Talking Rubbish...

Rubbish and weekly waste collection have been big issues in UK politics recently. Not a surprise, when the cost of domestic waste in the UK is estimated to be over £1.3billion per year. Rubbish is also a major neighbourhood problem - £885million is spent on clearing up rubbish left in public places. The sight of fly tipping, general litter and dog muck in the street sends out the signal that nobody cares about the local area and that it is alright to behave badly – often resulting in worsening anti-social behaviour. Our two case studies below highlight how public agencies and the public can work together to clean up waste, encourage recycling and improve neighbourhoods, whilst simultaneously making major cost savings.

A public campaign showing what ‘big society’ really looks like…

Cleaning-up Serbia

This national campaign to clean up Serbia involved over 280,000 volunteers and resulted in major savings. What’s more it resulted in important behaviour change amongst citizens, getting them to clean up their litter, reduce waste, and increase their separation and recycling of waste.

If this project could be replicated at a similar scale in the UK, the results would be tremendous. We believe that this is a best practice example that cannot be ignored. Click here to read the case study and understand what lessons Serbia can teach us.

Solihull’s Environment Champions: a model in creating community capacity and bolstering social cohesion.

This great case study shows how local public agencies can create a partnership between public agencies, private businesses, and the community to improve their neighbourhoods. The Environmental Champions project has involved over 270 volunteers in 100 projects that have combated environmental crimes, involved young people (improving their skills), and created better links in the community.

Click here to find out more about this project and how it has led to savings of over £200,000

Governance International Blog

Fix My Society through Open Government

The topic of open government has exploded since Barack Obama published an Open Government Directive for the United States administration. This blog outlines our take on Open Government and how it should not become obsessed just with open data issues – much more important are its implications for citizen engagement. The blog sums up the debate at the Open Government Barcamp in Berlin on 30 September 2011, where Governance International ran a session on 'Fix My Society through Open Government'. Click here to read more of our blog – we are looking forward to your comments.

Governance International’s Co-production Tree

Our Governance International Co-production Tree has already proved popular with many visitors climbing around it and enjoying the fruits it has to offer. The tree helps you delve into the issues and topics that are closely connected to co-production.

However, one term has deliberately been left undefined!Click here to clamber into the tree, find it and submit a definition to us.

The best submission will receive a case of wine. Deadline: 30 November 2011. Email Yvonne.Harley@govint.org to have a go!

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