Seminars and Events
Seminars and events are normally free for GBN Members to attend. Seminars are held once every month and focus on meeting ISO 14001 requirements and applying Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for sustainable development.
Business Cluster Meeting
Location: Mowsbury Golf Course, Bedford
Date: 16 March 2010
Time: 12 noon to 2.00
Bedfordshire Green Business Network (GBN) has organized a lunch time meeting to explain how our proposed business cluster project will be able to bring together businesses to help share experience and expertise, and to exploit the advantages of group purchasing of products and services.
We aim to save you money whilst improving your environmental performance. While the project is aimed at smaller businesses, we are encouraging larger firms to take part to share any benefits the project can bring and also to act as mentors. We already have a number of highly experienced companies, such as 3M, Bourns, Igranic, and Briton EMS, that have signed up to provide help and share their expertise.
If you can't attend this meeting but would like to come in future or would like us to come to you to explain the project, please don't hesitate to contact us by emailing info@gbn-bedfordshire.org.uk or by calling 01234 241411.
Speaker: Jane Varley & Mark Thomson
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Obtaining staff and management buy-in
Location: The Rufus Centre, Flitwick
Date: 24 March 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
Sometimes, the most difficult part of implementing environmental and sustainability within business is the "human factor" - persuading people to change their behaviour. This seminar will focus on what motivates people to make behavioural changes in the workplace, and will make suggestions as to how you can use the preliminary results of Sarah Williams' research, and case study examples from other businesses to push schemes forward.
The presentation will consist of a formal presentation, followed by a workshop session. It is free to GBN members and first time attendees. Others are welcome to attend at a cost of £25 +VAT per delegate.
Speaker: Sarah Williams, Open University
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Lighting - what's available in the marketplace
Location: Chalmor Ltd, Unit 4, Albert Road Industrial Estate, Luton LU1 3QF
Date: 9 April 2010
Time: 1.45 to 4.00
Following the overwhelming response to the seminar in December, Luton based lighting company Chalmor Ltd has kindly offered to host an additional seminar for GBN and WAEEMG members this year. Members and guests are welcome to attend a brief presentation on lighting, followed by a tour of Chalmor's state of the art facility in Luton.
For many companies, lighting accounts for most of the electricity bills. To discover what's on offer in the marketplace now and to look at options open to you to save money, carbon and to reduce your environmental impacts, book your place now.
Places may be limited so early booking is advised. We do need advance notice of your attendance so that the company can organise seating and tours.
Speaker: Robert Clubbe
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CIEH Level 3 - Environmental Management Certificate
Location: Various TBC
Date: 15 April 2010
Time: 09.00 to 17.00
CIEH Level 3 Environmental Management
The (Chartered Institution of Environmental Health) CIEH Level 3 in environmental management is aimed at anyone who is responsible for implementing or running an environmental management system to ISO 14001. The five-day course covers all the elements contained within the ISO standard, and also provides background on environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, resource scarcity and so on.
CIEH Level 3 is a nationally recognised qualification and is acknowledged within the ISO 14001 standard as making someone legally qualified to implement and run an environmental management system. In order to gain the qualification, delegates must take a three hour written examination at the end of the course, which is externally examined.
In order to sit the examination, candidates must attend at least four of the five days and it is recommended that they attend all five.
Dates
These are as follows:
Day 1 Thursday 15 April
Day 2 Thursday 22 April
Day 3 Thursday 29 April
Day 4 Thursday 6 May
Day 5 Thursday 13 May
Examination Thursday 27 May
The venue(s) will be announced once we have sufficient bookings on the course, but this will be held either in Milton Keynes or Bedfordshire.
Outline programme
The qualification covers the following topics:
- The environmental context
- The management context
- Environmental aspects
- Environmental policy
- Environmental management programme
- Environmental management techniques
- Environmental auditing
- Environmental reporting
- Environmental legislation
- Environmental management standards
- Environmental management
Cost
The course, including registration and examination fees, materials and refreshments, costs £550 +VAT per delegate for GBN members and £800 +VAT for non-members.
Speaker: Steve Saunders
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Carbon Footprinting
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 21 April 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
This seminar will look at current standards relating to Carbon Footprinting, how to calculate your business's footprint, and measures you can take to reduce the amount of emissions your company produces.
The event is free to GBN members and first time attendees. All others pay £25 +VAT per delegate.
Speaker: Sarah Williams, Open University
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CIWM Waste Awareness Course
Location: TBC
Date: 6 May 2010
Time: 09.15 to 17.00
GBN is offering a Chartered Institution of Wastes Management accredited one day Waste Awareness Certificate course, aimed at providing employees with the knowledge and information sources to help your company minimise waste and stay within the law.
