Growing the low-carbon economy

With five years of on-the-ground experience in the county, Bioregional Oxfordshire helped create a successful new low-carbon business network for the region in 2019: Oxfordshire Greentech.

Working together with Cherwell District Council and Cambridge Cleantech, this ambitious initiative is part of the £3.2m OxFutures project to grow the local low-carbon economy.

Launched in February 2019 with more than 250 attendees, the network is now almost 80 members strong. It is designed to be a diverse network with organisations including estate agents, lawyers, office furniture sellers, architects, as well as low-carbon energy businesses.

Catalysing change by sharing knowledge

Oxfordshire Greentech aims to speed up the transition towards a greener future by:

• running events to share knowledge and facilitate networking
• providing training, practical support and advice to members
• promoting funding opportunities.

Our events are designed to help organisations learn more about the low-carbon economy and be inspired by the real-life local examples of innovative projects and products.

So far, we’ve covered topics including low-carbon travel and transport, the built environment, circular economy, access to finance and social enterprises.

The power of partnership

The three main partners bring different skills to running the network, from the insight and leverage of local government (Cherwell District Council) to experience running a similar network (Cambridge Cleantech).

Bioregional draws on our own experience with low-carbon business and led on developing the concept by reviewing other networks and stakeholder mapping.

We also helped create the vision and mission for the network and now manage the event management, membership and communications for Oxfordshire Greentech.

To catalyse change, we’ve also partnered with the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Oxford City Council and the University of Oxford (among others). These organisations help us deliver events to break down siloes, connecting businesses, local authorities, and educational and research institutions to create a truly cross-sector space.

To learn more about the network or join as a member, visit the Oxfordshire Greentech website.