North East Together 17: Climate change, a collaborative response (October 2019)
The theme for our October event was climate change, the defining challenge for us all right now. We also identified it as a priority for us at February’s whole network event on the future of social leadership. Around 50 members came along. The event’s advance information pack and slides tells you more about the event.
The event focused on our collective response to climate change, including what we can do to minimise our own negative impact on climate change; how we can increase the resilience of organisations and us as leaders to respond to the affects of climate change; and, start to think together how we will need to respond to the affects of climate change on the people we all work with, particularly vulnerable people and those marginalised and excluded by society. As the effects of climate change grow, we know the impact will be disproportionately faced by young people ie those who will hold leadership roles in the future. We need to work collaboratively across the generations to do our best to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and prepare our organisations for a challenging future.
Understanding climate change: past, present and future
After our guided networking activity, we heard from two exceptional speakers — Anna-Lisa Mills and Peter Stark — to help us learn more about climate change, how we’ve got here, the north east’s role in climate change and what we need to think about for the future.
We heard about VONNE’s climate change project, which Peter leads and involves Anna-Lisa. The background paper North East England: Climate crisis, ecology breakdown and the need for a just transition gives an overview of the project.
Our speakers
Anna-Lisa Mills is director of True North Sustainability, consultancy and training for a more sustainable future, and Smart Carbon, helping businesses calculate, report and reduce carbon; associate lecturer at Northumbria University; and, principal consultant at Climate Action North. She has over 20 years’ experience in environmental management, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) from both in-house and consultancy roles. Anna‑Lisa is a chartered environmentalist and a full member of IEMA. She has completed Al Gore’s training programme to become a climate reality leader and is an active member of IEMA’s Climate Change and Energy Steering Group as well as IEMA’s North East Steering Group. Anna-Lisa in an NQA approved consultant and trainer and is a registered trainer for CIEH and NEBOSH.
Peter Stark is VONNE’s climate project lead, and co-founder and cultural policy analyst at GPS Culture. Peter Stark was born and brought up in Newcastle but with family on both sides of the Tyne and holidays on the coast and in the Cheviots. After twenty years learning his trade elsewhere, he returned in the 1980s as director of Northern Arts and then worked through the 90s with Gateshead on the Millennium Bridge, Baltic and Sage before a professorship at Northumbria University and then a decade in the inner cities, townships and rural areas of South Africa. Returning to the UK in 2012 he formed GPS Culture and was lead author on its reports into the imbalances of public and lottery funding for culture between the capital and the rest of the country. Latterly, he worked as development director for The Mining Institute, helping to rescue its building from closure and raising the bulk of the funds that were needed to secure its reopening next year as The Common Room.
Climate change: a collaborative response
In groups we explored the challenges of climate change looking at it through three lenses: lead, engage and collaborate. We asked each group to discuss climate change in more depth to understand the problem (read the groups’ notes) and then make a plan for what they will do next (read the plans).
Useful resources and reading
- Climate change for charity leaders outside the environmental sector article shared by VONNE about sector organisational action of climate change
- Climate Action North take action in your community, includes pollinator parks, beach cleans, project green heart for school and business resilience toolkits for responding to the climate emergency
- Short climate change courses at Northumbria University Carbon champion: carbon footprinting, management and reporting (one day course) and Climate change: risk, opportunity and business resilience (half day course)
Tribute to Leon Mexter
We were incredibly sad to share the news that our friend Leon Mexter died on 20 September 2019. We will miss him terribly especially his warmth, generosity, thoughtfulness, and how collaboration was so natural and obvious to him. Carol Botten from VONNE spoke movingly about Leon at the event (read a transcript of her words).
Thank you
Thanks to everyone who spoke at the event and to everyone who came and took part in the event. And thanks to Newcastle University Business School for providing the venue, refreshments and support.
Next event 13 February 2020
Our next event in February will focus on collaborative and collective leadership, another vital subject for us all. Please save the date in your diary.
About North East Together
We believe that bringing leaders together to tackle social injustice will create positive change — in our communities, organisations and the social systems we live and work within. Our network inspires social leaders, enabling collaboration and mutual support. We offer a series of dynamic network events; self-organised collaborative working groups; pathways into coaching; and independent social change events. It’s for leaders from the voluntary, charity, social enterprise, education, public and private sectors. It’s for experienced, new and future leaders of organisations, work, and ideas.
