Think Globally, Act Locally

Saving the planet can feel like an overwhelming, impossible task. But how much can be achieved when we come together?

Focusing on the impact of climate change on biodiversity, People’s History Museum (PHM) partnered with Atherton Youth Voice and Wigan Youth Cabinet (the next generation of change makers!) to explore the power of collective action in tackling the climate crisis and climate grief.

Our worries, hopes and ideas were brought together through a series of fun creative responses to inspire and motivate us as we look to a more sustainable future

PHM is the national museum of democracy and the home of ideas worth fighting for. Our vision is of a fairer society where people’s voices and actions make a difference. Our collections demonstrate how change has been achieved, however impossible it may seem, and, as we face the climate crisis, these stories can encourage and inspire us.

Identifying a ‘youth voice’ is often missing from conversations around the climate crisis and following the popularity of the youth climate strikes, which have taken place since 2019, we partnered with Atherton Youth Voice and Wigan Youth Cabinet to give their young people a platform to discuss what matters to them.

The museum’s collections provided inspiration and context to the project, showing how people have already contributed to protecting the planet. In particular, the ‘Our Children's World Held in Our Hands’ banner, which presents the viewer with a choice to choose the destiny of the planet. And the placard 'There Is No Planet B', from the schools strike for climate held in Manchester on 15 February 2019, with the bold statement ‘If you Don’t Act like Adults we will!’ on the reverse.

From early consultation we found that the groups had a strong awareness of the climate crisis but felt that their efforts were ineffective against the inaction of big business and government.

‘The potential to lose so much gives me an overwhelming feeling of fear.’ Participant quote.

It was apparent that to inspire people to take action we first had to address their underlying feelings of worry, anxiety and hopelessness.

We experimented with a range of activities that would encourage people to talk about how they felt and support each other. This involved:

Storytelling

Working with creative writing facilitator, Lydia Allison, the groups developed a mutli-ended story that would allow the reader to choose their own destiny. Writing helped the groups verbalise difficult emotions and use humour to make big problems feel more manageable. The story also allowed them to connect with the reader and help them to see how their actions can have different consequences for the planet.

Digital campaigning

The participants also worked with artist Andrew Westle to explore the key elements of an effective campaign message. They experimented with photos and slogans to show how different emotions (excitement, anger, mystery and calmness) can prompt positive or negative reactions from the viewer. These messages were then shared on social media to raise awareness and inspire people to make positive changes in their lives.

Showcase event

The findings of the project inspired an online public event called Space to Imagine, Time to Act. This event connected our project partners and others who were interested in finding out more, giving an opportunity to collectively imagine a world without the climate crisis and how we might get there. Three breakout rooms allowed attendees to tailor their experience and connect to either:

WWF for a discussion around climate change, biodiversity, and nature based solutions.

Marion Smith and Pooja Kishinani from Climate Emergency Manchester to share experiences and advice on dealing with climate emotions, justice, and action.

A practical hydroponic experiment workshop to learn how to make a window farm with artist Colette Whittington.

In 2020 our plans needed to be adapted as the country went into lockdown due to Covid-19. Workshops took place online and the original showcase event at People’s History Museum was cancelled.

Delivering online workshops that were accessible and interesting to each person was a challenge. Each workshop was kept to 1.5 hours and was broken down into smaller activities. Breakout rooms on Zoom allowed us to work in smaller groups which were easier to manage and gave participants more confidence to get involved. By pre-planning a number of ‘ways in’ those that were not confident in writing were able to verbalise their ideas to a group leader who could write for them and, when looking at digital campaign messages, the group were shown simple but effective techniques using free online tools with the option to also draw their ideas.

We had to work out how to transform the original ideas for the digital campaign. This was planned to take over an area of the museum and provide an immersive space that captured visitors’ thoughts on their own impact on the planet and a space to share ideas and tips. Instead we created a film that captured the conversations around climate grief and awareness of the climate crisis, rather than being as solutions based as the group initially intended. While this wasn’t the original plan it suited the way the project developed its focus on addressing climate emotions, which left the participants feeling more positive about their impact in the world.

The biggest success was in the change in behaviour of all that were involved. Initial consultation with the groups showed that they all had a good understanding of climate change and all had experiences of climate grief and trauma when thinking about the future. Words that frequently came up were:

‘anger’, ‘fear’, ‘dread’, ‘frustration’, ‘annoyed’, ‘concerned’, ‘exhausted’, ‘lost’, ‘sad’, ‘we don’t matter’, ‘upset’. Participant quotes.

‘..people may never be able to truly counter climate change because very short term profit is out before people and the environment…’ Participant quote.

All of the project activity worked towards two principles to help deal with climate emotions; we need to talk to other people and we need to take action rather than push any negative feelings to the back of our minds. By the end of the project people felt more positive:

‘...the alternate ending story writing as it made me think about environmental issues from another angle.’ Participant quote.

‘understanding the impact of … how little things can have such a big impact.’ Participant quote.

The multi-ended story became a powerful tool to help the participants communicate with other people. It brought facts and ideas to life, and encouraged them to talk about difficult emotions through the use of writing techniques like metaphors. Because in using this technique the reader feels like they are making the decisions, it also meant they could show the reader what was at stake without being confrontational or accusatory.

The online showcase event Space to Imagine, Time to Act (https://phm.org.uk/events/think-globally-act-locally-space-to-imagine-time-to-act/) was really positive, when often conversations around climate change can be coloured by negative experiences and worries. One participant said they ‘...really enjoyed all of the ideas people brought to the table, the discussions worked really well – so much passion around making change which was great to see and experience’. The combination of imagining what the potential of the future could be and sharing practical solutions worked really well. The focus on mental health throughout was also beneficial, down to the simple acts like WWF supplying a soundscape of nature sounds for the break.

Our connections to other organisations throughout this project were invaluable. Each had a different approach and understanding of the climate crisis and together we were able to provide a wealth of research and case studies that allowed Atherton Youth Voice and Wigan Youth Cabinet to create their story and digital campaign.

WWF is the world’s leading independent conservation organisation and its mission is to create a world where people and wildlife can thrive together. We used its examples of the impact of climate change and good news stories to show why the campaigners in our collections are trying to protect the environment.

Marion Smith and Pooja Kishinani from Climate Emergency Manchester have written a Student Guide to the Climate Crisis handbook which provides a wealth of research, tips and further contacts around climate emotions and activism. Their handbook allowed us to respond to the worries and concerns that were flagged up in our consultation.

We also worked with a brilliant team of artists who brought this research to life and encouraged the groups to think outside of the box and consider what our future could look like without the barriers they felt were in place at the moment such as the power of big business.

This project has shown that understanding and acknowledging climate grief needs to underpin all work on the climate crisis. Every successful output from the project was due to addressing these feelings because it empowered individuals and made any climate action feel more manageable. The Time to Imagine event created a sense of community and support which was also seen with the participants in the workshops; showing that, whether you have only two hours or five days, through contact with a group a change in attitude can happen naturally and quickly when you put time aside to support your emotions.

The multi-ended story was an experimental activity. A new webpage was created as a resource for families and schools to create their own story inspired by the project. https://phm.org.uk/think-globally-act-locally-create-a-multi-ended-story/. This provides a simple structure, with activities to inspire writing to allow people’s creativity to come through without worrying about the complexity of the overall story. We hope that groups and individuals using this resource will find it useful for verbalising their emotions and connecting to the public in the same way our Atherton Youth Voice and Wigan Youth Cabinet participants did.

This project also gave us an opportunity to interpret PHM’s collections in new ways and learn more about how people feel towards the climate crisis. This is just the start of PHM’s climate journey and we will continue to show our commitment to a greener future at an organisational level as well as through our engagement work to delve even deeper into the power of collective action as a tool for change. If there was one take away piece it’s most definitely that the future is in our hands.

Liz Thorpe, Project Co-ordinator, People's History Museum