DD2572 Grow Together London: Community-Led Climate Justice

Introduction

1.1. The London Recovery Board’s programme for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic seeks to build back better; and to make London a greener, fairer and safer place to live and work. Accelerating the delivery of a cleaner, greener London is one of the Board’s five core aims.

1.2. As part of the recovery programme, the Green New Deal mission, jointly co-ordinated by the GLA and London Councils, aims to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies, and improve air quality by doubling the size of London’s green economy to accelerate job creation for all. This mission has four overarching objectives:

• improve London’s natural environment, improve air quality, and tackle the climate and ecological emergency

• promote and incentivise activities that sustain and grow London’s green economy

• prioritise interventions reducing health inequalities and social injustices

• engage Londoners and businesses in the journey to become a zero-pollution and greener city.

1.3. Given the work the GLA is doing to put London at the forefront of global green policy, 2022 represents a major opportunity to engage Londoners in environmental issues and the work.

1.4. Key themes for GLA’s engagement work are equity; protecting the most vulnerable; and inspiring younger generations for change.

1.5. Lower-income Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in London are disproportionately affected by environmental factors such as poor air quality and lack of access to green space. These lead to longer-term health inequalities – a fact starkly highlighted by the pandemic. Yet these same communities are under-represented in many environmental programmes and groups, and so their voices are too often unheard by decision-makers.

1.6. The GLA intends to work with a number of partners to make London an exemplar city in terms of engaging under-represented groups with the climate and ecological emergencies and the city’s recovery as part of the Green New Deal mission.

Background

1.7. Summer 2021 saw the roll-out of the Civic Futures Pilot Project, Greener Together (approved under cover of ADD2484), that aimed to address environmental inequality linked to social and racial injustices in London. Those living in the poorest areas are most likely to experience poor air quality, local flooding or overheating, and limited access to green space.

1.8. The chosen area for the pilot was Alma Street near Stratford in Newham, East London. According to our data, this is one of the most environmentally deprived areas in London.

1.9. The pilot was supported by the GLA and led by a number of strategic partners alongside local residents. The pilot became a test bed for new approaches, with a view to expand or extend the programme for future years if successful.

1.10. Key findings from the Newham project included:

• community ‘cold spots’ further compounding the ability for communities to challenge the social and environmental injustices in their area, leading to a feeling of disempowerment

• community advocates existing, but requiring a framework to enable them to act and mobilise their neighbours

• health and wellbeing serving as key motivators for environmental action

• a general distrust of local government and organisations – the project needed to be seen as community-led to gain local support

• the need to undertake ways of working with the local authority across several departments to catalyse change and locate suitable funding

• a better understanding of the hierarchy of environmental and social issues, including which are most relevant to underrepresented communities.

Project overview

1.11. Hubbub UK’s Grow Together London programme is a strategic grants and mentoring framework that will expand on the learning and successes of the pilot project to deliver five community-led projects across London for environmental and social benefit. Projects will: address environmental inequalities experienced by lower-income Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities living in areas disproportionately affected by climate change with poor air quality and a lack of access to green space; enhance social cohesion; and improve health and wellbeing for residents.

1.12. The five projects will be delivered by local authorities and housing associations who will work with grassroots community organisations, and the communities themselves, to co-create and co-govern projects; and use hyper-local motivations to underpin these with innovative environmental solutions.

1.13. The projects will be guided by a number of strategic partners, some of whom were involved in the initial pilot project. Each project will be allocated a mentor to help oversee and advise the step by step process of programme design and give insights to help develop methods capable of adapting to each community, ensuring more thorough, collaborative and equitable engagement, and a better chance of success.

1.14. As well as mentoring opportunities, project partners will deliver a number of group workshops and site visits to help inform programme design and implementation.

1.15. Five local authorities and housing associations will be selected to join a Grow Together London cohort for 2022-2023 as part of an open-application process. As part of this process, applicants will need to identify potential grassroots community partners to work with; and commit to leveraging additional finance and land permissions to realise the ambitions of their community.

1.16. In addition to the mentoring framework, each successful applicant will receive grant funding of £18,000 via Hubbub UK to cover: costs associated with partnership working with local organisations; payment for community coordinators; incentives for community participation; and funds for initial engagement and events.

1.17. The programme will run for a year, allowing some initial strategic and delivery model development from the strategic partners; overseeing the five projects; and providing ‘hands-on’ support and advice as they develop.

