One Planet Living PORTUGAL

Magnus Sylven, Director Europe/Middle East Programme WWF International and Augusto Polvo, Sesimbra Council Leader

The months of March and April saw an extensive consultation programme with the local community over the proposed Mata de Sesimbra OPL project. A dedicated website was launched in partnership with the local authority, Sesimbra Council, and an information centre opened in the town centre where people could see displays, pick up brochures, view planning documents and ask questions. A number of public meetings were held, including the launch of the OPL Producers Accreditation scheme with OPL Director Pooran Desai. Magnus Sylven, Director of WWF Europe, officially launched the reforestation programme for the Mata de Sesimbra.

The €1.1 billion project will fund the restoration of 4,600 hectares of degraded woodland with native species, shut down 11 quarries, build 8,000 zero-carbon, zero-waste houses, shops, and hotels, and create 11,000 new jobs.

It will also fund the creation of a new public transport infrastructure for the region including dedicated bus-lanes for hybrid shuttles, and exclusive eco-public transport services to local beaches.

“This is probably the most open and participative public discussion process ever seen for a new development in Portugal”, said Eduardo Gonçalves, Coordinator of OPL in Portugal. “I was delighted when the local environmental, social and community groups we invited to join us in creating a ‘Mata de Sesimbra Forum’ to guide the project all said yes so they could continue to support this project. The community is telling us that the OPL approach is good news for people and planet alike.”

One Planet Living NORTH AMERICA

Canadian Team meets in London

xWork has begun in earnest on the Emerald Village project - the first residential development in North America being implemented based on the Ten Principles of One Planet Living. Representatives from the developer, the local government, and academic partners gathered together at BioRegional's offices in London, UK during the last week of April to participate in in-depth training on One Planet Living, and to further the process of creating one of the world's most sustainable communities.

Among the agenda items was a thorough examination of applied ecological footprinting, the Ten Principles of One Planet Living, the importance of a comprehensive eco-lifestyles program, and emerging business models that make One Planet Living Communities competitive on the open market.

One Planet Living CHINA

Panyu Municipality and China Merchant Real Estates representatives
at BedZED, March 06

The 2nd Beijing Green Building Conference and Expo held at the end of March this year strongly stimulated the development of China's green building industry. The awareness of "Green Building" has been raised across the nation. Mr. Zeng Pei-yan, Vice Premier of the State Council, made an enthusiastic speech, clearly demonstrating the position and viewpoint of the Chinese Government on constructing environment-friendly societies from the strategic level.

Xiaohong Chen (Country Manager for OPL China) and Sumeet Manchanda (Lead Technical Manager within the BioRegional Communities Team) have started to work with the design team of the Panyu project. They are working to integrate the approach of One Planet Living into the master planning process. The primary plan will be submitted to the city council at the end of May.

One Planet Living UK

Discussions between BioRegional, WWF and BioRegional Quintain Limited (the joint venture between BioRegional and Quintain Plc) are still on going and a Memroandumof Understanding should be signed very soon. BioRegional Quintain Limited will be submitting the planning application using the OPL framework for the New England Quarter in Brighton in May and hopes to be on-site before the end of the year.

BioRegional is pleased to have published two key reports:
Construction Systems from Waste
o Volume 1: Background and analysis of materials
o Volume 2: Details of product and material alternatives
These studies identify recycled and reclaimed alternatives for the "standard" materials and products that a volume housebuilder would need to build a development like Z-squared. The focus was to calculate a realisitc target for the recycled and reclaimed content of the development and identify "quick wins".

The analysis found that for a concrete frame system, it would be possible to increase the recycled content to almost 64% and that a further 5% of materials could be supplied from reclaimed materials. If the design was changed to accommodate other reclaimed materials and sufficient lead time given for sourcing all possible reclaimed materials, nearly 80% of the building could be built from recycled and reclaimed materials!

Evaluating waste management options for the residual waste generated in a Z-squared One
Planet Living Community
This study, commissioned from Juniper Consultancy Services, evaluated potential waste management options for the residual waste that would arise from Z-squared, assessing technology risk, energy production, net emissions of greenhouse gases, cost and landfill diversion. It found that sending residual waste to a capped landfill would result in the least emissions of greenhouse gases. However this is incompatible with an objective of zero waste to landfill and confirms the need for all products to be easily recyclable.

