Action Briefing Apr 2004 - May 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

City Strategic Partnership

The City Strategic Partnership (CSP) is a relatively new structure, just a couple of years old.

The CSP's purpose is, according to the group's Terms of Reference, to “harness the resources and capabilities of the City to promote the social, environmental and economic well being and health of Birmingham and its residents” by bringing together council, voluntary and business sectors’ expertise into joint discussions of policy.

CSP comprises various sub-partnerships including one which started life as the Environment and Sustainability Partnership, in which Birmingham Friends of the Earth is involved.

However, the remit of this partnership has been largely skewed towards local environmental, rather than global sustainability. The group’s focus is described in the minutes one of its meetings as being on “addressing volume of litter and domestic rubbish in local neighbourhoods, with aim of improving standards of cleanliness and increasing respect for and ownership of local areas.” Clearly, this is important, but it also leaves sustainability unchampioned within the City Strategic Partnership, and we feel that this situation needs to be changed.

Sustainability should be a “cross cutting theme” across the social, economic and environmental strands of the Partnership. We feel that a separate sustainability partnership is needed to ensure that the work of the CSP takes sustainability into account.
We’d be happy to hear from anyone with views on, or knowledge about, this situation. We’ll try to keep you informed on this matter, particularly if any Councillors or Council Officers reading this can advise!

Karen Leach