Inspire East - Construction industry and Inspire East to create sustainable communities in the East of England

A landmark agreement has been signed which will help to ensure that new communities created in the East of England are sustainable and well designed.
The Construction Industry Council (CIC), the organisation providing a regional voice for professional bodies within the construction industry in the East of England, and Inspire East, the Regional Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Communities, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the Smartlife Centre in Cambridge.
The agreement between the two bodies demonstrates their commitment to working together on a range of areas. These include joint training as part of the continual professional development (CPD) of CIC members; shared planning and communication and the promotion of a range of opportunities for young people entering any of the built environment professions.
This innovative approach builds on the work of other Regional Centres for Excellence in the north west and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, by building relationships and working jointly with key organisations that represent the built environment. It will enable them to share knowledge and break down the barriers between professions to ensure the construction industry has the skills to deliver the communities of the future.
Representatives from the two organisations signed a giant multi coloured ‘wheel’ which is used by DCLG to represent the eight components of sustainable communities - Governance, Transport and Connectivity, Services, Equity, Environment, Economy, the Built Environment and Social and Cultural. The idea behind the wheel is that each part is essential to making places that are sustainable and where people want to live and work.
Gwyneth Jones, Executive Director of Inspire East said. “This is a great opportunity for us to work with CIC, we can add to the professional skills of CIC members and build ‘generic skills’ in areas like communicating and engaging with communities to build a shared vision of communities that are really sustainable.”
David Adamson, the incoming head of CIC said “CIC East places a high priority on enhancing and bringing more closely together the many skills needed in the design and construction of high quality and sustainable buildings, and co-operation with Inspire East will help us all to achieve that. This is a very exciting time for those involved in creating a better built environment to live and work in”

Email: danieldurrant@eeda.org.uk