What’s covered?
< Learn about different types of waste
< Know your legal responsibilities for waste
< How to conduct a waste audit to identify cost savings
< How to reduce, reuse and recycle waste
< Learn about disposal routes for remaining wastes
< Deal with waste safely
< Identify sources of help
The course will cost £120 +VAT for GBN members, £155 +VAT to non members and includes all course materials, refreshments, registration and examination fees.
For more information about the course, visit the CIWM website at http://www.ciwm.co.uk/pm/389 or contact GBN directly on 01234 241411 or email us at info@gbn-bedfordshire.org.uk
Speaker: Sarah Williams
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Mitigating Against Environmental Risks
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 19 May 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
After oil reached prices of $150 a barrel in 2008, it became apparent that a significant number of businesses and public services are at risk if we see another sustained increase in oil prices.
This workshop is one of the first of its kind designed to flag up operational and supply chain vulnerabilities and to highlight potential risk mitigation strategies.
The workshop is free to GBN members and first time attendees. All others pay £25 +VAT per delegate.
Speaker: Shane Hughes, Carbon Accounting Systems
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Waste Reduction
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 23 June 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
The cost of waste is continually rising - the physical cost of disposal such as landfill tax and waste contractor's charges are just the tip of the iceberg.
In this seminar we will look at the Waste Hierarchy, waste auditing, new and existing opportunities for waste disposal and focus on what can be done to eliminate, reduce, reuse and recycle waste. Local, regional and national schemes where companies can find help will also be highlighted.
A best practice sharing workshop will follow a presentation, which will give businesses the opportunity to share information about how they've gone about dealing with waste issues.
The seminar is free to GBN members, £25 +VAT per delegate for non members.
Speaker: TBC
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Renewable Technologies - back to basics
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 21 July 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
In this seminar we will be taking a look at the types of renewable technology available in the marketplace and giving a brief run-down on where these are appropriate and can be applied. We will also hope to present some case studies of smaller businesses that have used renewable technologies and innovative techniques to reduce their emissions.
A presentation will be followed by a workshop session, and our guest speakers will be available to answer your questions.
The seminar is free to GBN members and first time attendees, all others pay £25 +VAT per delegate.
Speaker: Tamin/Simon Alsbury, Energise Ltd
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Funding environmental initiatives - grants, loans and tax concessions
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 22 September 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
Many businesses feel that they would like to invest in technology or other methods of reducing their environmental impacts, but finding finance can be tricky. This seminar will pull together experts in a variety of fields to indicate how, when and where you can find low-interest and interest-free loans and grants, and look at existing schemes that provide tax concessions for environmental projects undertaken.
The seminar is free to GBN members and first time attendees, all others pay £25 +VAT.
Speaker: Various
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Environmental Law Update
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 20 October 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
This seminar, presented by the ever popular friendly face of the Environment Agency Jeremy Hay, will help businesses to keep up to date with current and future environmental legislation.
A presentation will be followed by a quiz/workshop and there will be the opportunity to address questions to the Agency directly.
The seminar is free to GBN members and first time attendees, all others pay £25 +VAT per delegate.
Speaker: Jeremy Hay, The Environment Agency
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Introduction to ISO 14001/Writing an Environmental Policy
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 24 November 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
Certification to the international standard for environmental management systems - ISO 14001 - is rapidly becoming a requirement for tendering for government and larger companies contracts.
In this seminar, we will look at what is involved in implementing ISO 14001 Environmental Management System - either formally or informally.
One of the first stages for those starting out is to write an environmental policy and we will run through the criteria that certification bodies use to assess these.
A workshop session will follow the formal presentations, when you will get the chance to assess the environmental policies of other organisations and have a crack at writing your own.
The seminar is free to GBN members and first time attendees, all others will be charged £25 +VAT.
Speaker: Magdalena Golebiewska, NQA
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Integrating Management Systems
Location: The Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine
Date: 8 December 2010
Time: 08.00 to 10.30
For those companies that already have ISO 9001 or other management systems, it makes sense to integrate these with ISO 14001 environmental management systems.
In this seminar, Dr Margaret Rooney of certification body NQA will explain how best to approach integrating your quality, environmental and health and safety systems so that duplication is avoided, and any conflicts between the standards are resolved.
The seminar is free to GBN members and first time attendees, all others will be charged £25 +VAT.
Speaker: Dr Margaret Rooney, NQA
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