As a volunteer-run neighbourhood forum, we rely on the many creative and inspiring members of our community to build a more sustainable, vibrant, and green community. 

One of our goals for 2025 is to strengthen the Forum's impact on our local environment.

Promoting sustainable energy, improving air quality and protecting our green spaces are just some of the ways we want to help improve the quality of life for people who live, work or study in our area.

However, we cannot do it alone. We are calling for like-minded community members who are ready to share their time, expertise and energy to join us in working to build a stronger, greener, more sustainable community. 

In 2025, we are planning to focus on the following areas:

• Green energy and energy efficiency – promoting the uptake of solar power, heat pumps and community energy and insulation projects, for both owner-occupiers and residents of social housing. 

• Green spaces – protecting, enhancing, expanding and linking (through green corridors) our green spaces. Working closely with our local council, we will promote sustainable urban drainage schemes, de-paving, tree-planting and community gardens.

• Air quality – engaging in community-based air quality research and awareness-raising of air pollution, both indoor and outdoor.

• Reduce, reuse and recycle – promoting increased recycling, and publicising local repair cafes and libraries of things

• Education and training in green jobs – researching and publicising green jobs for local people.

A large part of our role as a forum will be to collect, make sense of, verify and distribute accurate information on green issues. This will  enable community members to benefit from green opportunities and make green choices. 

Any community members who are interested in joining these new expanded efforts, please contact us by email and let us know which area you want to focus on and how you think you can help make an impact: green@norwoodforum.org

Background

Under our Green Norwood initiative, the Forum has been promoting the green agenda in our local community for the past six years. 

• We have been celebrating nature and seeking to protect our green spaces through our Wild Norwood initiative, and through multiple small grants to organisations working in and on green spaces 2022/23 Community Projects | Norwood Forum

• We have been raising awareness of the bigger environmental picture and identifying ways in which we could localise environmentally-friendly and climate change actions, such as through our CoP events (marking UN Conference of the Parties, climate change conference) #COPNorwood | Norwood Forum | #COP27Norwood | Norwood Forum

• Through our Thriving  Norwood programme, we fund and otherwise support the activities of multiple community-based organisations focused on health and wellbeing, including nature and green spaces

• We have contributed to community research on air pollution Clean Air | Norwood Forum

• We have supported green art murals and environmental installations in our neighbourhood, such as the ‘plastic mountain’.

The Norwood Forum was shortlisted for the Lambeth Climate Justice Award in 2024 Lambeth celebrates winners of the Lambeth Civic Awards 2024 - Love Lambeth Love Lambeth