This event was set up to provide the space for the group who were there on the day to take the first step in planning four green initiatives that arose from concerns from the group.
The three projects agreed by the group were:
- Involving new people
- Improving green transport
- Solar outdoor lighting and
- Retrofit training
New People
There was general agreement that in order to welcome more people our movement needed to ensure that is welcoming and friendly and that it doesn’t come across as having cliques.
The general principles of developing the movement needed to start from
- Looking for who and what’s missing
- Being clearer than we are about our aims
It is clear that most people are already doing things as individuals. When we think about acting as an umbrella organisation, we need to pay attention to diversity
The group were unclear about what their first step would be. They thought this was because they hadn’t yet got clear enough aims.
Transport
This group gave thought to some of the infrastructure needed to reduce pollution on our roads. They suggested
- following the lead of California who are about to use electric buses for taking children to school
- following Sweden’s lead in banning petrol and diesel cars from 2025
- creating more cycle lanes on central boulevards
- encouraging more use of public transport including for remote areas and improving night time transport
- they wanted better connections between bus and rail services
They thought their first step would be collecting data to support these suggestions.
They would like to see streets reclaimed and car free days. They pictured these being used for stalls and creative projects.
Solar lighting and retrofitting homes
This group were discussing two projects
Firstly, outdoor solar lighting
This involved setting up a solar lighting system in one of the local community gardens. We look forward to hearing how this project progresses
Secondly, there was a plan to design, create and deliver retrofit training locally with a view to retrofitting Merseyside’s homes. Ross Neal, who is part of the Architects Climate Network thought that this would involve an architect actively engaged in the design of the project.
Please click here for the full video of this session.
