GRASMERE is on course to make history after being selected to pilot a new BS 8904 standard for sustainable communities.

Local resident Professor David Jackman, who works with the British Standards Institute (BSI), chose his home village after realising the new kitemark idea needed to be tested on a real community.

The Grasmere pilot, which is very much a community project with 28 members, will be monitored closely as it develops a range of sust-ainable activities, including establishing a community market, employing underused land for a market garden and creating craft workshops.

Prof Jackman said: “Two years ago a few people began discussing the nature of small village communities.

“Through my work with the BSI and the Sustainability Standard, I was looking to develop a BSI Standard for a sustainable community.

“Despite the many good ideas that were proposed it became clear that these needed some actual basis in a real community and therefore it was decided to form a not-for-profit company – Gras-mere Crucible CIC – to test out the feasibility of Grasmere as a ‘model sustainable comm-unity’.

“The aim of the CIC is to ensure that the village of Grasmere remains a susta-inable community for future generations.”

The monthly community market will be launched in April 2010 to give local producers a ‘shop window’ for their products. The market garden’s aim is to provide employment for those wishing to cultivate underused land in the village to produce fresh local vegetables for sale.

Prof Jackman said the craft workshops would be linked to affordable housing for rent. This would not only bring new skills into the village but also offer diversification of employment. There are prop-erties within the village that could be converted into work-shops and linked with new housing conversions.”

Prof Jackman’s fellow directors at Grasmere Cruc-ible are Melissa Harwood, Johanna Goode and Grasmere rector Cameron Butland.

Together with Mr Butland, Prof Jackman is also launc-hing a ground-breaking ‘char-ter’ for 21st century ethical living at an event in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Prof Jackman, former head of ethics at the Financial Services Authority, said: “The charter is born out of a belief that we need a new debate as a society about our ethical base for this new century.

“It aims to help us wrestle with significant over-riding themes of our time – financial responsibility, sustainability, continuing inequality, globali-sation and demographic pressure – and see new ways forward.”

The charter will be available at www.21charter.com from October 13. Also, visit www.theethicalspace.com