A delegation of seven are to travel to the Isle of Wight next week as part of a green fact-finding trip.
The Isle of Wight has an ‘Ecoisland Partnership’ in which its residents are developing what the public relations people call ‘their own vision of a sustainable future for their island’.
The people going are Richard Ronan MHK, political member for energy in the Department of Economic Development; Dr Ken Milne, senior manager for energy policy, DED; Dr Richard Bujko, business development manager, Manx Electricity Authority; Martin Hall, director of environment, Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture; Muriel Garland, the chair of Zero Waste Mann; Cat Turner from Friends of the Earth and George Fincher of the Manx Energy Advice Centre.
Mr Ronan said: ‘The Ecoisland initiative has provided the Isle of Wight with carbon-reduction and energy efficiency measures for businesses. The opportunities that have been created by these projects have also led to a significant amount of inward investment leading to the creation of new jobs.
‘We want to hear about the lessons learned by the Ecoisland Partnership and where appropriate implement similar projects in the Isle of Man.
‘A great deal has been achieved in the Isle of Man already but we need to explore further ways in which to use our environment sustainably, reduce our dependency on imported energy and improve our economic competitiveness.’
Dr Milne said: ‘The main purpose of the visit is to discuss how we could implement a similar initiative in the Isle of Man. We are seeking to share information and best practice and will also be agreeing to future closer cooperation between Ecoisland and the Department of Economic Development.’
Founder of the scheme and CEO of Ecoisland David Green added: ‘It is an inspiration to us that another economic region like the Isle of Man has chosen to “adopt” the Ecoisland Greenprint. With much of their current energy coming from gas it will be great to see how they can evolve a Renewable Energy Smart Grid like the one we are working on here.’
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A column by the Isle of Man Friends of the Earth features in the Isle of Man Examiner each week.