The Government has announced that all Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), including SEEDA, will close by 31 March 2012.
Responsibility for economic development and regeneration in England is being passed onto successor bodies, including Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and central Government departments
Our objective is to ensure a professional and cost effective closure by this date. We have pledged to work closely with our partners, contractors and stakeholders to ensure that the past and future economic benefits of key programmes and assets continue to deliver the greatest economic value for the South East and value for money for the taxpayer.
Please click here for more details about our closure plan, transition arrangements and successor organisations.
Green Economy: Key actions
Support for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
SEEDA incorporated action on energy, waste, and water efficiency into the range of support that Business Link offers to SMEs. Business Link helps SMEs to take advantage of all the benefits a solid sustainability and efficiency strategy can bring.
The lean manufacturing support that the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) helped businesses become more efficient in their manufacturing – and at the same time helped them make significant reductions in their carbon emission.
Through the South East England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme, £15million has been secured to advance low carbon initiatives. SEEDA supported programmes to help businesses improve in areas of sustainable procurement, sustainable design and innovation, sustainable construction and reduction, re-use and recycling.
Support for environmental technologies
SEEDA supported Envirobusiness, its environmental technology sector consortia to work with businesses from across the environmental spectrum, from small to large, from energy technology to consulting, to waste and recycling. Envirobusiness helped businesses in South East England increase their share of the global market for environmental technologies and services.
Carbon Capture and Storage
SEEDA, working jointly with EEDA and LDA under a 'Greater South East' banner – and working with relevant power companies and other major carbon-emitting companies - aimed ultimately to develop a Carbon Capture and Storage Cluster and Network to link fossil-fuel power stations and other significant sources of CO2 across GSE, connecting to an undersea pipeline with a view to delivering liquefied CO2 to voids in depleted oil and gas fields in the Southern North Sea.
Pathway to Zero Waste
Pathway To Zero Waste is a major transformation programme combined with market and infrastructure development. It will radically change how the private and public sectors work together to improve resource efficiency and waste management in the South East. The Pathway to Zero Waste programme works with 30 construction projects to assist with diverting discarded materials from landfill and will extend its areas of work to focus on other sectors such as food waste in the future.
For more information, please visit the Pathway to Zero Waste website.
Institute for Sustainability
SEEDA supported the Institute for Sustainability which is an independent, private sector led charity created to significantly advance the UK's ability to deliver solutions for a sustainable future.
Through extensive networks spanning the private, public and academic sectors and sister institute in Shanghai, the Institute establishes close-to-market, collaborative research and demonstration projects. As a registered charity, it uses the learning from these to promote best practice and support regeneration. The aim of the Institute is to develop practical and affordable technologies, systems and services that can be readily implemented. With strong financial backing and commitments of £12million revenue and £14million capital, along with funding for the Institute's research and demonstration projects, the Institute is in an excellent position to make a big impact quickly.
For more information, please visit the Institute for Sustainability website.
