First meeting for 'green’ citizens’ panel

The first meeting has taken place of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) newly formed Greener Together Citizens’ Panel.

These community representatives from across the region will help the WMCA get a better understanding of the key environmental and energy challenges residents are facing, such as air quality and energy efficiency, and put forward their ideas on how to overcome them.

Members include a full-time mother, a make-up artist, an NHS worker, a university student, and a health and wellbeing consultant.

In the coming months they will meet with regional experts in climate change and the environment and share their views and lived experiences as an important contribution to the ‘greener’ work the WMCA and its partners are already doing to create a sustainable and net zero carbon future for everyone.

The West Midlands Greener Together Citizens Panel has held its first meeting

Cllr Ian Courts, WMCA portfolio holder for energy and environment, and leader of Solihull Council, said: “We are really keen to work with residents who want to understand the environment and energy issues that we’re facing across the region and to think about ways we can design practical interventions to create a fairer, greener and healthier region for all of us.”

The WMCA has a long-term commitment to the environment.

The Natural Environment Plan sets out what can be done to enhance biodiversity, protect endangered species, and improve access to green spaces and waterways in support of the #WM2041  target of becoming a net zero region within the next 20 years.

Free Carbon Literacy Training is supporting residents to reduce their carbon footprint, and the Greener Together Forum regularly brings together people and organisations to share knowledge and collaborate in support of the environment.

Anyone interested in signing up for Carbon Literacy Training and attending the next Greener Together Forum meeting in June can register at the WMCA website.