Award Finalists 2008

The finalists for each category of the Creating the Future Awards 2008 are detailed below. The winners were announced at the Awards Dinner on 5 June 2008.

Information about the category winners is listed on the right. You can also download the Creating the Future Awards 2008 brochure.

Bringing People Together

• Winner: This Is Not A Gateway
  London
  www.thisisnotagateway.net
  Founded in 2007, This Is Not A Gateway is an organisation which aims to have an impact on the way people think about cities. In informal, non-institutional settings, the organisation encourages collaboration across disciplines and cultures, prioritising learning and skills development. A festival on cities is planned for October 2008, offering a platform and cross-discipline networking for academics, artists, regeneration professionals and activists, together with comprehensive skills development seminars. Other projects include bi-monthly informal workshops (salons), publications and the development of an online library and archive.
• Flight of the Flamingos Programme
  Wolverhampton
  This six-week learning programme for middle managers promotes partnership working in the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors in Wolverhampton. Each programme has concentrated on a particular theme – for example housing, or health and wellbeing – and on providing practical techniques to help managers work in partnership across organisations. Issues covered include negotiation, creative thinking and managing resources, with the aim of turning partnership working on sustainable communities issues into a day-to-day reality. The project makes innovative use of technology, such as video diaries, and a ‘world café’ to develop a creative and supportive learning environment.
• Integrating development planning and transport planning
  UK
  www.rtpi.org.uk/transport_planning_network
  Since 2004, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Transport Planning Society (TPS) Transport Planning Network has brought together professionals from the worlds of development planning and transport planning. The network, which now has over 400 members, aims to develop and disseminate good practice, improve collaborative working and actively integrate two specific skill sets which are equally crucial to the successful delivery of sustainable communities. Activities have included a spatial plans and transport planning event in October 2007, and a national transport and development conference in November 2007 (to be repeated in 2008) to raise the profile of transport planning among spatial planners, and vice versa.
• PlanIt Merseyside
  Merseyside
  PlanIt Merseyside provides training for council members, local government officers and Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) organisations to improve their skills in the areas of partnership development, sustainability and collaborative working. The project aims to deliver 18 innovative, interactive group workshops using sophisticated computer software. Simple graphics, flow diagrams and scores are used to interpret the audience’s decisions, highlighting their positive and negative aspects. The workshops cover ‘real’ topics such as sustainable communities, Local Area Agreements and governance, with the aim of increasing participants’ understanding of the issues, and giving them the tools to enhance understanding further in their own organisations.
• RENEW Northwest Common Purpose Programme - developing leaders for building sustainable communities
  North West
  www.renew.co.uk
  RENEW Northwest and Common Purpose’s five-day leadership development programme aims to help regeneration professionals understand the wider issues of building sustainable communities, and make them aware of the role of other professions. The first pilot programme in 2006 involved 34 participants from across the north west, representing both urban and rural interests, and different sectors and disciplines. The programme pushes people beyond their comfort zones to experience new environments and unfamiliar challenges, using real live issues as curriculum material, and visiting a wide range of locations (from community organisations through to public agencies and businesses). A second programme will take place in 2008.

Innovative Engagement

• Winner: U Decide – Participatory Budgeting in Newcastle, Children and Young People’s Pilot
  Newcastle upon Tyne
  www.newcastle.gov.uk
  U Decide is a two-year pilot project, offering a radical approach to community empowerment. Children and young people (aged from three to 19) were allocated £120,000 from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, and given the opportunity to become involved in deciding how it was spent. Over 2,000 voted in choosing priority issues, others developed ideas for projects and over 300 children and young people voted on ideas submitted. The projects ranged from an outdoor play area for babies (designed by three to four-year-olds), to the purchase of samba drums for a special school and a play area at a project for homeless families.
• Brentford High Street: The Community Vision
  West London
  www.brentfordhighstreet.org.uk
  Brentford High Street Steering Group was formed in 2006 by local businesses, residents and councillors. With a major development pending, the Group wanted to produce a community vision for the High Street, with the aim of promoting regeneration in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. The Group engaged a community of 12,000 people in an inclusive, holistic process, which involved surveys, workshops (on themes such as older people’s priorities, urban design and liveability), and a conference exploring young people’s priorities with 60 secondary school students. A final Community Vision report was presented to local councillors in 2007, containing 114 recommendations and action points.
• Carlisle Homelessness Awareness Week
  Carlisle
  This initiative aimed to increase real involvement by the homeless and at-risk service users in Carlisle in local policy and strategy, including setting funding priorities. Residents of supported housing schemes and hostels were encouraged to take part in a steering group to devise a homelessness event to increase debate and discussion. Innovative activity-led meetings were held, and followed up by a colourful newsletter. Seventy people took part in the subsequent three-day Awareness Week, leading to the development of the Carlisle & Eden Service Users Forum. This monthly forum has recently organised a Cumbria-wide Supporting People Inclusive Conference, attended by over 250 people.
• Young Advisors Charity
  UK
  www.youngadvisors.org.uk
  The Young Advisors Charity is a unique project which trains young people between the ages of 15 and 21 to act as regeneration consultants in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas. There are over 30 projects nationally, employing over 250 Young Advisors as consultants to show community leaders and decision-makers what it’s like for young people to live, work, learn and play in their neighbourhood. Following a 30-hour structured learning programme, each Advisor works on average four to six hours per week, selling their consultancy to local authorities and regeneration teams. The project inspires young people from all kinds of backgrounds to gain transferable, professional skills and specialist work experience.

