ERDF style Green Infrastructure. Martin Moss. Senior Advisor, Green Infrastructure Operations England.
What is ERDF looking for? • • Specific Objective 6.1 sets the But there is a context; scene. • “Outside of the farmed • “Investments in Green and landscape”; Blue Infrastructure and actions to support the provision of • “Targeted improvements in the ecosystem services on which urban environment through an businesses and communities increase in the area of Green depend to increase local Infrastructure”. natural capital and support economic growth”. • ERDF intended to compliment EAFRD (Countryside Stewardship) but spatially to be mutually exclusive – The Demarcation Issue..
So ERDF is looking for; • Green AND Blue infrastructure (Land and water) in the “non - farmed landscape”. • That delivers Ecosystem Services. • That benefit Businesses and communities • Builds Natural Capital. • And Supports economic objectives.
So what are Green Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital? • Need to understand; • ERDF uses the GI definition from the National Planning • What GI is about. Policy Framework. • What Ecosystem Services are about. • “A network of multi -functional • What Natural Capital is about. green space, urban and rural, which is capable of delivering • A complex cloud of competing a wide range of environmental conceptuality? and quality of life benefits for local communities”. • How do these things relate to each other? • But is that very helpful?
Need people to see GI as an infrastructure in its own right. Green Infrastructure is about working with nature to provide services and benefits for people and the economy. GI is a critical infrastructure just like transport. It consists of series of individual components that together deliver multiple services and benefits for humans, and homes for wildlife.
Key elements of GI – Nature doing a job. • Green = something to do with nature - GI is about working with nature. • Infrastructure – provides a service - There to do a job. • Therefore need to know; • What GI is needed. • What job it is needed for. • Where it needs to be to deliver the benefits.
Not The National Grid …………The Natural Grid This is not Grey …………… It’s Green (and blue!).
Relating GI, Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital Type. From biodiversity to value. £ REDUCED EVAPO- CLIMATE CHANGE AIRCONDITIONING TRANSPIRATION ADAPTATION - COSTS/HEALTH URBAN COOLING £ MARKET VALUE CARBON CLIMATE CHANGE OF CO 2 STORED SEQUESTRATION MITIGATION £ REDUCED PARTICULATE IMPROVED AIR HEALTH COSTS FILTERING QUALITY GI TYPE / Feature GI FUNCTION GI BENEFIT GI VALUE (£) Ecosystem Services Biodiversity Natural Capital The “So what factor”. The thing The bottom line.
Focus of investment for PA6d. • Flood and water management. • • All PA6 GI projects need to Water and air pollution contribute towards biodiversity management. priorities with a particular focus • Economic growth and on water, grassland and investment. woodland habitats. • Health and well-being (Recreation if linked to growth • In addition projects need to benefit). deliver at least one socio- • Provision of products from the economic benefit from a list. land. • Climate Change adaptation • This list is effectively a high and mitigation. level options list for required GI Ecosystem Services / Benefits. • In other words – Biodiversity doing a job.
GI contribution to economic objectives - The evidence base – Micro Economic Benefits of Investing in the Environment. • Extensive, increasing, multi- disciplinary – but still early • Thorough review of literature days. on the benefits of investment in • Many research questions are the natural environment. being identified as gaps in understanding become • http://publications.naturalengland.org.u apparent. k/publication/32031 • BUT … • PA6 does not oblige you to prove the • Natural England have economic outputs of a project. compiled a broad literature • Output indicator relates to Ha of land review. brought into “higher conservation status”. • First published in 2012 – • However, PA6 calls may ask for MEBIE 2 published 2014. projects to demonstrate their relationship with local growth objectives.
GI supporting Growth. • • Defra / Natural England report Attracting inward investment. by Eftec – 2013 • Increasing visitor spending (increased footfall). • Green Infrastructure’s • Providing environmental cost contribution to economic savings (pollution filtration, growth – a review. flood risk management etc). • Health improvements leading to increased productivity. • Found that GI can support • economic growth in range of Market sales (products from ways, including; the land). • Employment generation • (Green Space sector accounts http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Defa ult.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More& for 5% of jobs in England). Location=None&Completed=0&Project ID=19056
GI as an employment sector - A recent study in Greater Manchester. • A study in Greater Manchester is 2013 estimated that the GI • The new EU Green Growth sector involved; Opportunity. • 15,000 jobs linked to, or • Greater Manchester Briefing. dependant upon Green Infrastructure. • Natural Economy Northwest • A sector generating £470 Investment Forum. million GVA for the local economy. • August 2013. • Averaging £31,000 GVA/Full • http://www.greeninfrastructurenw.co.uk/reso time equivalent jobs. urces/The_new_EU_green_growth_opportu nity_Greater_Manchester.pdf
Challenges with accessing PA6d. • Minimum grant threshold of £500 K. • ERDF is new to many organisations and PA6 is new to ERDF / DCLG. • Demarcation with EAFRD – you need to be looking at the right sort of land. • Short 6 week call durations. • Probable need for partnership “warm up period” – being ready for the call before its issued. • “Oven ready” projects – no project development grant.
So what might be involved in an ERDF GI Proposal? Experience so far … • Partnership – probably need to work as a consortium. • Supporting evidence to provide c larity on outcomes sought – What GI and where – but also WHY. • A spatial proposition – how will the proposed investment relate to local strategic objectives (planning and economic). • A programme of strategic interventions – a collection of interventions linked to the spatial proposition.
Don’t forget to use your local GI strategy ! It’s there to help you. • GI Strategy can; • Provide evidence. • Show strategic fit – policy and spatial plans. • Enable partner support – GI strategies have wide stakeholder buy in. • Strategic bids can be developed on the basis of local GI Strategy – set out what the investment would do to contribute toward its delivery. • Help to put your case.
Some other examples of strategic approaches being taken elsewhere:
Example project 1 – PA6 within Sustainable Urban Development Strategies. • Liverpool City Region. • The Liverpool City Region GI Framework (Nature at Work) was used to provide the backing evidence for developing ERDF related GI proposals (Prospectus of investable projects) in the context of priorities set out in the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP). • SEP + GI Framework = Strategic projects programme.
Defined the key benefits sought from ERDF GI investment in Liverpool City Region. Core ecosystem services / GI Benefits sought. Nature + job
Reviewed the spatial strategic economic investment interests in the SEP.
Developed a GI projects Prospectus for ESIF delivery – assessment process. • A long list of 90 sites and their issues – investment risk such as poor image, flood risk, contamination and climate change impacts. • Can GI help ? What GI interventions could help address the issues? • What GI benefits might be delivered (economic growth, health and climate change adaptation and mitigation). • Criteria used to create a ‘short list’ of Strategic Investment Areas (SIA) where GI projects might help secure investment . • The delivery costs identified. • Estimated economic value of GI interventions in terms of new jobs and Gross Value Added (GVA) was then calculated.
Developed the short list – most promising places. • Criteria based assessment – • There are issues in the SIA that green infrastructure can help resolve . • Partners are willing to engage in a Strategic Alliance to implement GI. • Partners are willing to use their investment as match funding. • The sites are ready to progress and they can deliver significant outputs for ESIF.
Proposed outputs. • Total number of jobs attributable to GI – 227. • Total investment made by investors in buildings and infrastructures - £163 million. • Total cost of GI interventions - £10.8 million. • Area of GI created – 91 Ha. • GVA from GI interventions - £17.9 million. • Impact of local property value - £207.7 million uplift. • Wider economic (non-GVA) benefits £176 million. • Cost per job - £47,651 • Cost per Ha - £118,894
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