Kickstart initiatives near you

Cities tend to experience temperatures 2 to 3°C higher than rural areas. Urban greenery helps to reduce this ‘heat island’ effect. Initiatives to make cities greener can be led by residents as well as local authorities. You can plant trees in the streets, introduce greenery to roundabouts or road verges and climbing plants to facades, or plant flowers around the bases of trees in public spaces.

Many local councils are supporting residents and setting up programmes specifically to this effect. Some are even organising calls for projects to finance citizen-led initiatives.

Other possible actions:

• Ask your local authorities to set up wildlife crossings.
• Ask your local authorities to make street furniture greener.
• Ask your local authorities to replace tarmac with other surfacing materials that have a higher reflective coefficient and are more permeable.

Waste can be found on country roads, city streets and even in the oceans. More and more collective clean-up events are being organised. The goal? To clear a particular area of rubbish and strengthen community bonds by taking part in a unifying activity. At your level, you can either look up waste collection initiatives near you or organise a collective clean-up operation in your neighbourhood with the help of a local association or school, for example. The first step is to identify and demarcate the area that you wish to clean and set a date. Then you need to spread word of your event to ensure that as many people as possible participate. Finally, you should let your local authorities know about your event in order to properly demarcate the targeted area and ensure that the collected rubbish can be disposed of safely.
Certain precautionary measures should be taken during clean-up events, namely wearing gloves and closed shoes to avoid any injuries caused by sharp or dangerous objects.

For people who do not have access to a garden, communal compost is an interesting solution in several respects: learning a new skill, potentially initiating a mutually beneficial exchange with your neighbours, producing you own compost for your indoor plants or for shared greens, contributing to better managing your immediate environment, and reducing your waste disposal costs.

A community garden is a garden that is collectively designed, built and maintained by the residents of a neighbourhood or village.
You can find starter guides, technical information and various resources on the Royal Horticultural Society’s website - click here.

• Ask your local authorities to serve vegetarian meals in schools and other institutional settings requiring collective catering.
• Ask your local authorities to take steps to combat food waste in collective catering.
• Ask your local authorities to offer school meals made from organic products.

A walking school bus involves parents taking turns to accompany children to school on foot, stopping along the way to collect other children to join the convoy.

One parent takes on the running of the line: drawing up a timetable, registering the children, general planning. The other parents are ‘conductors’ and take turns safely bussing the children to school.

• Ask your local authorities to develop public transport in your area and make it more accessible (free transport, good coverage, etc.).
• Ask your local authorities to prioritise active mobility (walking buses, cycle lanes).
• Ask your local authorities to restrict cars in urban areas.

• Ask your local authorities to use ethical funding sources.
  To find out more about where your municipality gets its funding from, access the council’s yearly budget and look for a list of loans and creditors.
• Suggest introducing a complementary local currency to your community and encourage its use by local public services.