Inspiring Young People

• Winner: Young People’s Voice @Allsorts LGBT Youth Project
  Brighton
  www.allsortsyouth.org.uk
  Young People’s Voice is a project based in Brighton which focuses on supporting young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) or unsure of their sexuality. The youth forum offers marginalised young people diverse opportunities to learn new skills and participate in decision-making, such as training as Homophobia Awareness Peer Educators to deliver workshops to local schools, and sitting on the local Youth Council. Over 200 LGBT youth volunteering opportunities were created in the last year, and young people empowered and inspired to participate in the local community and engage with education, training and work.
• Action at School
  UK
  www.globalactionplan.org.uk
  Since 1997, Global Action Plan’s environmentally-focused project has worked with over 350 UK schools, helping them save resources and money. Each year-long programme of training and support helps a school tackle waste, water, energy or transport issues. Action at School, which is recognised by the United Nations Environment Programme, focuses on a pupil-led Action Team, which designs and implements creative ideas for change. To date, the programme has trained 8,255 pupils, with their innovative environmental campaigns reaching 200,000 of their classmates. The campaigns have helped the schools involved to reduce their waste by 40% and energy use by 10%.
• The Highlands Road Youth Project
  Fareham
  Inspired and led by young people from the Henry Cort Community College Student Council, this project has created a centre for the Highlands Road community in Fareham. Working in partnership with the police, local council, church and community groups and Fareham Youth Services, the venue (a refurbished church building) provides a safe place for young people to meet on a Friday night. Since May 2007, over 1,000 young people have attended sessions, with 50-60 young people arriving each week. Key to the project’s success has been young people working with other sectors of the community to run the project, taking ownership of the venue.
• Kier Sheffield City Stewardship Programme
  Sheffield
  City Stewardship is a long-term, large-scale project that attempts to tackle fundamental issues of worklessness, engagement, education, and anti-social behaviour in Sheffield. It was developed in the mid-1990s in response to persistent vandalism on council estates, and since then thousands of 16 to18-year-olds (some 240 in 2006-07 alone) have passed through the 26-week programme. The young people work on painting, decorating, gardening and installing anti-burglary measures for Sheffield Homes housing stock in their own neighbourhoods, and receive training in basic skills such as numeracy and literacy. Burglary rates have fallen dramatically, and 67% of the project’s graduates move on to education or employment.
• Young Advisors Charity
  UK
  www.youngadvisors.org.uk  
  The Young Advisors Charity is a unique project which trains young people between the ages of 15 and 21 to act as regeneration consultants in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas. There are over 30 projects nationally, employing over 250 Young Advisors as consultants to show community leaders and decision-makers what it’s like for young people to live, work, learn and play in their neighbourhood. Following a 30-hour structured learning programme, each Advisor works on average four to six hours per week, selling their consultancy to local authorities and regeneration teams. The project inspires young people from all kinds of backgrounds to gain transferable, professional skills and specialist work experience.

