UK Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy which states '…inheritance of degraded resources has led to social and economic deprivation, as well as a poorer environment and ill health. Improving the local environment is therefore often a starting point for wider regeneration activities.' (Defra, 2005, p.110)
Overview of approaches in response to the challenge of environmental inequality. - Presentation Transcript
Overview of approaches in response to the challenge Jon Fairburn, Institute for Environment, Sustainability and Regeneration, Staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk/iesr [email_address] Tel 01782 294038
The Health Map Barton and Grant 2006
Mapping of physical activity behaviours in deprived inner-city communities (Stoke on Trent) Dimension Sample metrics Neighbourhood environment (ANEWS) Accessibility to local amenities & spaces, perception of safety/crime, perceived barriers to PA, social capital, socio-demographics. Health indicators BMI, perceived health status (SF12, EQ5D), mortality data, hospital admissions, CVD risk Current PA levels and PA behaviour “ Objective” PA (accelerometry), PA domains (IPAQ (long)), behaviour change.
Mapping at the household level
% population within 300m of Green Space Site Size and Access of Green Space All 2 hectares in size Unrestricted Access 2ha 1 88.9 88.6 88.6 2 97.8 79.4 79.3 3 95.3 75.9 75.9 4 75.9 46.4 46.4 5 96.9 93.4 77.9 6 97.8 28.2 20.1 7 76.1 67.9 2.0 8 90.9 29.4 29.4 9 79.9 32.0 0 10 92.6 56.1 17.5 11 60.1 50.4 49.6 12 63.5 11.9 8.5
Public message failure?
Current environment does not support healthy lifestyle
Walkability often ok but not done, may need traffic re-routing or proper cycling infrastructure to encourage more physical activity
Green space common but issues of quality/functionality fear of crime – under used asset with potential
Env and social factors
Air quality
IPPC - pollution
Waste – active and inactive sites
Flooding
Noise
Green space
Multiple or cumulative impacts
Income
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Disability
Future generations
People in other countries
Percentage of people living within 1 kilometre of active waste sites Decile 1 is most deprived, decile 10 least deprived
Multiple Impact Score Method (score of 100 would indicate that every household in the SOA was experiencing every impact) "Source: ONS, Super Output Area Boundaries. Crown copyright 2004. Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO"
Questions for the West Midlands
What is the baseline?
Inter agency working, how well is it working?
The need to get the planners on board
The need to move beyond just fine words in Local Development Frameworks and Regional Spatial Strategy
How to operationalise strategic aims concerning sustainable development?
Scotland
Forward Scotland awarded £2 Million for the Environmental Justice Fund 2007-8
To be eligible to apply for funding, communities needed to demonstrate how they have been affected by past or present damaging or polluting activity. In addition, projects must:
Improve the local environment for communities and promote environmental justice by addressing damaged or inadequate environments caused by past or present damaging or polluting activity;
Have the full engagement and support of the local community and help build capacity to enable and encourage local people to participate in decisions about their environment;
Promote and support sustainable development and have demonstrable social, environmental and economic outcomes that benefit the local community.
Env Justice and USA
President Obama – background in environmental justice issues in Chicago
Manifesto commitment to support Env Justice through:
- Expansion of Environmental Justice Small Grants Programme
- strengthen the EPA Office of Environmental Justice
- “They will work to provide low-income communities the legal ability to challenge policies and processes that adversely affect the environmental health of low-income and minority communities.”
Fairburn J, Butler B and Smith G (2009) Environmental justice on South Yorkshire: locating social deprivation and poor environments using multiple indicators in Local Environment Vol. 14 (2) pp 139-154
Fairburn J and Smith G (2008) Environmental Justice in South Yorkshire: Working towards a better quality of life. Environment Agency Publications. Available at
Social Ecological Mapping of Inner City Communities (Stoke on Trent)
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/IESR/projects_mrc.shtml
Walker G, Fay H and Mitchell G (2005) Environmental Justice Impact Assessment: An evaluation of requirements and tools for distributional analysis. A report for Friends of the Earth. Available at
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