FOMV

Last weekend we were really happy to be invited to speak at the Manchester Museum, at an event organised by Earthsonic (a climate action/advocacy group). Our chairman, Dave O’Rourke, spoke on a panel where he was asked about how we stay motivated as a group, what kind of activities we undertake, and perhaps most importantly, how we help contribute to an equitable approach to climate and environmental action.

This is something very close to our hearts – too often we hear about climate action on the news, perhaps as something ordinary people have to pay for in their energy bills, a top-down approach that risks alienating everyday citizens from the most important question of our time.

What Dave said is something all governments and institutions should listen to. Firstly, we have demonstrated the sheer amount that can be done with small sums of money. City Councils and central governments often spend thousands of pounds on consultations with private companies, only to decide that they won’t go ahead with their initial plans. I remember laughing, a year or so ago, when one (very well meaning) civil servant told us it cost the council almost £3000 to install a kissing gate. The key point here is that by devolving money and power to local citizens, a lot more can be done and the results tend to be far more consensual.

Another takeaway from the discussion was how climate action can in fact empower local people if gone about in the right way. We want to help people feel like they are in control of their local area, not waiting for planning teams to come up with complicated plans and consultations that drag on for years. The lower down the population change the money is spent, the further it stretches, and the more people will feel like they have a say in their communities.

Thank you to Dave for his efforts, and especially to our youth ambassadors who helped man the stall and share our work with important local and national partners. It was a great to see reciprocity of knowledge here – our work feeding back into that of researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders.