How Bishop’s Stortford is showing East Herts Council, Boris Johnson and world leaders the way on creating a stable climate and liveable future for our children

As we wait for the dust from COP26 to settle, it’s too early to pick through the detail, to see what has been achieved.

My gut feeling is this: compared to where we were, real progress has been made. Compared to where we need to be, we are still miles off track and we’re driving with the brakes on.

Perhaps the starkest lesson from COP26 is that this kind of diplomatic process is just not up to the job. Aligning 200 or so countries with such divergent interests around a single, radical, transformative goal was probably never going to happen. Our political and economic systems are just not built that way. Created to serve the needs of individual people, companies, markets and countries, they are not designed to serve the collective needs of humanity.

We can’t wait for world leaders, Boris Johnson’s Government or East Herts Council to catch up with what we need. If we really, truly want this – a stable climate and a liveable future for our children and grandchildren – then it has to start with us.

Here in Bishop’s Stortford, we have begun.

More than 80 people took part in the Community Climate Gathering on the weekend of November 6-7. This event was organised by the Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group, with support from the National Lottery, Friends of the Earth and EHC. There were no expert speakers, just the commitment, energy and creativity of the people who showed up, skilfully shepherded by facilitator Augusto Cuginotti and captured with stunning visuals by graphic recorder Emma Paxton.

On the first morning, we focused on the strengths of our community and the future we want to see for Bishop’s Stortford. The shared future that emerged was one of carbon neutral homes for all, streets designed around people rather than cars and rich biodiversity with wildlife everywhere.

We talked about seasonal food, grown locally and available for all, thriving local businesses and local jobs.

We imagined an integrated transport system with safe streets for cycling and walking, shared car ownership and affordable and convenient bus services.

Above all, we spoke of a safer, tighter community with a strong sense of local democracy, where people feel their voices are heard.

We also discussed the things we need to pay attention to if we are to bring this future to life. We recognised the need to make it easy for people to get on board and to make sure that what we do benefits all, including the more disadvantaged people in our community.

We spoke of connecting with others – community groups, businesses and other towns – and learning from them. And we talked about the importance of democracy, getting involved in local and national politics, and being more demanding, more ready to take risks for the future we want.

If day 1 gave us a sense of direction, day 2 was all about action, and there was a real buzz of energy in the room.

We brainstormed all the actions that people wanted to see and gradually refined the list down to the following priority projects identified by the whole group.

• Cycling Network – helping people to get on their bikes and campaigning for a local network of cycle paths, cycle parking and 20mph zones.
• Solar PV at Home – helping people to install solar panels/access renewable energy at home through advice, support and community purchasing.
• Grow Green Spaces – growing food in public spaces, free for everyone to help themselves.
• Waste – making it easier for people to reduce, reuse, recycle, refill and donate.
• Car Free Zone – looking at the timed pedestrianisation of North Street, to create a vibrant new outdoor social hub.
• Anti-idling campaign – cutting emissions and improving air quality.
• Composting – reducing food waste through home and community composting.
• Vegan food map – directory of local businesses offering vegan alternatives to help people move away from meat.
• Directory of Eco-groups – linking different groups and resources in the community in a guide to who’s doing what.
• School run app – connecting people to car share/walk safely to school.
• Network of school eco-clubs – linking eco-clubs across schools to mobilise our young people.

It’s one thing to list the projects. It’s harder to convey the spirit of the meeting.

Many people were surprised by the skills, knowledge and experience of the group. Everyone was impressed, even a little humbled, by the young people – some as young as 12 – who spoke with confidence and clarity as they set out their own priorities. All were touched and connected by the sense of possibility and optimism in the room.

Of course, the real test of an event like this is what happens afterwards. Each of these projects has a team of people taking it forwards and they will report their progress at a follow-up event in the spring of 2022.

This community-level action really matters. As individuals we can only do so much, but if we want to change things more profoundly then we have to act together.

It’s said that if you can mobilise 25% of the population, you can flip the status quo. This got me thinking: how do we get from 80 people to 10,000 people?

Part of the answer is action: action that is visible, doable, relevant and that makes people’s lives better. This is exactly the sort of action that the people and projects of the Community Climate Gathering aim to deliver.

You too can be part of this, by:

1. Joining one of the project groups by contacting the project lead – contact details on the climate group website www.bishopsstortfordclimategroup.org.
2. Signing up for the climate group newsletter at Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group (list-manage.com).
3. Joining the conversation on Facebook at Bishop’s Stortford Climate Group Discussion | Facebook
4. Going along to the climate group’s monthly meetings, held on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of each month – see the website for details.