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Public consultation: how can we boost nature and halve our carbon footprint in Henley? Thurs 18 May 18:30 – 20:30
Following on from the successful public consultation last September on the proposed Climate Emergency Centre (CEC) for Henley, we are running another one in May, asking ‘How can we both boost our efforts for nature and halve our carbon footprint by 2030 – and what help do we need from our local councils to do this?’
At Greener Henley we feel that it is important to canvass the views of our local community – both in Henley and our surrounding villages – on how we rise to the challenges of the climate and nature emergency that confronts us, and we will be coming together again on Thursday 18 May 2023 18:30 – 20:30 BST at Henley Town Hall to do just that.
Book your eventbrite tickets here
What happens at the event
The session will begin with a presentation by sustainability and communications expert Ed Hopkins, who will help us to understand where the biggest areas of impact are in terms of cutting our carbon and ecological footprint. We will also welcome a speaker (tbc) from a nearby town to talk about progress on this in their town, and to help spark our ideas for Henley.
Attendees will then move into small groups to consider questions such as
- What is your vision of a cleaner, greener Henley by 2030?
- What do you think are the main barriers and challenges to reducing emissions and promoting biodiversity in Henley?
- How can our local councils support and accelerate emissions reduction and promotion of biodiversity in and around Henley?
We will present the results of the consultation at the Town Hall on Thursday 8th June (a link to that event will be forthcoming soon). The results will provide us with a framework for discussions with our local councils on implementing these ideas.
Why a public consultation?
Big problems can only be solved by big thinking. Bringing a host of different people together in this way to discuss ambitious topics enables free-flowing, uninhibited blue sky thinking. This process can help to generate the formulation of a clear message to take to our local policy makers about what help we need from them. But the process itself is also valuable in that it starts to spread awareness about these issues, it pools the best of our knowledge, and we begin to collaborate more openly and effectively within our community.
These public consultations are exactly the sort of event that we will be looking to run on a regular basis as part of our CEC, which is all about community engagement. These events are a really valuable tool as they give us the opportunity to come together and hear all local voices, whilst at the same time they fulfil specific objectives that came out of the CEC public consultation: they build community, provide education and raise awareness. They also provide an opportunity to draft steps forward for change and resilience in our town which can then be taken into discussions with our policy makers.
We can’t face the climate and nature challenge alone – working together and combining our skills is critical. If we can do so in a creative space, unfettered, where ideas are heard and celebrated, the solutions we come up with will have community investment and be far more meaningful.