ClimateYouChange recommendations adopted by Newham Council from Citizen's Assembly on Climate Change
- Jul 19, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 16
In February 2020, ClimateYouChange was invited by Newham Council to give a presentation at Newham’s Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change [Here is a link to the the relevant article].
The assembly was created from a cross-section of our communities, with the express purpose of educating members of the public on the climate crisis, so that they can advise the council on appropriate measures which they feel should be taken using their diverse perspectives.
As the only group focused on climate change education, we introduced many ideas and suggestions to all the participants as part of our presentation and supplied written documentation. Although some of these ideas were also suggested by other presenters, our participation helped shape and emphasise these ideas for deeper consideration.
Now, some 10 months after the Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change, we have been able to view the official council responses to the outcomes from the assembly and see those ideas that we put forward in the recommendations that the council has broadly adopted.
Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change ideas broadly adopted by Newham Council:
To create a network of Climate Emergency champions, with ongoing support from and interaction with the council, to promote climate change learning, behavioural change, and action across all communities in Newham.
To increase the accessibility and visibility of climate change information and the council’s Climate Emergency agenda for all residents across the borough.
To ensure that biodiversity and greening is central to all the Council’s strategies for parks, open spaces, and public trees across the borough.
To improve cycle lane facilities across the borough to reduce motor vehicle use.
As ClimateYouChange was the only participant that gave an education-themed presentation, we felt that had more impact in respect of this. This was especially evident with our Climate Emergency ‘champions’ idea for the Council to adopt.
We recommended this, having seen Newham Council’s Air Quality Health Champions programme, launched in 2019, which aimed to reduce air pollution and improve residents’ health through community-led education, further to council training of volunteers.
We felt that the council could employ a similar initiative by training local people on how they can educate their communities on climate change to express the degree to which change is needed, the wider and more local implications of the climate crisis, alongside the practical, affordable solutions that they could implement.
There were other ClimateYouChange suggestions which unfortunately did not have traction, such as suggesting that residents (with the means to) club together on solar power community investment schemes, to pay for solar panels above community centres and libraries, (see repowering.org.uk). A suggestion we made for stricter planning regulations for new builds was not mentioned within the Council’s responses. We now understand that such a suggestion could only be covered by inclusion in their next Local Plan review, as this is their key planning document which governs future developments within their jurisdiction.
We also wanted to see residents engaged with on community climate change initiatives which they could take part in. Whilst Newham Council has not committed to this in their response, they do mention ‘working to ensure easily accessible information... through enhanced outreach activities with residents’ which points to the possibility of a more comprehensive council-based climate change education programme. We will watch how this develops with interest.
To see the full list of topics, presenters, groups, and Citizen’s Assembly recommendations, please see the council Report on Newham’s Citizen’s Assembly on Climate Change:
For the full report on the Citizen’s Assembly suggestions and Newham Council’s responses, please see below:
To see the council commitment to new cycle routes in their document entitled ‘Meeting the challenge of the climate emergency – building a sustainable future: Newham’s air quality and climate emergency annual report’ (which was published at around the same time as their responses to the Citizen’s Assembly on Climate Change), please find the link below:
