Ten Years of SE² #2: Shaping Policy

Turning 10 has been a great opportunity for us to stand back and appreciate just how much we’ve done and how broad our reach has been.  Following on from Liz’s first (brilliant) birthday blog on Telling the Story of Retrofit, it’s my turn now to turn the spotlight on how we’ve helped to shape national, regional and local policy over the last ten years.

ECO, Green Deal and all of their predecessors have been close to SE2’s heart since we facilitated a two-day event for the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes (now Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings) in the heady days of March 2006 when we were still trying to figure out what to do after the first round of EEC ended in 2008.  I still think it was one of the best events we’ve been involved with – proper blue sky thinking with a stellar line-up of speakers and delegates, including of course the late, great Prof John Chesshire. 

The eventual outcome of course was the innovatively titled ‘EEC 2’.  We’ve run government-industry stakeholder events in the same policy area every year since then – all the way up our 2014 series of events for DECC on the ECO Consultation and the Green Deal.  We’ve watched the policy – and the stakeholders we work with – mature, even though we may still not be in a state of policy perfection (ahem...!)

There’s some other areas of national policy development we’re pretty proud of too:

• From 2007-2010, Liz was seconded via the Sustainable Development Commission to the Department of Children, Schools and Families (now Department for Education) and lead a three year programme to develop a carbon management strategy for the English schools estate: a landmark study bringing together a truly diverse group of stakeholders to work together to reshape the relationship between schools and the environment.
• In 2008, we developed a carbon footprint and reduction strategy for the supported housing sector, comprising some 800,000 homes in Britain providing care and accommodation for older people: it’s a piece of work Nicholas Doyle – who chaired the EEPH Managed Housing Group at the time and commissioned the work – still swears by today.
• And in 2010 we lead the pre-consultation phase of DECC’s Microgeneration Strategy, bringing together stakeholders in four working groups to consider the themes of Quality, Technology, Advice and Skills and each meeting twice in the space of just 7 weeks.  The resulting report sets out the industry’s vision for microgeneration and recommended what both Government and industry needed to do to make the vision of an ‘energy generating democracy’ a reality.

We’ve done some really interesting work on a more local level too, from a Low carbon housing strategy for the East of England (2006), to a Behaviour Change Strategy for Oxford City Council (2011) and a strategy to help Hampshire County Council build capacity to adapt to climate change (2012).  The common theme in all of this work – and something we’re very proud of – is that the recommendations we make are practical and action-based.  We don’t write reports just for them to gather dust on a shelf!

I think the thing I’ve learnt over the last 10 years about policy-making is that it’s an art form rather than a science.  We’ve got to know some of stakeholders very well – and even worked directly for them in spin-off projects - but part of the joy of the work is meeting new people too.   We’ve worked hard to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and reflected back in the fullest way possible to the policy makers.  Knowing so many people really has put us at the heart of the industry, giving us an unrivalled connectivity across many different strands of policy interest.

Of course, the big unknown on the horizon is the forthcoming 2015 General Election.  Policy direction can change overnight which can on the one hand be frustrating for those who have lobbied so hard for gains, yet on the other provide a boost for those whose passions have previously been sidelined.   I have no crystal ball to predict which way the nation will vote, but I’m pretty sure whatever the outcome there will continue to be a role for SE² in helping government and stakeholders alike organise their thinking, share ideas and respond to new policy areas as they emerge.

We’d be interested to hear which way you think UK sustainability policy will go in the next 12 months – what’s the elephant in the room?  What will be allowed to gently slip away?  What will make us turn around and go ‘oh yeah’….?  Email me on rachael.mills@se-2.co.uk with your thoughts – or tweet me @se2_rachael.