Bournemouth, Eco & Environment | Posted on November 5th, 2024 | return to news
Dorset climate change conference attracts hundreds of attendees
The event, which was held at Bournemouth University, attracted a wide range of speakers including Jessica Toale MP.
Hundreds of people attended Dorset’s second community-led ‘conference of the parties’ – Dorset COP – which was held on Saturday 2 November at Bournemouth University. The University’s new vice-chancellor, Professor Alison Honour, opened the event alongside Lois Betts, the University’s sustainability manager, recently elected local MP, Jessica Toale, and the Dorset COP organisers.
Jessica Toale said: “There is no more profound a challenge or driver of global instability than climate change. While the annual climate COPs are really important international conferences, we cannot tackle climate change without local, community-level action.
“That is why this local Dorset COP was such a brilliant event – bringing together local people, businesses and policymakers to look at what the big issues are and how to address them – from renewable energy and carbon capture to the circular economy and sustainable transport.
“I will be working with change makers here in Bournemouth West to address some of these huge challenges – including cleaning up our seas and rivers, moving us towards a zero-waste economy and ensuring nature’s recovery.”
In the Kimmeridge Lecture Theatre, Rufus Boyd, lead director at Great British Railways Transition Team, joined the expert panel on the Transport Workshop for a lively session on how the county’s public transport could be improved to mobilise rural Dorset and ease congestion in the conurbation. Among other solutions, many called for increased bus services, an electric bus fleet, an improved rail network, and reignited the argument for a light rail addition to help ease congestion, improve air quality, and reduce Dorset’s reliance on fossil-fuelled transport.
An interactive session, LEGO Serious Play, invited attendees to design a better Dorset. Hosted by Rachel Parsons, the session used LEGO as a tool to explore solutions to tricky problems. Rachel has worked in sustainability and behaviour-change for over 20 years and facilitates this method in businesses, schools, tourism, and leadership coaching.
Rachel said: “These Serious Play sessions spark creativity, so are always interesting. As people use their hands to work out complex issues, they use different neural pathways, leading to innovative outcomes. We saw over 70 incredible ideas develop over the course of the day and we’ll be collating and feeding these back to the Dorset COP organisers over the next few weeks.”
A lively Fashion Assembly asking, ‘What should young people in Dorset do to combat the unsustainable fashion industry and what support do they need?’, was hosted in the Fusion Inspire Lecture Theatre by a range of inspirational speakers including Sara K. Arnold, co-founder of Fashion Act Now, Zoe Gilbertson, a fashion ecologist and textile systems designer, Penelope Norman, Design Fashion Innovation Course Leader at Arts University Bournemouth, and Jennifer Morisetti, founder of Defashion Dorset and Hawkers Re-Creatives.
Dorset Community Energy hosted a session on Community Renewable Energy in Dorset on how the county is a national leader in the development of community renewable energy. Starting with an introduction to Dorset Community Energy, the session also looked at Energy Local Bridport and the Hazelmead Co-housing project in Bridport – currently the largest electricity microgrid in England. Attendees came away with a better understanding of the road map to the development of these projects, the county’s achievements to date, and barriers to similar projects in other areas of Dorset.
In the Fusion building, the Speakers Corner Community Sessions opened with a planned slot for the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator group followed by an open afternoon for anyone to have their say, the Community Exhibition in the atrium gave a platform for attendees to explore Dorset’s many community groups and campaigns, while two of the Dorset COP organisers, Zero Carbon Dorset and This Living Place, hosted a session on Nurturing the Network in BCP.
Business-related sessions ran all day in the Kimmeridge Marconi Lecture Theatre including a panel event on ‘How to be a Sustainable Business’ hosted by Emily Fripp, founder at Efeca, Nick Whitnell (B-Corp leader), David Matthews, founder at Maia Growth, Nikki Barry, sustainability manager at Organix, and James Dixon-Box, operations director at Marsham Court Hotel.
The event closed with a fast-paced, uplifting round-up of the day’s activities as workshop leads, keynote speakers and local leaders shared what’s been learned from each session, what actions are being taken away and how attendees can keep up the momentum gained during the day. Mark Chivers, co-founder of Zero Carbon Dorset, closed the day and said: “Earlier this week, we saw in Spain why preventing further climate change is such an urgent issue. We can’t stand idly by while climate change injustice is rampant. We need our politicians to act now.
“Today, we came, we saw, we imagined. The enthusiasm and commitment shown by everyone at the event, to find ways to act at the local level, demonstrates how the power of community can also make real changes from the ground up. The power of community is so strong and it’s up to all of us to make sure we mobilise and protect the environment for ourselves and the next generation.”
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