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Tuesday 2 August 2016

The Blue New Deal from the New Economics Foundation > working on coastal and marine issues > and developing an action plan

Earlier this year, the NEF's Fernanda Ballata guested at the Climate Week in Sidmouth, presenting the latest on an important initiative:
Futures Forum: The Blue New Deal from the New Economics Foundation @ Climate Week in Sidmouth: the presentation












Blue New Deal
Blue New Deal | New Economics Foundation

This is from an email update just in:


I wanted to share an update on the Blue New Deal initiative with everyone who has been involved so far.

After launching the Blue New Deal vision report and website in June last year, we have been busy! As many of you know, in September 2015, we held a launch event in London, and in November, we hosted a cross-party parliamentary briefing at Westminster.

Since then, NEF has been working alongside a growing network of over 500 people from around the UK coast – from policy makers to community groups, and organisations from the private, public and third sectors.

Together, we have been co-developing an action plan to support more good jobs and increased economic sustainability for coastal communities in the UK, through a healthier coastal and marine environment.

Co-developing the action plan


Over the past nine months, we have been supporting a number of events around the country, as well as organising meetings and workshops.

  • Using the themes from the vision report as a starting point for conversation, we have set up four working groups, which have been discussing key areas of the coastal economy: coastal management, tourism, inshore fisheries and aquaculture, and energy. In May, we brought these groups together for a workshop on cross-sector opportunities.
  • In June, we discussed the English coast with local authorities, coastal partnerships, local enterprise partnerships, coastal community teams and other relevant bodies in an event in London.
  • We also co-hosted a roundtable with Big Society Capital, bringing social investors, grant makers and supporting organisations together to discuss the mix of financing needed to support different initiatives and models on the ground.
  • In July, we went to Swansea and Aberdeen to learn from coastal stakeholders and experts and understand the unique context in Wales and Scotland. Although we are disappointed because we were not able to organise an event in Northern Ireland, we continue to develop conversations with stakeholders there, to ensure Northern Ireland’s representation in the UK-wide plan. 
  • In August, we will be bringing together many of the most influential environmental organisations working on coastal and marine issues in the UK, to ensure that the action plan reflects the needs of UK seas.
Post-Brexit

In the new context of economic turmoil and fragility, a plan to transform marginalised economies and help rebalance our economy becomes a necessity. Following the Brexit vote last month, we wrote a blog on why the Blue New Deal is now essential to support, inspire and regenerate coastal communities around the UK.

What now?


We are now reaching the final stages of the process to co-develop the action plan and I wanted to let you know where we are.

In the coming days, we will get in touch again with an update on the action plan, before we finalise it.

We are planning to launch it in October and we strongly believe that all of us can use this opportunity to send a strong and coordinated message, helping to raise awareness and enabling action on issues affecting our coastal communities, the coastal economy and the marine environment on which it depends.

We hope you will join us in making this message as powerful as it can be. NEF is committed to continuing this work, in collaboration with others, not only to demonstrate that change is possible, but also to help make it happen.

Thank you again for all your support so far.

Warm wishes,

Fernanda

Fernanda Balata
Project Lead, Coastal and Marine Environment
New Economics Foundation

Visit www.bluenewdeal.org to learn more about the Blue New Deal initiative

fernanda.balata@neweconomics.org
+44 (0) 207 820 6389
www.neweconomics.org / @NEF
10 Salamanca Place, London SE1 7HB



New Economics Foundation
Putting communities at the heart of a post-Brexit plan | New Economics Foundation
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