Can-do Cities

The complexity of cities and the wide range of stakeholders make it difficult for cities to change rapidly. However, climate change means that cities need to adopt approaches that provide results quicker. A key to this is ensuring that city stakeholders understand strategic sustainability goals and

A key to this is ensuring that city stakeholders understand strategic sustainability goals and support their achievement. An interesting approach is being developed in the UK by the Can-do Cities initiative which provides detailed information on energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction for UK cities. This is provided for most larger cities in the UK enabling residents to find out what is happening in their cities and why it is important. Messages are delivered in a punchy, highly direct way, for example:

  • Liverpool spent a total of £656 million last year on all of its energy and fuel bills
  • That means that 5.5% of everything that is earned leaves the area to pay the energy bill
  • If it invested in all of the profitable energy efficiency and low carbon options, total energy bills would be cut by £132 million a year

The campaign can be accessed here.