There were THREE global climate conferences taking place in Exeter in the first week of July, forming the Exeter Climate Forum – so to connect people with these conferences and Exeter’s world-leading climate expertise, we created a hands-on event for everyone to get involved in!
On Sunday 29th June, we took over Emmanuel Hall in St Thomas – home of Alibi and St Thomas Library – to bring a day of hands-on activities and collaborative imagining, all about climate science and how we can create a more resilient Exeter.
Thanks so much to everyone who attended!
Event photos + resources
The image above is an incredible 2m x 1m mural created during the event by visitors and Bob Walley – artist, researcher and co-founder of Envirolution. It’s a hopeful vision of Exeter in 2060 – and we love the science centre right in the middle of it!….
The mural is now on display in Exeter Library – and we’re asking visitors to respond to it! You can join in online too: share your response here!
Finding hope and purpose in the midst of a climate & ecological crisis
Our evening ‘Climate Confluence’ was launched by a brilliant talk from Prof James Dyke from the University of Exeter, who summarised the current climate science, and what scientists say we need to do to create a future that’s positive for people and planet.
Check out his recent film System Reboot on this theme at: https://climate.film/
Poem for a Positive Future
Another wonderful output from the event is a responsive poem, created by Micha Colombo who was our ‘creative in the corner’ for the evening event.
We were so thrilled (and amazed!) to have such a moving summary of the event – performed at the end of the event by Micha. She has kindly re-recorded it for us all to enjoy!
Check out the photos from the event below, and videos on our social media platforms:
The University of Exeter’s Public Engagement with Research team has written up a blog post of this and the related events around Exeter Climate Forum – check it out here!
Do you like the look of this event? Love the outputs? Let us know! We’re thinking of taking it on tour for more people to get involved, and your feedback would be invaluable!
Thank you!
HUGE thank you to all the amazing volunteers, community groups, contributors and funders (the University of Exeter Regional Engagement team) for making this event happen!
Volunteers: Owain, Ben, Rose, Kiko, Caitlyn, Hayley, Swati, Danny, Liam, Becca, Catherine and Lindsey.
Community groups & local organisations: Community Action Groups Devon, Zero Mile Gardens, Love Food CIC, Sustainable Bradninch, Blackdown Hills Transition Group & Eco Hub, Exeter Community Energy, Met Office (special thanks to Lottie for hosting the Met Office stand). We’re also super grateful to Dr Sally Flint for providing a creative writing activity for visitors to contribute to the upcoming We Are The Possible poetry anthology, and to Dr Nicholas Clifton for providing information on how people can support the new charity AuthentiSci with tackling misinformation online.
Contributors: Bob Walley, Katie Villa (who created and ran the amazing evening event!), Prof James Dyke, Micha Colombo.
