Innovation Profile: Dublin City Council:How do you measure a city's sustainability? Yardsticks like energy efficiency and waste recovery can give some indication, but the scope of the exercise has to be much wider. Dublin City Council set out three years ago not just to measure the city's sustainability but also to benchmark it against international best practice and develop actions and interventions to improve its performance.
The vision set by the council is that within the next 25 to 30 years “Dublin will have an established international reputation as one of the most sustainable, dynamic and resourceful city regions in Europe”. It will be “a beautiful, compact city, with a distinct character and a vibrant culture and a diverse, smart, green innovation-based economy.
“It will be a socially inclusive city of urban neighbourhoods, all connected by an exemplary public transport, cycling and walking system and interwoven with a quality biodiverse green space network.”
Sustainability reports
Progress towards attaining this is measured through annual sustainability reports which lay out the strategic goals, achievements and future actions for Dublin city under eight focus areas of energy, transportation, waste, water, air, biodiversity and parks, society and economy.
The city’s third sustainability report has just been published and outlines progress in establishing Dublin as a world leading sustainable city.
“The choice of these focus areas reflects the interconnectedness of environmental, social and economic well-being,” says Dublin lord mayor, Cllr Naoise Ó Muirí. “One of my priorities as lord mayor is to create structures and approaches that ensure Dublin is promoted as a premier tourist destination at home and abroad. By creating an ever more sustainable and high-quality city environment, Dublin can attract more visitors, and from further afield. I hope that the 2012 sustainability report will help people understand the importance of making sustainable choices in our own lives.
“We are all tasked with the responsibility of protecting and maintaining the planet and it is our responsibility to lead the way in our own city.”
The report is aimed at being as open and transparent as possible in relation to Dublin’s performance as a sustainable city. “You couldn’t say that Dublin is one of the world’s best sustainable cities,” says Dublin City Council green business officer Mark Bennett who led the production of the report.
“But the report and the accompanying sustainability indicators document show that we are on the right track. It gives a sample of what’s going on in the various focus areas and a taste of what our priorities are.”
And it’s not just to be seen as a mere record or activity. “The aim is to allow the people of Dublin to have an input and get involved in the development of their city,” says Bennett.
“We want people to contact the city council and engage in the debate. People may think our focus is wrong or that we should be putting more resources into one area rather than another. We want to hear those views because they will help to shape what we do in the future.”
Areas of focus
Among the principal areas of focus for the coming year are flagship projects in co-operation with The Green IFSC and The Green Way, which seek to position Dublin and Ireland as a leading location for green finance and enterprise.
The Green Way is a cleantech cluster organisation based in and around the north Dublin region. It was founded in 2010 when a number of key regional stakeholders collaborated to encourage green economic growth through the stimulation of the cleantech sector in Dublin.
Driving international collaboration is a key element of The Green Way’s strategic vision and it is forging strong business ties with international cleantech clusters and companies in the US, China and other key markets.
The concept behind the Green IFSC is to draw upon green finance and asset management skills and to grow these by developing skills, influencing policy and regulation, and creating a greener environment within which to do business. It is hoped that the combination of these approaches will put the IFSC in a leadership position in the world of green finance.
“There is a global shift towards a greener economy and Dublin is well placed to be at the forefront of this,” says Dublin city manager John Tierney.
“Working closely with public and private sector partners, the council is developing a smart city approach, recognising that innovation needs to go beyond technology and include governance and society. We have made good progress so far and in 2012 launched The Green Way Quantum project.”
Lots to do
According to research officer Jamie Cudden the goal is not to demonstrate how good Dublin is but rather how much it has to do. “The sustainability indicators document shows that the city is doing quite well in some areas but in others it is quite negative and we find we have a long way to go in international terms,” he says.
“The report is not about measuring ourselves against where we have been, we have to look to the best internationally and measure ourselves against that. The report shows where we are, where we need to go and what we are doing to get there.”
* To get copies of Dublin City Sustainability Report 2012 and the sustainability indicators document go to bit.ly/SR2012pdfand bit.ly/SIR2012pdf
