Openings

Not open just yet, Natural England is set to be the government’s new champion “for people, places and nature”. Combining English Nature, parts of the Countryside Agency and most of the Rural Development Service, the agency is designed to stimulate thinking on conservation issues, increase access to nature, and improve funding and advice for land managers – from 2007. What’s the first step in setting up a community combined heat and power system? Is a woodchip boiler feasible in the middle of a big city? www.est.org.uk/theguide offers answers to the energy efficiency and renewables questions being asked by local authorities, landlords and housing professionals. Reflecting increased interest in wind power in the UK, Triodos Bank has launched the third share issue of its renewables fund. By financing projects such as sensitively sited wind farms, the fund is expected to deliver a 12% dividend within five years. www.triodos.co.uk, 0800 056 2761 If you’re really quick, you’ve still time to add your voice to the climate change debate taking place on www.openDemocracy.net – and you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ian McEwan. Poetry, soundscapes and a carbon clock on the website should get you thinking... The idea is to weave the postings into a ‘global think piece’ to be handed to delegates at July’s G8 summit in Scotland.

17 June 2005