Low Carbon Development

• Winner: Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership
  Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
  www.csep.co.uk
  Created in 2001, the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership has over 70 members, all working towards a sustainable future for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Since then, the partnership has achieved carbon reductions in over 6,000 homes, set up home health projects offering free insulation in energy-deprived areas, and supported renewable energy projects such as the UK’s first commercial wind farm in Delabole. Technical innovations include using the UK’s first retro-fit ground source heat pump installations in social housing, to help households benefit from affordable low-carbon heating. Many of its pioneering projects have now been successfully replicated elsewhere in the UK.
• Brill Energy
  Brill, Buckinghamshire
  www.brill.bucks.sch.uk 
  Brill Church of England Combined School has been committed to green energy since 2001, when eco-friendly lighting was first installed. From this modest start, the school is well on its way to becoming carbon neutral by 2012. Helped by the introduction of a pupils’ eco council, and an ‘eco-warrior’ energy and water monitoring system, the school has become passionate about renewable energy. The project has seen the innovative use of green energy, including the installation of a small wind turbine that powers the fountain in a teaching pond, a 6kWh wind turbine, solar thermal and solar PV panels, and a ground source heat pump which heats the school’s new eco-friendly classroom extension.
• Marches Energy Agency Low Carbon Communities
  Shrewsbury
  www.mea.org.uk
  Marches Energy Agency’s Carbon Communities Project aims to help three Shropshire communities reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by at least 2% year on year (the equivalent of at least 60% by the year 2020). The project provides inspiration, education, funding and support to help businesses, households and community groups tackle carbon reduction. The emphasis is on simple, cost-effective measures such as a community building energy audit and energy-saving lighting ‘makeover’, capital grants for businesses to install renewable technologies and a £100 discount on insulation for households. Community Champions have raised awareness and encouraged all sections of the community to concentrate on the ‘dull stuff’ like lightbulbs and insulation.
• Modus Grand Arcade Shopping Centre
  Wigan
  www.grand-arcade.co.uk
  The Grand Arcade Shopping Centre in Wigan aims to be the world’s first carbon neutral shopping centre. The carbon dioxide produced during construction has been offset via woodland development and wind power generation schemes. To keep carbon levels to a minimum, a green roof, mechanical natural ventilation system, thermal glazing, underfloor heating, movement sensitive lighting and automated toilet flushes have been installed in the 450,000 sq ft development. Since the centre’s launch in March 2007, Modus has worked with its tenants and shoppers to promote recycling, green energy, and a carbon-neutral lifestyle.
• Sanford Housing Co-op Carbon 60 Project
  London
  www.sanford.i12.com
  Sanford Housing Co-op’s street of 14 purpose-built houses and six studio flats houses 129 people. Built in the late 1960s, the Co-op’s ancient gas boilers and original radiators needed a radical overhaul, while residents were becoming increasingly concerned about climate change. The community-led Carbon 60 Project installed seven biomass boilers and 14 large solar thermal arrays, with the aim of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60%. This innovative project has pioneered the use of biomass on the domestic scale and raised energy awareness, leading to offshoot projects in the community such as composting, organic food and recycling.

Mixed Communities

• Winner: Transformation of Northmoor
  Manchester
  Northmoor, part of the Longsight area of Manchester, has been subject to wide-ranging, holistic intervention over the last 10 years, in an evolutionary rather than revolutionary transformation. Streets have been remodelled, houses refitted, new family homes built and over 850 homes given a facelift. Together with better street lighting, gated alleys have reduced crime and fostered community spirit. The pioneering introduction of Dutch-style Home Zones has ensured safer, family-friendly streets, where pedestrians take precedence and the volume of traffic has halved. After consultation with residents, community wardens have been installed, and continue to make a huge impact.
• Keepmoat – New Heartlands
  Liverpool
  www.keepmoat.co.uk
  This 10 to 15-year regeneration programme aims to create 2,000 new homes in the Anfield and Breckland areas of Liverpool. Since 2004, Keepmoat has worked in partnership with the local community and regeneration agencies to develop an urban masterplan which meets residents’ requirements. Three information road shows, a three-day event attended by over 1,000 people, an onsite information centre and schools programme have encouraged active resident participation, with the aim of delivering a positive and lasting social legacy. Homes have been created using a mixed tenure model, with each site layout designed to suit the community’s needs.
• Riverside One - A Sustainable Community Development in Middlesbrough by BioRegional Quintain Ltd
  Middlesbrough
  www.riverside-one.com
  The Riverside One development at the former Middlehaven Dock in Middlesbrough aims to transform a 40-acre redundant waterfront quarter using One Planet Living principles of sustainability, to create a vibrant and diverse community. Over 750 new homes, new office and leisure space, and new shops will be built, adjacent to a new £70m campus for Middlesbrough College. Innovative strategies for sustainability include a zero-carbon strategy (including the use of thermally-efficient building fabric and on-site communal biomass boilers); a car club, community extranet and green lifestyles pack for residents; and a community governance organisation.
• Upton
  Northampton
  www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/upton.htm
  Upton is a new 44-hectare district in Northampton, which on completion will contain 1,382 homes, together with a school, playing fields, office and retail space, community facilities and an integrated sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS). The project combines a people-focused planning approach with high environmental standards, with the aim of creating a sustainable community. Upton has pioneered the use of Design Codes to inspire and deliver a high standard of design and ecological innovation. Many houses will incorporate green technologies such as photovoltaics, green roofs, wood pellet boilers, wool insulation, and micro wind turbines.

