A briefing paper published by the Consultation Institute and Sauce Consultancy highlights the need for Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to engage heavily with local communities and the private sector.

In an analysis of all 24 successful bids for LEP status, the authors have looked at differing ideas on governance, local engagement and their relationship with the Big Society. It concludes that the new Partnerships will need to consult and involve extensively if they are to be credible with planners, developers, business leaders and, of course, the general public. Read more »

Sauce Consultancy is proud to be the first company to become a Practitioner Partner of The Consultation Institute.

The Consultation Institute requires firms to commit to demanding standards of public, stakeholder and employee consultation by initiating research, publications and specialist events in order to disseminate best practice and improve subsequent decision-making, providing potential buyers of specialist public engagement services with quality assurance. Read more »

More residents in Southend now have the opportunity to recycle their food waste. After a successful trial this year, more flats across the borough will be able to recycle their food waste using the blue food waste bin collection service. Rutendo kicked off the food waste campaign with local Recycling Champions last month at a local library. Since the scheme was first launched in September 2008, Southend residents have recycled 6,923 tonnes of food waste.

Read more here: http://www.yellowadvertiser.co.uk/news.cfm?id=41797&searchword=recycling

Projects Manager

We are looking for an experienced Projects Manager to join our London-based team.

Key tasks for this role include:

• Managing the operational delivery of multiple projects
• Developing strategies, producing materials and managing events
• Working across stakeholder engagement, public consultation, PR and communication disciplines
• Developing and maintaining positive client relations
• Generating new business.

The successful candidate will have good levels of critical reasoning and analysis that enables sound business judgment through effective decision making; have first class written and verbal communications skills; be able to work intelligently, juggling simultaneously multiple demands with a positive attitude; be highly organised with strong time management skills; have confidence to lead by example and maintain the extremely high standards expected by the company. Read more »

Caroline Macdonald takes a deeper look at subliminal messaging in the summer blockbuster Toy Story 3…

Toy Story 3 was the hit movie of summer 2010.  Hordes of children dragged their willing parents to sit through ninety minutes of entertainment.  Willing? Yes, because Pixar animations know how to engage with audiences on different levels meaning there is something for everyone.  Although, as adults we might not feel the need to own a Buzz Lightyear, we chortled at the risqué dialogue between Mr and Mrs Potato Head and it gave cause for us to look back at our childhood toys with affection (there is now a cottage industry for ‘retro’ games and gadgets and dedicated TV programmes – see James May).

But this time Pixar went even further and did something that not even Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth”, nor National Recycling Week and nor Cimategate has done.  It brought the waste hierarchy to life with empowered and implied meaning behind the story.  Toy Story 3 visualised the reality and impact of the hierarchy in the most vivid and arresting animations. Read more »

Gareth Hill gives an overview of the recent revision of PFI funding…

The Spending Review, outlined by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, has announced that Defra will withdraw the provisional offer of central government support of PFI grant funding for seven waste authorities. This includes cross-county partnerships such as Project Transform, North London Waste Authority, South London Waste Partnership and Cheshire Waste Partnership.

At first, it may seem that the Coalition Government might be going in a different direction with regards to funding infrastructure projects, but it is important to look at the wider picture in the UK and not just the cuts. Read more »

Caroline Robinson questions whether eco products help the planet or just the retailer…

Green and ethical living is has become an increasingly expansive and popular way of life. From humble beginnings as a niche sector of society, it is now a fully fledged industry.

Ethical living is diverse with activities ranging from switching off electric lights when leaving a room and recycling, to harvesting rainwater or growing your own vegetables but there is also a huge demand in the market for “green” and “eco” products that help consumers buy responsibly.

The UK has one of the largest green retail economies in Europe. Sales of environmentally friendly products are set to double in the UK by 2015 to £17 billion. In addition, the popularity for Fairtrade products has grown dramatically as part of the new green living phenomenon.  Since the first three Fairtrade products appeared in shops in 1994, there are now more than 4,500 products carrying the Fairtrade label. Read more »

Joanna Kimber looks into a celebration of climate change scepticism…

Climate change scepticism has taken prominence in many environmental stories over the last twelve months. 27^th October 2010 saw sceptics from across the UK and Europe descend on the House of Commons for ‘Climate Fools Day’. The event, described as a day to mark the passing of the Climate Bill two years earlier, saw discussions and talks led by MPs, television presenters and newspaper columnists on the justification of climate change funding  and the so called ‘carbon con’.

The day was organised by Climate Sense, a campaign group led by Jens Robdrup, working with three other action groups, Weather Action, Copenhagen Climate Challenge and Campaign Against Carbon Capitalism. They share the belief that climate change is not down to human activity and insist that the debate on climate change is not over. Topics covered during the day included ‘The most expensive bill in history’ and ‘The evidence shows it’s not CO2’. Read more »

Nicki Chennells highlights the success of Sauce’s Southend Recycling Champions…

Sauce Consultancy works with Cory Environmental in partnership with Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to increase recycling in Southend through communication and community engagement.  We are running a multi-year, multi-channel campaign with recycling and waste reduction initiatives to help reach 60% recycling by 2015.  This has included the development and management of a Recycling Champions Network that now has over 40 members and is growing fast.

Recycling Champions are local volunteers with an interest in the environment and/or their family who set the recycling standard for other residents, provide a source of information to their friends, neighbours and colleagues and encourage participation in recycling schemes. Read more »

Carmen Dengra previews the Lord Mayor’s Fireworks celebration…

Sauce Consultancy was one of the sponsors for the Lord Mayor’s annual firework display, one of London’s most spectacular displays, which marks the beginning of a new mayoral year. Read more »