One Planet Living AUSTRALIA

One Planet Living SOUTH AFRICA

Exciting times are afoot, with Kendal Marsland Murray, our One Planet Living Australia Country Manager relocating back to Australia to establish an in-country presence.

Initially Kendal will be based out of Adelaide pursuing exciting opportunities there, whilst formalising the Australian-arm of our organisation. With new scoping studies to be undertaken for sites in Melbourne and Sydney, it will be a busy time over the next few months. At least one agreement to secure a site should be shortly forthcoming.

Climate change is a hot topic in Australia, so developers and governments should be keen to tackle it from the holistic stance that One Planet Living presents.

OPL London staff were pleased to host a visit by David Jollands, Director of Residential Developments at Moreland Developments, one of the most significant developers from the KwaZulu Natal region who were introduced to OPL by WWF South Africa. Moreland own substantial areas of developable land north of Durban where they plan a large scale mixed use development. OPL, WWF SA and Moreland are exploring ways to work together to integrate OPL Principles into this major development.

EcoCity, our Johannesburg NGO partner from the WSSD in 2002, continue to lead discussions on integrating OPL into the Northern Farm project in Johannesburg. The site is owned by Johannesburg Property Company, who have included the OPL Principles as part of the development parameters in their tender specifications relating to this site. Funding opportunities are currently being explored for OPL staff to visit Johannesburg to run OPL workshops for the tendering groups. Our developer contact in the Cape is coordinating with Cape Town Metropolitan Council to identify OPL site(s) in the Cape.

THE INTERVIEW

For this issue, we interviewed Dr. Magnus Sylven, Director of European and Middle East programmes at WWF-International, Gland, Switzerland.

GL: How did you get involved with the OPL programme?
MS: I've been involved on and off (mostly in relation with the work of the WWF Mediterranean Programme Office and OPL in Portugal) since about two years, but it was only through visiting Mata de Sesimbra lately (2-4 April 2006) that I got more engaged. However, I have promoted the OPL concept in some of WWF's offices in Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Latvia) for about one year now.

GL: How would you describe the One Planet Living Initiative?
MS: I usually describe it as a new, innovative approach by WWF in partnership with BioRegional to establish practical examples in the real-world, demonstrating how development is possible without jeopardizing the opportunities for future generations. OPL looks for the best solutions when it comes to areas like energy, construction, water, and waste. It puts WWF and BioRegional at the forefront of finding new, creative solutions for low impact development.

GL: You have recently been to Portugal to visit and support the Mata de Sesimbra project there, what did you think of this project?
MS: I think Mata de Sesimbra is among the most interesting projects in Europe in which WWF is involved because of the following reasons:

a) The sheer size of it - € 1.1 billion - is in itself very exciting. It's probably one of the biggest initiatives WWF ever got involved in. The size of the project is indeed interesting for both decision makers and the market. Through its successful implementation, the OPL partners will really have something to communicate and use as an example for leverage and magnification. A smaller project would never receive a similar kind of attention.

b) The benefits for conservation are really interesting: the forest/ecosystem restoration component is probably one of the biggest projects of its kind ever, at least in Europe. The most interesting aspect is probably that it will be funded through the private sector (a € 120 million investment is planned, with an initial amount of € 20 million already in the start-up phase).

c) A 'green levy' will also generate funds (€ 5 million) for conservation work in other parts of Portugal.

d) On top of the more traditional conservation aspects, we have all the other more 'footprint'-related benefits: zero-carbon, zero-waste eco-homes, hotels, shops and community facilities, sustainable public transport system (€ 90 million investment), locally produced food ('OPL Menus'), etc. Some of the investments (e.g. building materials) use new, innovative technical solutions.

It has the potential to become a real show case, both for WWF, BioRegional, and local partners.

GL: Do you think OPL could spread in other Eurpean Countries soon?
MS: I've proposed some countries in Eastern Europe, such as Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Romania and Croatia, but why not Germany, Italy, Switzerland & Scandinavia? I know that Pelicano SA has already some ideas in the back of their mind to take OPL to other European countries which we hopefully can work together on.