Case studies

Example of:
How developing partnerships and engaging others can help improve sustainability

Key points: 

• Glasgow City Council consulted a wide range of stakeholders, including an environmental working group, to inform the engineering design for its flood prevention scheme.

• This wide consultation helped to minimise the environmental impact of the scheme and resolve any local objections.

Example of:

How using targets and action plans can help embed sustainability

Key points:

• The Chief Executive of KCC has written to all staff to ask them to include climate change and its implications in their business planning
• KCC has allocated new staff resources to the project.

Example of:

How good procurement practices can help improve sustainability

Key points:

Light-emitting diode (LED) lights last longer and need less energy to run them.
KCC will be the first local authority to bulk-replace all its traffic signals to LED lights.

Example of:

Integrating sustainability into the entire performance management framework.

Key points:

• At the same time as a new performance management system was introduced within West Sussex County Council in 2007, the Council also adopted its new 3 year ‘Sustainability Improvement Plan/ Action Plan’.
• Sustainability targets are cascaded through the relevant Directorates and Services, with numerous Project managers responsible for delivering the objectives within the ‘Sustainability Improvement Plan/ Action Plan’.

Example of:

How good staff travel initiatives can help improve sustainability

Key points:

• The TravelWise project has introduced a number of initiatives to promote environmentally friendly ways to travel to work.

• The project has seen a significant increase in sustainable travel to work by WSCC staff.

Example of:

How sharing best practice initiatives across different sections can improve the sustainability of the entire organisation.

Key points:

• WSCC have developed a sustainable workplace tool as a way to identify and measure progress for achieving sustainability in the workplace.
• The tool focuses on six key areas: waste, water, energy, procurement, people and transport, and allows teams to identify what positive actions are already happening, and what areas they need to focus efforts on to improve.