Engaging people in climate action
Introduction
Climate change can feel so huge and overwhelming that people may think local action isn’t enough to make a difference. But there’s lots that individuals and communities can do, and much to be gained.
In addition to reducing carbon emissions or increasing biodiversity, taking action with neighbours can help reduce costs, strengthen local pride, and deliver health and wellbeing benefits.
Why this matters
Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our planet. The UK’s independent Climate Change Committee acknowledges that, “some of the difficult decisions […] will only be possible if people are engaged in a societal effort to reach net-zero emissions.”
Most of us recognise we have a role to play, but this isn’t always reflected in our everyday behaviour. It’s not always easy to balance the need for large-scale international change with personal and community action.
The National Lottery Community Fund has been a significant funder of environmental projects for over 30 years. Here we share learning from this funding, with a focus on practical tips on how to spark, mobilise and sustain local community action on climate change.
What we've learned
Making it easy
If climate action feels like hard work or a thankless task, people are less likely to get or stay involved. So we’ve learned that there different ways of making community-led action easy.
Starting with the people who are most willing is a useful strategy, as they may just need a nudge to do more
Converting sceptics will take longer, but it’s easier when you have a track record of making positive change happen. In Wales, the Hwb Torfaen started by replacing over 40 light fittings with lower-energy LED, annually saving £2,000 and 5.1 tonnes of CO2. This simple improvement led to a wider behaviour change too: development of an environmental policy, appointment of 2 climate champions, and setting up environmental targets.
Encouraging borrowing rather than buying
Tool, uniform and toy libraries are a positive way to help people reduce waste. Totnes Share Shed’s most borrowed items include power drills, strimmers and carpet cleaners. In 2 years over 1,700 people used the service, avoiding up to 3,200 purchases that would have cost residents over £200,000.
Removing practical barriers
For example, a useful way of encouraging litter picking is to provide free grabbers and bags. Tamworth Volunteer Litter Pickers supply litter kits, including stickers for bags so that council bin staff don’t mistake litter collections for dumped household waste.
Helping people gain new skills to repair, adapt and reuse material that would otherwise go to landfill
Wales, after learning that 4 out of 5 residents couldn’t afford to replace worn-out furniture, Foothold Cymru started to organise upcycling workshops where residents make and repair items and share experiences.
Using local examples makes it easier for people to see how they could get involved
It also encourages a sense of community: people are more likely to keep going when they feel a positive connection with their neighbours.
Getting the timing right
People are more receptive to changing their behaviour or taking action at certain times in their lives.
People are more likely to change their behaviour during times of transition, such as moving home or during wider policy and strategy change. So these changes are an opportunity to embed more environmentally-friendly ways of living. When the 2021 United Nations climate change conference was held in Glasgow, Climate Action Fife organised the “Big Five for Fife” campaign, in which people pledged to make achievable everyday changes. The group estimates that the pledges led to savings of 76 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Instant feedback can be effective in galvanising people to take action. In Wiltshire, Great Green Bedwyn used infrared heat cameras to show people the heat being lost from their homes. 15 people went on to improve their insulation and draughtproofing, and some fitted a heat pump.
Emphasising the link between environmental work and things people already care about can help. Irwell Valley Sustainable Communities helped Salford residents to flood-proof their homes in response to the flooding of the River Irwell. This inspired further sustainability projects, including community gardens and wetland creation.
Making it appealing
Changing behaviour requires effort, so it helps to make it attractive. There are simple ways to do this:
Emphasising the money to be saved
Cutting costs is motivating and doesn’t have to be hard. In Wales, 303 working families saved an average of £426 per family per year just by using tool/toy/uniform libraries, doing home improvements by themselves, and picking up practical money saving tips from others in the community.
Recognising people’s efforts can motivate them to do more
Like small prizes for the most active litter pickers, or awards for people or businesses achieving the greatest reductions in energy use. Local press stories highlighting inspiring examples help too.
It’s important to be careful with short-term incentives
One-time rewards can be a good start, but evidence suggests that the new behaviour can stop when the incentive is no longer there. Longer-term rewards like lowering energy bills permanently or making new friends can be more effective at supporting lasting behaviour change.
Accentuating the positives
Helping people to see the personal, financial and societal benefits of sustainable choices can be more effective than negative wording about sacrifices and responsibility. London’s Forest Recycling Project saves leftover paint from landfill and then provides free reclaimed paint to new housing association residents. By helping them save money on redecorating costs, reducing waste, and minimising the demand for new paint, the project is estimated to have saved almost 1.5 million kg of CO2 emissions.
Recognising people’s desire to connect and belong
Framing environmental action as something that can be done together with neighbours can be very motivating, with the added benefit that people don’t want to let their friends or neighbours down.
