KEF began life over a decade ago as Kingston's Eco-Footprint Working Group, developed into Kingston Environment Group and a member of Kingston Strategic Partnership, and changed its name in 2014 to Kingston Environment Forum to reflect its role more accurately - read more in KEF Terms of Reference, Sept 2018 and our Revised Terms of Reference, Feb 2019.
Over its history, KEF has included and represented a range of local groups (charities, not-for-profit groups and groups of volunteers - see Useful Links for a list of member-groups) with an interest in environmental issues and activities in the Borough, hoping to influence and assist Kingston Council and others to promote environmental sustainability in Kingston upon Thames. Our main aim was, individually and collectively. to influence Council plans and to advise and assist on the implementation of the first theme in the Kingston Plan: "A sustainable Kingston: protecting and enhancing the environment for us and for future generations", with its objectives of tackling climate change, reducing our ecological footprint, ensuring sustainable development and transport in Kingston, and protecting and improving the quality of our local environment.
More recently we have endeavoured to support the Council in acting on its 2019 Climate Emergency Declaration and participated in its Covid Recovery Task Force (Communities) in 2021. For a few years we abandoned hold group meetings, though our member-groups (see Useful Links) are active and available to advise the Council and others on a range of environmental matters, and we held a couple of productive on-line open meetings in 2021 to discuss the possibilities of a 2021 GreenZone and a new Climate Emergency Centre in Kingston. See news items for more information.
Local environmental groups that would like to revive, chair and minute regular meetings to discuss mutual issues and concerns, host KEF events, represent KEF to the wider community and the Council... are welcome to get in touch with KEF. A relaunch meeting was held during Kingston's Sustainable September in 2022, where KEF's future was discussed and further meetings proposed. See the former chair's presentation here.
See a list of current green groups in Kingston here, with their logos, social media, websites and addresses...