton for sustainability from the greenest ever Commonwealth Games which, among other things, saw the creation of 700 energy efficient homes at the Athletes Village in the East End.
The properties will soon become homes to a mix of housing association tenants and private homeowners. They are heated by a district heating system and the electricity is generated by solar panels.
The new Camlachie park will be a multi-use urban greenspace built on a former bus park in Barrowfield Street which is now vacant and derelict land. Phase two of the project will see a skate park added if further funding is secured.
The park is being created by a partnership of Glasgow City Council, Forestry CommissionScotland, West of Scotland Housing Association and the Central Scotland Green Network. Phase one is due to be completed next spring.
Sasha Laing, Policy and Development Officer, Forestry Commission Scotland, said: “The new Camlachie Multi-functional Greenspace is a really exciting project and we are delighted to be working in partnership with Glasgow City Council and the West of Scotland Housing Association. Central Scotland Green Network Development Fund is supporting the partnership to turn over an hectare of vacant and derelict land into usable and exciting green space for the Camlachie community and wider Glasgow residents. We hope the park will encourage more people to enjoy outdoor spaces and help provide a lasting legacy of sustainability in Glasgow.”
Carron Garmory, Chief Executive of West of Scotland Housing Association, said: “We are delighted to create this exciting new project in partnership with Glasgow City Council and the Forestry Commission. It is an innovative community project which will bring about substantial regeneration to a vacant land site within the heart of the Barrowfield community.
WSHA extends its thanks to all the funders including CSGN, Land Trust, Sports Scotland and GCC.”
Links
Glasgow City Council – ‘U.N. Fly in for Green Year 2015 Launch’
Read ‘From Steam to Green: Green Year 2015’ on our blog