Emphasising the wellbeing benefits of taking action
The 2 Minute Foundation encourages people to spend just 2 minutes picking up litter. By making it simple to act they’ve mobilised over 80,000 residents, with many saying that taking part has strengthened their personal sense of purpose and made them feel more connected to their community.
Showcasing all the co-benefits
A community allotment may have many environmental benefits – but it can also be promoted as an opportunity to meet new people, learn gardening skills, and improve health and wellbeing. Y Fasged Siopa, which collects and distributes surplus food, is giving people who need it healthy, good quality ingredients, saving families an average £912 a year on household costs and diverting an estimated 18 tonnes of food from landfill each year.
Senior buy-in helps motivate others
If an organisation’s leadership is visibly invested in climate action, it encourages everybody else to join in. At the Fund, we’ve set targets designed to help us reach operational net zero by 2030. For example, flights within Great Britain (except to or from Scottish islands) are permitted only as exceptions, cutting CO2 emissions by 82% between 2019/20 and 2022/23.
Being inclusive
People want to see others like them as part of a movement, and to see that others recognise and want to tackle the specific concerns of their community.
Taking active steps to engage a diverse group of people
Practical adjustments like recruiting community representatives into paid roles, targeting outreach work with communities currently not reached and ensuring that both indoor and outdoor venues are accessible to disabled people are important ways to make environmental projects more inclusive.
Involving people from diverse backgrounds in decision-making is essential
In Bristol, the Black and Green Ambassadors mentor climate action leaders from Black, African, Caribbean, Asian and other minoritised ethnic backgrounds. For example, ambassador Asia Yousif organised a workshop for people from Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, India, Eritrea and Sri Lanka to cook with organic vegetables and discuss sustainability. She found that many cultural practices are already sustainable, without people recognising them as such.
Platforming the work that is already happening
This includes tackling the widespread assumption that environmental action is disproportionately white and middle class. Bristol’s Black and Green Ambassadors were invited to speak at the 2021 UN climate change conference COP26. “It’s got us in the room with policy makers,” explains ambassador Roy Kareem.
Showing the difference you’re making
Quick wins, visible change and recognition of what people have achieved are good motivators because they are tangible and concrete, and tell a positive and uplifting story of change.
Seeing change in community spaces, or other local people taking an active role, can be inspiring. Manchester Climate Change Agency organised urban greening activities in the busy Northern Quarter and engaged local football fans in 3 weeks of sustainable food challenges. After 3 months from the challenge, 70% of participants eat less meat, 83% waste less food, and the average participant is saving £17.47 on their weekly shop.
Environmental improvements are sometimes intangible: finding ways to make them concrete helps. Bristol Green Capital Partnership has used Community Carbon Footprints to show what activities are responsible for emissions, and how much carbon they generate.
Keeping up the energy
Time-limited projects and enthusiastic individuals can be great at driving engagement. But what happens when the funding ends, or the person moves on? It’s important to think about how to keep momentum going over time.
Giving networks a sense of ownership can make them stronger and more lasting. Greening projects – which find ways to add plants to an urban neighbourhood, such as window boxes – could ask volunteers to help with planting and watering. This encourages community pride, while addressing the need for ongoing maintenance.
Finding fun ways to measure progress can help to sustain energy and motivation. Footprints Women’s Centre installed solar panels, energy efficient light bulbs, cavity wall insulation, and movement sensors for lighting to reduce its carbon footprint. The Centre then installed a battery energy storage system, to store excess energy from solar panels, with a digital screen – which shows the energy being generated, and the money and CO2 being saved. The screen is on display in the Centre’s foyer, where it’s become a big topic of conversation for visitors.
Setting targets or creating competitions can help to keep up momentum and instill an element of fun. A league table of green actions to see who’s doing most good, or getting the community involved in gardening events to see who can finish their planter first could get people invested in the results.
Key messages
The key messages are:
investing and taking part in community-led environmental action can create a range of tangible personal benefits - from saving money, reducing waste and gaining new knowledge and skills, to a greater sense of belonging and connection, and of course, reducing CO2 emissions
it’s important to break down the barriers that can make environmental change feel huge, distant or overwhelming and focus on the very human elements that engage and sustain us
by understanding our motivators and drivers, whether that’s reducing our bills or strengthening our sense of connection to our community, and combining this with practical environmental actions that feel achievable we can all make a difference
appealing to people’s sense of community can be more effective than an explicit appeal to the climate emergency
working at local or hyperlocal level can create more sustainable networks where people keep up their commitment and action because they feel a shared sense of ownership with, and accountability to, their neighbours
Find out more
To learn more about how our charities and communities have engaged people in climate action, read our report Community Action for the Environment.