1.18. Workshops will be programmed to match the chronology of design and delivery, guiding the organisations through the process step by step. These workshops will include: engagement values and promoting community ownership; community infrastructure and identifying local assets; data collection and translating engagement into action; developing and fundraising projects; research and evaluation; and project legacy and on-going governance.

1.19. In addition to these face-to-face workshops, a number of toolkits will be provided to ensure consistency of some elements of the project, such as engagement values; marketing assets; research into under-represented groups; climate vulnerability data; evaluation framework; and evaluation of the pilot project.

Project partners and stakeholders

1.20. Hubbub UK, which was also a delivery partner and co-funder of the pilot project, will lead the programme, with the GLA and other strategic partners, some of whom have been involved in the pilot programme ‘Greener Together’ in Newham, providing support.

1.21. Strategic partners will bring expertise from civil society and experience of engaging lower income and Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities; and will be paid for their time in developing and delivering the programme.

1.22. Specific GLA teams - Environment, Community Engagement, Community Sports and Health - will continue to monitor the programme as part of a steering group to ensure the delivery model is robust.

Legacy and Learnings

1.23. Hubbub’s Grow Together programme will increase the evidence base of the pilot project, Greener Together in Newham. In particular, the learnings will:

• Create an extended, more robust data set to see whether the learnings from the pilot are consistent with other under-represented communities across five London Boroughs. This will allow for a much more comprehensive set of learnings and recommendations to inform a fair and just transition as part of the Green New Deal work led by the GLA and London Councils

• Upskill local authorities and housing associations to roll out schemes across communities in areas of environmental deprivation, with an eventual goal for all boroughs to be able to run similar schemes at a strategic level

• Create a peer-to-peer network of exemplar community-led projects in areas of environmental deprivation which are local, tangible and relatable enough to help catalyse further community-led environmental action amongst similar communities in London

1.24. Hubbub’s programme forms part of an integrated public engagement campaign on climate and biodiversity that includes pilot project Greener Together (approved under cover of ADD2484) and the London Schools’ Climate Kick-Start (approved under cover of MD2832). It builds on the successes and learnings of the National Park City Festival (approved under cover of MD2285).

1.25. The learnings from this programme will be integrated into the GLA Community Insights Hub (approved under cover of MD2848) and will inform the GLA’s engagement approaches for key strategic programmes such as Future Neighbourhoods (approved under cover of DD2522 and MD2871), Clever Cities (approved under cover of MD2219) and Breathe London (approved under cover of MD2587) in the Environment and Energy unit. It also builds on work on social value and ensuring a just transition to London’s green recovery.

Budget

1.26. £100,000 of grant funding will be awarded by the GLA to Hubbub UK in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. This will be a contribution to its programme management costs, mentors, workshop facilitation and grant funding costs for the successful local authority and/or housing association applicants.

1.27. GLA funding will be from several budgets, namely the following:

• £50,000: Environment and Energy unit

• £25,000: Climate Kick-Start (Environment)

• £10,000: Health and Wellbeing team

• £10,000: Community Sports team

• £5,000: Community Engagement team.

1.28. In order to transfer the grant amount, the budget for this project will be consolidated within the Environment Programme budget for 2021-22 via budget transfers from the supporting units approved in email from budget holder to business accountant. All appropriate budget adjustments will be made.

1.29. Hubbub UK has confirmed that it has secured match-funding of at least £50,000 to realise the project.

1.30. The budget breaks down as follows:

• £20,000: project mentors

• £15,000: development and facilitation of workshops and toolkits

• £90,000: grants (revenue) for five projects

• £5,000: development of grant criteria, application form and scoring

• £13,000: project management and administration

• £7,000: marketing, design and creative costs.

2.1. The objectives of Hubbub’s Grow Together London programme align with the Environment Communications and Engagement Strategy, plus the Green New Deal objectives. The programme content also corresponds with the five principles of the Green New Deal and the Mayoral strategies and priorities as outlined in sections 4.2 to 4.6 below. The objectives and expected outcomes are as follows:

• to increase participation in environmental programmes by under-represented groups

• to co-create environmental and nature-based solutions to improve health, wellbeing and community cohesion

• to increase learning and green skills

• to promote future advocacy

• to provide replicable case studies to be adopted in the future both across local authorities and housing associations, and by the communities themselves

• to create a robust data set of consolidated barriers and motivations for under-represented groups across London and which engagement methods are most effective

• to generate outputs specific to the requirements of the community, e.g. outdoor fitness, green space improvement, energy-saving scheme, food-growing project (dependent on community co-design).

