The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has finalised an in-depth study into improving the sustainability of existing neighbourhoods and has published the report “The Future is Local: Empowering communities to improve their neighbourhoods”.

The report is the culmination of a year’s work, reviewing over 80 inspirational case studies; working with 50 experts from the fields of community engagement, delivery, and finance; and commissioning technical research.

SDC has found that enabling communities to lead local renewal projects with a neighbourhood-scale approach is the most cost-effective way to ensure that villages, towns and cities are fit for the future and create the conditions for people to thrive. Through empowering community groups to come together to tackle issues of local priority, and to work in partnership with local authorities and businesses, multiple benefits can be delivered. Upgrades to physical infrastructure can tackle climate change, deliver reliable and efficient transport networks, improve health and wellbeing, secure a healthy natural environment, improve long-term housing supply, maximise employment opportunities, and make our communities safer and more cohesive.

“The Future is Local” advocates an integrated, area-based approach to retrofitting buildings and upgrading community infrastructure. The benefits include: reduced cost and disruption; engaging communities; and unlocking smarter finance.

The approach proposes an environmental dimension to the government’s Big Society agenda, and a clear vision for the drive to localism. The study outlines the key support from all parts of Government to enable neighbourhoods to deliver an integrated, area based approach, and options for financing this.

“The Future is Local” report and report summary can be accessed on this page on the SDC site. You will also find a link on that page to discuss the report further with SDC staff.

SDC responds to Defra funding decision (22 July 2010)

Will Day, Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, (Thursday 22 July) expressed his disappointment at Defra’s announcement that it intends to withdraw its funding for the SDC from the next financial year, and paid tribute to the Commission’s ten years of putting sustainability on the political map.

Click here for the full statement and links to fifth annual watchdog report on Government’s progress towards more sustainable operations. The report concludes that moves towards greater sustainability made to date are saving government £60-70 million every year, and further progress has the potential to save hundreds of millions more.

Press coverage of the withdrawal of Defra funding from the Sustainable Development Commission...

• UK sustainability watchdog to be axed - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/20/sustainability-watchdog-axed-cuts?intcmp=239
• The greenest government ever? Don't make me laugh - Axing the Sustainable Development Commission makes no sense – economically or environmentally. It's dogma-driven and brazenly cynical - http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/jul/23/sustainable-development-commission-porritt
• Government decides Sustainable Development Commission is unsustainable. Tee hee. - http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100048217/government-decides-sustainable-development-commission-is-unsustainable-tee-hee/