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City's decision makers receive live demo of Peterborough Model

 

Peterborough, Home of Environment CapitalAhead of the official launch of the Peterborough Model, an online visualisation of the city’s environmental performance, Opportunity Peterborough, Peterborough City Council, IBM, Royal Haskoning and Green Ventures, are today holding a Leaders Summit where the pioneering model will be used in an attempt to find better and greener solutions for Peterborough as it grows.

In the first known event of this kind, key Peterborough figures will sit alongside senior managers from energy companies Centrica and UK Power Networks, as well as Anglian Water and the Environment Agency to look at the long term challenges facing the city and how they might be solved.

The event, which will be led by Cllr Marco Cereste and chief executive of Peterborough City Council Gillian Beasley, will look at how the model can be used to mobilise key decision makers to work together towards creating a truly sustainable environment. It will also discuss how the visualisation tool could be used to improve connectivity and to rally citizens towards improved sustainability.

Bringing together senior city thought leaders working to supply power, water and flood risk management, Cllr Cereste said the summit will identify new ways of collaborative planning and delivery, as well as demonstrating how innovations can be visualised to citizens through the model. He commented:

‘This is a very exciting time for all partners involved in the Peterborough Model, as we’re bringing key figureheads from around the city together alongside directors of the companies who provide us with the energy and water for our homes and businesses. We intend to use our Peterborough Model as a ground-breaking way of finding more secure and greener ways of dealing with the challenges that are faced by all cities.

‘Gone are the days when any one local leader or national organisation can sit in a room writing cheques to solve the problems of the future.  In today’s complex world we will only make serious progress if we work in closer partnership. This is particularly relevant in the context of our ambitious growth plans.’

It is intended that the Model, which has received press coverage as far reaching as the New York Times, will enable improved collaboration between public and private sector organisations and that the summit will provide an opportunity for key partners to identify and consider new, combined environmental strategies for Peterborough that can be tested in the city and then applied elsewhere. 

Trevor Gibson, director of environment capital, said: ‘The summit is a great way of introducing city decision makers to the power and potential of the Model and gleaning their thoughts on how it could be applied to create more effective partnership working and a more sustainable future for Peterborough.’ 

To watch a short film about the Peterborough Model, click here