Making it Happen
Lisa Hopkinson, Lead Researcher on the Centre for Alternative Technology’s 'Making it Happen' project
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21-min video of Lisa's keynote presentation at the 'Changing Systems: Not Just Lightbulbs' workshop in May 2017:
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Related 4-min interview with Lisa Hopkinson about the role of universities towards a zero carbon world.
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Talk summary:
There are many examples of organisations helping to overcome barriers to system change. At a sector level they include: Meat-Free Mondays which is encouraging people to try a more plant-based diet; York Bike Belles who are encouraging more women to cycle; the UK’s first carbon-neutral laboratory which has been set up at the University of Nottingham; and Robin Hood Energy which is a local authority-owned energy company, also based in Nottingham.
There are also many barriers which are common to all sectors. However, there are initiatives helping to overcome them too:
Psychological: Numerous barriers prevent us thinking and acting on climate change. Feelings of helplessness can be overcome by success stories of collective action, such as the NUS Green Impact Scheme which fosters a sense that other people care. The power of social norms or peer pressure is also effective, such as through Green Open Homes and the People and Planet university league tables.
Communications: The use of positive stories and imagery, e.g. Climate Visuals, is more effective in promoting action than fear-driven appeals. On social media, humour and arresting imagery are more likely to get shared, such as this successful Greenpeace video. Senior decision-makers are susceptible to peer pressure, and so you need to use communicators that they trust and language that resonates with their concerns.
Carbon Lock-In: To overcome the way that society has grown dependent on fossil fuels requires the development of low carbon communities, such as Transition St Andrews, which can then scale up. With support, niche innovations such as straw bale houses can become commercially available.
Economics: There need to be alternative forms of finance for low carbon alternatives. One example is the Revolving Green Fund, a zero interest loan scheme. Business models based on broader objectives than simply maximising returns to shareholders include community and public ownership and the circular economy. In the circular model, the focus is on restoration and regeneration, and waste is ‘designed out’, rather than jettisoned into the ever-more polluted environment.
Politics: To challenge the power of fossil fuel companies and vested interests shareholder action and divestment campaigns are mobilising the power of investors. Wider coalitions are also needed to create meaningful change. A growing number of groups are suing their governments over climate change, such as the Dutch Urgenda Foundation and in the US Kids Vs Climate Change.
Values: We need to reconnect with nature and recognise that the Earth is us. Faith and spiritual groups, as well as arts and cultural bodies, have an important role to play in transforming worldviews.
To achieve radical system change we need to believe that it is possible - and it is.
This presentation was based on Lisa’s research for the CAT Zero Carbon Britain: Making It Happen report. Here is the Report in Short: A summary of key findings.
There are many examples of organisations helping to overcome barriers to system change. At a sector level they include: Meat-Free Mondays which is encouraging people to try a more plant-based diet; York Bike Belles who are encouraging more women to cycle; the UK’s first carbon-neutral laboratory which has been set up at the University of Nottingham; and Robin Hood Energy which is a local authority-owned energy company, also based in Nottingham.
There are also many barriers which are common to all sectors. However, there are initiatives helping to overcome them too:
Psychological: Numerous barriers prevent us thinking and acting on climate change. Feelings of helplessness can be overcome by success stories of collective action, such as the NUS Green Impact Scheme which fosters a sense that other people care. The power of social norms or peer pressure is also effective, such as through Green Open Homes and the People and Planet university league tables.
Communications: The use of positive stories and imagery, e.g. Climate Visuals, is more effective in promoting action than fear-driven appeals. On social media, humour and arresting imagery are more likely to get shared, such as this successful Greenpeace video. Senior decision-makers are susceptible to peer pressure, and so you need to use communicators that they trust and language that resonates with their concerns.
Carbon Lock-In: To overcome the way that society has grown dependent on fossil fuels requires the development of low carbon communities, such as Transition St Andrews, which can then scale up. With support, niche innovations such as straw bale houses can become commercially available.
Economics: There need to be alternative forms of finance for low carbon alternatives. One example is the Revolving Green Fund, a zero interest loan scheme. Business models based on broader objectives than simply maximising returns to shareholders include community and public ownership and the circular economy. In the circular model, the focus is on restoration and regeneration, and waste is ‘designed out’, rather than jettisoned into the ever-more polluted environment.
Politics: To challenge the power of fossil fuel companies and vested interests shareholder action and divestment campaigns are mobilising the power of investors. Wider coalitions are also needed to create meaningful change. A growing number of groups are suing their governments over climate change, such as the Dutch Urgenda Foundation and in the US Kids Vs Climate Change.
Values: We need to reconnect with nature and recognise that the Earth is us. Faith and spiritual groups, as well as arts and cultural bodies, have an important role to play in transforming worldviews.
To achieve radical system change we need to believe that it is possible - and it is.
This presentation was based on Lisa’s research for the CAT Zero Carbon Britain: Making It Happen report. Here is the Report in Short: A summary of key findings.