New Media Awards 2008

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP

Nominated in Democracy in action category.

Dr Caroline Lucas is the Green MEP for South East England. Elected in 1999, she sits on the European Parliament's Environment, Trade and Climate Change Committees, and is Vice President of the Animal Welfare Intergroup.

Caroline is a long-time campaigner and media spokesperson on some of the most crucial issues of our time; climate change, energy, transport, food security, global trade, human rights and animal protection. Through her extensive work as an MEP, Caroline has been able to ensure that the Green voice is heard at the very highest levels of policy making.

1 nomination from readers

  • Caroline's website has undergone a very recent revamp and has been launched with a quirky set of animations designed to visualise some of her achievements in European politics.

    The news page is easy to use and updated daily with in-depth reports of Caroline's events in the Parliament, the outcome of relevant votes, new Written Declarations (like Early Day Motions in the House of Commons) and correspondence from the Commission. It also contains comment on current news stories, and the 'reports' page links to more feature-length articles. Caroline has also just started to write an online blog, which she tries to post onto daily when time allows.

    Helpfully, all of the content is categorised into themes, so if you're interested in 'food and farming' say, you can go straight to a section containing everything Caroline has done in this area.

    The site is basically geared towards providing useful and inspiring information which relates both to Caroline's work over the past nine years and to the work of the European Union as a whole.

    It is a brilliant resource for learning more about how the European institutions work and how policies which are created in Brussels and Strasbourg affect the UK. The main aim here was to prove to people that they needn't feel alienated by the EU system, and to lay out the direct relevance of European law and regulations in more local matters.

    For those living in the South East, there's a real insight into what having a Green MEP means. They can see exactly where she stands on a whole range of issues, and how she has used her profile to raise awareness of local campaigns, such as those on water fluoridation, development on greenbelt land, the management of waste, rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender people, and airport expansion at Heathrow and Stansted.

    Most people would agree that Caroline is far removed from the cynical sterotype of an average 'Eurocrat'. She is approachable, open, passionate about her causes and keen to show that a greener world is not only possible, but completely achievable. This website showcases her work an original way and gives people the chance to get to know her.

    * The site was created by a Manchester collective called UHC using freeware.

    Nominated by Melissa Freeman, 30 May 2008

5 comments from readers

  • Fantastic website from a fantastic politician.

    Submitted by Stuart Jeffery, 30 May 2008

  • For anyone not familiar with this website, it is well worth a look. A lot of sensible and thought-provoking comment and very well presented. Keep it up!

    Submitted by Peter Lynn, 30 May 2008

  • Strange little animation thing at the start - but once you're in, it's actually a very good site that seems to be well looked-after.

    Submitted by Jo Wigshaw, 01 June 2008

  • Very bad site in terms of inclusivity. It has memory and bandwidth hungry content, which simply encourages the wasteful planet destroying upgrading of computers, and excludes the poor who cannot afford them.

    Submitted by Brian, 03 June 2008

  • Great website - so important that we get the Climate Action NOW message through...

    Submitted by Roisin Robertson, 06 June 2008

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