What are Climate Action Groups?

Climate Action Groups are for people who want to come together to share thoughts, ideas, feelings. concerns and to act on climate change.

Conventional approaches to climate change sometimes prescribe set activities, targets, and result areas and provide a rigid “check list” for activities. Motivational theory shows that a more flexible approach based on self-directed learning is likely to be more effective and easier to replicate. The Action Groups adopt a more flexible method, using a "learning set" or "Study Action Group" (SAG) model based on self-directed learning.

Action Groups themselves can be composed of individuals, friends, acquaintances, neighbours or work colleagues. Action groups can grow out of already existing organisations or larger groups.

COIN's role in getting them going is through our 'Matchmaker' meeting in which we use facilitating techniques to form groups around particular topics or issues that people want to work on.

The group collectively decides whether an Action Group exists for a limited time or for a single purpose or is allowed to do other things and continue on a permanent basis. In similar fashion, Action Groups can be formal or informal, have a coordinator, a leader or none at all. Their shape, form and size will vary tremendously but they are best kept quite small. But, we have learned that if they are too small you might not have enough energy to keep them going!

2006

In January 2006 COIN held the the first meeting for people interested in forming Climate Action Groups. Fifty people came and four groups formed around the themes of household energy change, carbon rationing, local policy, and creative engagement. Further groups formed at the second meeting in March, including our successful 'Education in the Workplace' group. Some of the groups disbanded after the initial six month period while others continued. One is still going strong after two years.

2007

In September and Novemeber 2007 COIN worked with Sheffield Climate Action and Camden Climate Action Network to create new Climate Action Groups in Sheffield and Camden and to further test the concept. Groups formed included: 'Tap water in Camden' - a group formed to work around cafes and restaurants to cut the use of mineral water and ensure that they refill bottles with tap water; 'Tools and techniques to influence behaviour and well-being including comunity based social marketing'; 'Sustainable Transport Challenge'; 'Guerilla gardening'; 'Green Energy in all Public Buildings in Camden'; Kings Cross Development Sustainability' - trying to make local development sustainable; 'Household Energy Reductions'; 'Discussion Group'; 'Wind and Water Electricity Generation'; 'Green Spaces'; Vision for Zero Carbon Sheffield'.

How it works

Currently COIN works with people or groups interested in setting up Climate Action Groups by jointly organising a 'Matchmaker' meeting. This is a two and half hour meeting which can be held in the evening or a week end.

From this we hope to create several Climate Action Groups of people who come together to work collectively on a particular issue relating to climate change. It can be campaigning, personal carbon reductions, working locally around carbon emission reductions - anything that people feel they want to do. You can see from the examples above that there are a lot of very creative ideas out there.

The groups agree to meet for at least 6 months and to organise at least 6 meetings during that time.

At the end of that period, all the groups that have carried on (some don't!) meet to review what they have done. Each group then decides whether it wants to carry on working on the same issue or topic, change to a different one or disband entirely.

More information

If you want to try to set up Climate Action Groups in your area or you have ideas about trying new techniques for mobilising people using similar self-directed techniques, we want to hear from you. We are very happy to work anywhere in the UK setting up self-directed groups to act on climate change.

For more information on Action Groups contact COIN.