What a Year for Greening Steyning!

As we come towards the end of 2020, we want to reflect on an extraordinary year for Greening Steyning.

In January, corona virus was a faraway news story from Wuhan in China. By April, it became arguably the most significant event since the second world war.

Now in November, as we enter the second lockdown, we know that life will never be the same again.

Beyond the pandemic, climate breakdown and ecological collapse continued unabated. From record temperatures in the Arctic circle and dramatic melting of Greenland’s ice to historic fires in Australia and the US, the situation is dire. More and more luminaries such as David Attenborough, Prince William and Pope Francis are joining the chorus of celebrities, leaders and concerned citizens demanding action. There is a growing realization that this is humanity’s greatest challenge, even more daunting than Covid-19.

Environmentalists have always urged us to Think Global and Act Local, so here in our community we have decided to step up our activities significantly and, despite all the challenges of organizing events this year, we can celebrate some notable achievements in 2020

• We launched the 2030 Project to make Steyning, Bramber and Upper Beeding one of the greenest, healthiest and most resilient communities in the UK.
• We ran a successful survey with over 450 replies to determine the vision that residents have for 2030, from which we identified many projects and initiatives.
• We now have over 70 active volunteers working on our 4 action groups for Transport, Homes & Energy, Biodiversity and Green Consumer. Our diverse team includes ecologists, psychologists, teachers, architects, transport professionals, communication professionals, entrepreneurs, and youth leaders. But mostly it’s made up of concerned citizens who just want to make a difference.
• We have exciting plans in the works including setting up a local repair café, creating a nature map of our back gardens and the surrounding rural areas, a warmer homes project to make our homes more comfortable and eco-efficient, and an active travel survey to encourage us to leave our cars at home, and test views on traffic calming measures.
• We grew our mailing list of members to over 800.
• We’ve firmed up our links with our parish councils, as well as local schools, churches, the business community, and other voluntary groups.

We would love you to join our movement.

You can make a positive contribution to your community. Whatever your experience, whatever your background or interests, we need you!

• Maybe you are an animal lover or enjoy nature documentaries and want to protect our beautiful wildlife and landscape.
• Maybe you want to cut your energy costs.
• Maybe you want to improve your health and help us encourage walking and cycling.
• Maybe you want to support our local shops and farmers market.
• Maybe you are worried about the world we are leaving our children and grandchildren.

Whatever your motivation, there is a place for you in the 2030 Project. We are building something amazing and you can be part of it as we work together to create the future that we want.

You can read more about the progress we have made in 2020 on our website at https://greeningsteyning.org/

At the bottom of the homepage you can sign up for our newsletter. And on the Contacts Us page you can sign up to join an Action Group or send us a message with any questions or discuss how you could be involved.

Or you can always email us at greeningsteyning@gmail.com