ACT’s Storytelling Event on 24th June, attended by around 40 ACT members, was quite a change from typical ACT events, which focus on the facts and figures of climate science and carbon emissions. Many people can’t or won’t engage with the science so we wanted to find other ways of communicating, and of connecting with each other’s feelings and experiences. We thought storytelling might help people understand the need for carbon cutting.
Three panellists set the scene with their personal stories of why and how the climate and ecological emergency affects them, then everyone present was invited to contribute their own stories and connections.
We heard beautiful memories of the vitality of wildlife, worries about the survival of future generations, and about hope generated by action. There was also uncertainty about how to talk with friends and family who don’t understand climate harm, feelings of betrayal by adults who fail to support young people who want change, and inspiration from role models who lead the way. And these were just some of the topics we touched on.
We concluded by pulling together some of the common threads and weaving them into our knowledge of the psychological science of effective climate communication before the panellists offered their final reflections.
One comment at the end maybe summed up the feelings of many of us, calling for more “passionate leadership” to tackle the challenges we face.
We will use the feedback from those attending to consider how to follow up.
Water Quality Event
This event featured several presentations followed by a discussion on what can be done to improve the water quality of our rivers and estuaries, how we can work together, and plans for the future, writes Betina Winkler.
Anna Seal from the West Country Rivers Trust talked about how the Trust started, gave an overview of the areas it works in, and explained its citizen science investigation project, which covers rivers all over the South West region.
For more information visit: https://wrt.org.uk/westcountry-csi/
David Leach of the Dartmoor Peatland Restoration Project explained how peat is formed, where we find the peatland areas in Dartmoor and the extent of degradation. The South West Peatland Partnership has projects in Exmoor and Dartmoor. Rachel Land talked about upcoming volunteering opportunities.
Emma Magee, South Devon Catchment Coordinator for the Environment Agency, is responsible for delivering the EA’s environment programme within South Devon. She provided some links from her presentation:
- NEIRF funding opportunity: Support for farmers to access investment to drive nature recovery – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Landscape recovery funding opportunity: Landscape Recovery: round two – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- National investigation into sewage treatment works, updates available at: Environment Agency investigation into sewage treatment works – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
- Catchment data explorer for river ecology and chemical data: Teign Operational Catchment | Catchment Data Explorer
- Map viewer for river status and plans: Classification | River Basin Management Plan: maps (arcgis.com)
- How to tell the difference between sewage and an algal bloom: Telling the difference between an algal bloom and sewage – Creating a better place (blog.gov.uk)