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Every action counts is a UK government initiative involving voluntary and community groups across England. The three-year scheme was launched on June 28 2006 by Environment Secretary David Miliband.
What the initiative seeks to deliver[]
- More than 500 individual sustainable development action plans prepared by key Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations nationally, regionally and locally
- 100 staff from VCS organisations trained to put environmental sustainability into practice
- More than 800 community workers trained to make the links between environmental sustainability and their existing work with community groups
- New good practice guides prepared for VCS bodies, covering issues such as sustainable procurement and green office management
VCS involvement[]
Every Action Counts involves half a dozen or so national voluntary organisations including
- Community Development Foundation
- British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres (BASSAC)
- Federation of City Farms and Gardens
- BTCV
- Urban Forum
and is reportedly "backed" by 16 others. The government is expecting more VCS organisations to join.
Comment[]
Potential concerns over this programme may tend to be about what might get left out.
In particular it may not be clear what the programme has to offer
- existing local sustainability groups and networks
- informal and emergent groups and networks
- groups or networks concerned with the bigger picture beyond relatively small scale and perhaps relatively unambitious actions.
- groups or networks which may be perceived as having a radical agenda. It may be worth reflecting that action against climate change, for example, which the government now supports, just a few short years ago may have seemed radical.
There may also be a concern that the intitiatve is too top down. Specifically that all of the above groups and networks, arguably the most passionate about sustainability, do not have a voice in how the initiative is run or develops.
Related topics[]
Prior to its launch under the new name, this initiative had formerly been referred to as 'Community Action 2020' (CA2020)
- CA2020 Development Workshop November 24 2005, Report
- Community Action 2020 development workshop, November 24 2005
- Community & voluntary action
- Community involvement
- Community Involvement via Community Action 2020
- Talk:Community Involvement via Community Action 2020
- Do our top sustainability organisations get active citizenship?
- How can Community Strategies be turned into Sustainable Community Strategies?
- Securing the future
- Sustainability network for England
- Sustainability networks
- Together we can secure the future
- Towards a national meeting of local sustainability organisations and networks
External links
- www.everyactioncounts.org.uk - government website
- Third Sector declaration on climate change
- Together We Can - government website
References