2.2. Importantly, we aim to create a network of communities that are more pro-actively engaged with environmental issues and with each other – both those who are directly and indirectly impacted by the programme. Stronger, more cohesive communities are more resilient and more able to create positive, lasting changes to their environment.

2.3. We aim to engage at least 100 community members with each of the five projects as well as galvanising support from local organisations and the local authority.

2.4. We will also create a number of video case studies and social media assets to create a broad reach across London, targeting under-represented communities.

3.1. Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the Mayor of London must have ‘due regard’ of the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not. This involves having due regard to the need to remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share a relevant protected characteristic; taking steps to meet the different needs of such people; and encouraging them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.

3.2. It is proposed that our engagement work focuses on equity, protecting the most vulnerable and inspiring future generations for change.

3.3. Lower-income and Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups continue to be some of the worst affected by environmental impacts in London and the wider UK, as well as being disproportionately affected by Covid-19. However, these groups are often under-represented in environmental programmes and groups (i.e. the worst affected have the least visibility).

3.4. Our programme will focus on engaging lower-income and Black, Asian and minority ethnic Londoners by making the programme inclusive and appropriate.

3.5. A full outreach plan will be drawn up for the project to ensure we reach individuals from underrepresented groups. This will be delivered through effective partnership engagement, designing tools and resources effectively; reducing barriers to access services; and incentivising individuals to take part through funded opportunities.

3.6. Outreach to embed learnings into future policy and programmes will take place through established channels such as the recovery missions and London Councils.

3.7. We will also use mapping data to identify areas most at risk of the impacts of climate change, air quality, access to green space and health inequalities.

4.1. The key risks and issues are set out in the table below:

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2. As part of the recovery programme, the Green New Deal mission, jointly coordinated by the Mayor of London and London Councils, aims to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies and improve air quality by doubling the size of London’s green economy to accelerate job creation for all. This mission has four overarching objectives, and this programme focuses on the fourth:

• improve London’s natural environment, improve air quality, and tackle the climate and ecological emergency

• promote and incentivise activities that sustain and grow London’s green economy

• prioritise interventions reducing health inequalities and social injustices

• engage Londoners and businesses in their journey to become a zero-pollution and greener city.

4.3. It aligns with the Mayor’s Strategy for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (strategic objective 12: A Great Place To Live) and the Health Inequalities Strategy (objective 3.3: Healthy Places and Healthy Communities)

4.4. It aligns with the London Environment Strategy Proposal 5.3.1.e: the Mayor will work with civil society organisations to develop a series of campaigns that engage Londoners and enable them to enjoy, participate in and contribute to London becoming the world’s first National Park City.

4.5. The primary recovery mission focus of this project is the Green New Deal, but it is also relevant to Building Strong Communities; Mental Health and Wellbeing; and Healthy Food, Healthy Weight.

4.6. The local authorities and housing associations delivering the projects will engage with the relevant integrated care system and local social prescribing services in order to further align with the health-related recovery missions mentioned above. There is further opportunity for sharing learning from this project through social prescribing networks.

Conflicts of interest

4.7. GLA officers are not aware that anyone involved in the drafting or clearance of this form has any conflicts of interest with the proposed programme.

4.8. If any conflicts of interest arise during the delivery of the programme (i.e., a GLA officer has links with an organisation that applies for a grant) they will declare that interest and not take any part in assessing that grant application or awarding funding to that organisation.

5.1 A grant contribution of £100,000 is required to support the Grow Together London project - a strategic grants and mentoring framework aimed at tackling environmental and social inequalities across London.

5.2 The grant will be issued to co-creator Hubbub UK who will deliver and administer the project. If approved, the total value of this project will be £150,000 in which Hubbub UK have secured £50,000 from external funders. To ensure the successful delivery, GLA officers will oversee the project and budget via a steering group.

5.3 The contribution is expected in March 2022 and as such will be funded from several 2021-22 budgets which have been named above in section 1.26.

6.1. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Director concern the GLA’s exercise of its general powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conducive or incidental to the promotion of economic and social development and wealth creation in Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

• pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;

• consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

• consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2. In taking the decisions requested, the Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty - namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

6.3. Should the Director be minded to make the decisions sought officers must ensure that the GLA and Hubbub UK enter into and execute a grant funding agreement (on the GLA’s standard funding conditions) prior to any commitment being made to provide the funding proposed.