System change workshop at Hawkwood College Climate Action Lab

Dr Alex Ryan and Miriam Webb collaborated with Yolande Booyse, President of the students’ Green Team, to deliver a workshop on engaging people in system change for the Climate Action Lab hosted by Hawkwood College in Stroud. The event in March 2020 gathered sustainability pioneer Mike Berners-Lee with leading organisations such as Triodos Bank and Ecotricity, as well as campaign groups such as Stop Ecocide and City to Sea, to share practical sustainability actions for our businesses and homes.  Hawkwood College is one of our RCE partners.

The interactive session shared lessons and insights for successful progress on sustainability, that could be applied to drive change for individuals, groups and organisations in many settings.

The Climate Action Lab took place over 2 days and looked at practical steps to support a thriving planet, asking the questions –

• How do we really change our current behaviour?
• How can we introduce new systems into our organisations?

The aim of the action lab was to create the space to re-imagine ways in which the impact on planetary resources can be limited in the decade ahead. Drawing from the experience of thought-leaders and special guests that were invited with the purpose that they might re-ignite the power of the listeners’ imagination, it gave the ground needed to finally get practical about climate change.

Participants left with their own tailor-made 10-point climate action plan to help them make changes in their homes and businesses, that would inevitably lead them to reconsider the patterns and behaviours in their personal life.