Enterprise Development
GREENSPACE AT THE HEART OF ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
The GCV Green Network aims to spur business investment by putting greenspace at the heart of regeneration making the region a more attractive place to do business.
Over the next 20 years, the GCV Green Network Partnership will work with many organisations, developers and planners to bring forth the delivery of a Green Network across the area.
This will help to create new opportunities for businesses to design, build and maintain the greenspace which will make up the Green Network. The creation of attractive greenspaces, which offer a high quality of life for workers, visitors and residents, is also likely to prove a positive factor in a businesses’ decision to locate in the region.
Many of these businesses will also require the development of a trained and skilled workforce, which will encourage workers to move to the area and create corresponding opportunities for local amenities. Tourism is also likely to benefit from the leisure opportunities of attractive greenspace.
Bringing together eight local authorities and a range of other key partners including Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government Housing and Regeneration Directorate, the Partnership aims to make the provision of quality greenspace a key part of the planning and regeneration process.
Liz Connolly, Regional Director – West at Scottish Enterprise, said: “The Green Network is a vital investment in 21st century infrastructure for the city region, encouraging business investment and tourism, nurturing people and talent, and providing green business solutions.”
The GCV Green Network Partnership is already involved in a growing number of enterprise development projects. These include a Forestry Commission Scotland initiative to create sustainable sources of timber to power environmentally-friendly woodfuel boilers, which could offer new business opportunities to manual workers and recycling and delivery companies.
Another project aims to increase the involvement of social enterprise organisations in the creation and maintenance of greenspace. This will create opportunities for both the public and private sector through initiatives such as training for work programmes organised under the Scottish Government’s Workforce Plus programme, which aims to help unemployed people back into work.
