280 rooms were cleared of furniture and equipment totalling 10,000 square meters of office space and weighing in at 150+ tonnes of surplus goods! The reuse value of goods was estimated to exceed €150,000 with an 85% reuse rate. €41,000 was saved on the cost of disposing of the goods and furniture by other means with 225 tonnes made in carbon savings.

Working in concert with local community organisations, and those with an international reach, equipment that was being used day in and day out, such as office in trays and folders was redistributed and put to use in different and interesting contexts.

With 50 volunteers and upwards of 30 charities, 50 schools, 150 businesses, 4 international projects, and 500 individuals involved in the project, the move brought together many arms of the local community to ensure that the transfer of premises was both as sustainable and as ethical as possible, with 30 tonnes of furniture went to The Royal Sussex County Hospital!

EUROCITIES was founded in 1986 by the mayors of six large cities: Barcelona, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lyon, Milan and Rotterdam. Today, they bring together the local governments of over 135 of Europe’s largest cities and over 45 partner cities, that between them govern 130 million citizens across 39 countries.

Through six thematic forums, a wide range of working groups, projects, activities and events, they offer members a platform for sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas. Influencing and working with the EU institutions to respond to common issues that affect the day-to-day lives of Europeans, their objective is to reinforce the important role that local governments should play in a multilevel governance structure. Eurocities aim to shape the opinions of Brussels stakeholders and ultimately shift the focus of EU legislation in a way which allows city governments to tackle strategic challenges at local level.

Every year EUROCITIES recognises the achievements of its members for local activities or practices that improve the quality of life of their citizens. This year is no different, and the awards reflect the theme of EUROCITIES 2017, ‘circular economy’. This year’s shortlist features members Almere, Antwerp, Brighton & Hove, Brussels Capital Region, Gothenburg, Lille, Munich and Tampere in the awards categories of cooperation, innovation and participation.

In the ‘Participation’ category of the awards, Brighton & Hove’s ‘City reuse project’, where a ‘reuse manager’ was contracted to work on a modernisation programme to change the way the council thinks about its offices, assets and approach to work.

As detailed above, the King’s House project involved emptying the largest office block in the city, including 1,000 staff and all the furniture and equipment. The building was then used to benefit residents, organisations and community groups. In total 150 tonnes of material were reused, which is equal to £150,000 of economic value re-entering the local community.

The award ceremony will take place at the EuroCities 2017 event in Ljubljana over the 15th to the 17th of November, so wish our local project luck!