Schools and the Community

• Winner: Marlowe Academy and Newington Estate
  Ramsgate
  www.marloweacademy.co.uk
  Marlowe Academy has transformed its place in the community with the introduction of an extended day from 7.30am until 5pm, with the aim of providing a safe place for students while parents are working. The day starts with a breakfast club at 7.30am for staff and pupils, while the extended hours allow pupils to complete their ‘homework’ at school with learning support. Students have two hours per day of study and extra curricular enrichment. Community groups use the facilities for meetings, and an adult education classroom is based at the school. Attendance has improved by 2% over last two years despite the longer day, and exclusions are down by 23%.
• The Beauchamp College Learning Village
  Oadby, East Midlands
  www.beauchamp.leics.sch.uk
  Beauchamp College has established itself as a pioneering learning and health centre for the community, running a plethora of projects for people of all ages, abilities and ethnic origins. The range of community-related and partnership initiatives includes a pre-school and early years ICT Spaceship, breakfast and after-school clubs for primary schoolchildren, sports academies for secondary students, family-centred learning, and community projects such as Oadby website and a residents’ forum. Multi-agency, multi-disciplinary collaborative working is employed – culminating in the Dream Team project, where representatives from schools nationwide come together once a term to share good practice.
• Haworth Primary School Gardening Club
  Haworth, West Yorkshire
  www.haworth-village.org.uk/local/go.asp?group=16
  The Gardening Club is a community-based project which began five years ago, with the aim of improving Haworth’s surroundings and teaching pupils to be good citizens. Forty children attend the club each year, with involvement from parents and local businesses. All plants are grown by the children - harvested crops are eaten as part of school meals, and planters are filled with flowers for organisations like the fire station. Regular visits are made to old people’s homes, where children work with residents to plant bulbs and flowers. The club has become an inspirational and integral part of the school curriculum and wider community, raising £10,000 for other charities.
• St Hubert’s Catholic Primary School
  Oldbury, West Midlands
  www.st-huberts.sandwell.sch.uk
  St Hubert’s has harnessed the enthusiasm and commitment of its young people in its work towards becoming a sustainable community. An Eco-Committee has been established with pupil involvement, and together with parents and local partners, pupils are involved in generating ideas, suggesting ways to implement them and carrying them out. Projects include widespread recycling and energy efficiency measures, the sale of Fair Trade goods to support a school in India and the development of a school garden (the produce is used in cooking lessons, and some is sold to sponsor a child in India).

Vision for Place  

• Winner: River Nene Regional Park
  Northamptonshire
  www.riverneneregionalpark.org
  The Park was established in 2003, and aims to create a green infrastructure network of environmental projects across Northamptonshire. It works with businesses and organisations to help them see the natural environment as an asset, offering access to funding, and advice and guidance on best practice in green issues. Innovative developments such as a landscape character assessment planning tool facilitate place-making and have been influential in guiding the growth of several Northamptonshire towns, while projects such as the development of a two-mile accessible trail at Salcey Forest have dramatically increased visitor numbers and benefited local communities.
• Electric Wharf
  Coventry
  www.electricwharf.com
  The Electric Wharf project has restored Coventry’s redundant Victorian power station and depot, Electric Light Works, transforming it into live/work apartments, low-energy homes and offices. Begun in 2002, the project focuses on the creative industries and IT to create a mixed-use community – over 15 companies have been established to date. As part of the project’s commitment to creative practice and belief in involving the arts, eight artists worked on the development’s concept, delivery and community relations. The canal-side industrial environment has been turned into a vibrant living and working community, which it is hoped will help to regenerate the area beyond.
• New Islington, Manchester’s Millennium Community
  Manchester
  www.newislington.co.uk
  New Islington is an ambitious 10-year regeneration project which aims to create up to 1,700 new homes, a new school, health centre, canal arrangement and park in a run-down 30-acre site in Manchester. Aiming to create a successful new community for the existing 200 residents and around 3,000 new ones, the project has a mix of architecture and home types, a mix of uses, and a mix of people, incomes and tenures. Extensive community consultation and involvement has seen the project cited worldwide as an example of best practice (over 1,000 people toured the site in the last year).
• The Vassall Centre
  Bristol
  www.vassallcentre.org
  The Centre is a pioneering space that provides a ‘barrier-free’ place of work for disabled people in Bristol. Begun in 1998, the project aims to fully convert a former 43,000 sq ft military hospital into a space which is inclusive for people with any form of impairment, whether physical, sensory or learning difficulties. Thirteen voluntary organisations, managed by and providing employment for disabled people, are now based in the Centre and have over 400 employees. The Centre's conference facilities are used by over 20,000 people each year, and a further 50,000 people visit the Centre to access services from tenant organisations.