Man-made climate change and global warming is the major societal issue of the 21st century. Most people do not understand why ‘low carbon’ is important, and what they can and should do about it. Even amongst qualified professionals and business managers, scientific mistrust and misconceptions dominate, blocking creative thinking and effective action. Because the time-scale for change is so urgent we need to find imaginative and effective ways to communicate the importance of this issue to everyone.

Project Summary

CarbonSense is an initiative designed and led by business people to address inadequate understanding and engagement surrounding the growing threat of climate change. CarbonSense presentations and workshops will challenge the idea that air is mere ‘empty space’ and educate people in businesses and organisations that need to alert their boards, management teams and employees to the reality, threats and opportunities of a low-carbon future. A combination of conventional consulting, change management techniques and participative and experiential drama-based learning will clarify the undisputed atmospheric science as well as the consequences of ‘business as usual’. CarbonSense will help people understand the vital role that carbon and carbon-dioxide plays in maintaining a healthy planet, and assist them in becoming more creative and practical in finding low-carbon solutions within their own organisations.

 

Role Playing to Build Carbon Awareness

An important part of the workshops will be the use of an interactive role-playing game that fully engages participants in the presence of air in our world, the carbon cycle and the importance of inter-generational long-term thinking. Another key element will be to work with partners already providing energy saving or renewable energy solutions within specific business or government sectors. They will help develop ‘toolboxes’ of techniques and solutions-based action plans so that raised carbon awareness and engagement in organisations can lead to creative actions and change. The workshop formula has potential intellectual property value and could be licensed to organisations in other countries.

The carbon-awareness game has scope for development as a mass-market computer game.

We have brought together a unique group of committed and experienced professionals with a proven sustainability track record. Our team includes management and marketing specialists, theatre practitioners, educators, scientists, architects and engineers. The initial task is to:

• Develop a programme of carbon-awareness presentations, workshops and solutions examples.
• Promote and implement the programme with public and private sector clients.
• Create an interactive carbon-awareness game.
• Develop ‘toolbox’ action plans with different industry sector partners.
• Investigate potential for creating a computer-based interactive game or process for wider use.
• Devise a strategy for taking ‘CarbonSense’ to a wider audience.

 

Once CarbonSense is operational we will set up a charitable foundation to provide ‘carbon-awareness’ to the general public through innovative arts and drama partnerships. To summarise, the idea is that ‘CarbonSense’ could change the way people think. Our goal is for the word to become part of the English language, just like ‘commonsense’.

 

Project Hightlights

The key novel points of the ‘CarbonSense’ educational approach are:

• Creating an awareness of ‘air’ itself which then links to the carbon cycle and climate change.
• Combining expertise from the business, scientific, educational and theatrical worlds.
• Business, rather than an NGO-led initiative.
• Driving change through engagement and emotion as well as logic and knowledge.
• Focusing on something important, yet taken for granted.
• Using participative game to internalise the learning.
• Working with sector partners to help clients produce practical action plans.

 

Government and NGO campaigns using fear, anger and guilt to raise awareness of ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ have failed. Focusing on those effects of climate change that are still disputed has not worked. Many of those aiming to inform professionals are doing so in a relatively ‘shallow’ way by concentrating solely on the climate change impacts, where there is still much scientific uncertainty. There are also issues with the fundamental distrust of science and government, lack of understanding the difference between scientific certainty and projections, and the misperception of risk.

Antony Turner has identified a missing part of the message which has not been addressed and without which a full understanding of the condition we call ‘climate change’, is almost impossible. The missing element is the ‘air’ that we breathe and share, the very stuff of life, and a product of life itself. When we start to be aware of air, we can engage with some of the key constituents, in particular the greenhouse gases. We can begin to understand the central part played by carbon dioxide. We can ask what is it? Where has it come from? What does it do?
To our knowledge no organisation in the UK (or for that matter the world) takes people through the simple step-by-step process of air-awareness, then carbon-awareness, followed by climate awareness. No one is promoting climate change awareness, engagement and solutions by combining expertise from the business, scientific, educational and drama worlds. No one is adopting a participative learning approach that helps this complex subject to be understood even by those with low levels of awareness of environmental issues or the science behind climate change. CarbonSense provides this learning process and then presents and demonstrates a range of simple low-carbon solutions.

CarbonSense programmes will provide a range of benefits to businesses and organisations that are involved in or becoming engaged in climate change and low-carbon related issues. In particular client organisations will get greater commitment if management and employees engage at a personal level. The business case for an organisation to pay for CarbonSense consultancy, training and workshops would include:

• Higher brand and market value from operating more responsibly.
• Increased management & staff understanding of climate change causes and issues.
• Greater commitment leading to raised staff productivity & creativity.
• Potential for market-place differentiation.
• Future-proofing’ business development strategies.
• Actions assistance from solutions experts in a wide range of fields.
  

The CarbonSense Team

NAME	WORK & BACKGROUND
Antony Turner	CarbonSense is the idea of Antony Turner, an independent eco-marketing consultant with a successful track-record in launching of new technologies. In 2001 he was involved in setting up Seapower, a trade association for the wave and tidal power industry. He helped set up and is now part-time Project Manager for the ‘Business & Sustainability’ courses at Schumacher College (www.schumachercollege.org.uk). He has spent much of the last eighteen months researching climate change science and communications.
Dr. John Murlis, PhD DIC FRES FRMS	John is Visiting Professor in Environment Policy, University College London, having previously been Director, Institute for Environmental Policy. Between June 2000 – October 2001 he was Chief Scientist, Environment Agency of England and Wales. John is also on the Advisory Board for the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the UK’s leading centre for trans-disciplinary research on climate change.
David Hirst	David is a Management Consultant in Sustainability. Between 1984 and 2002 he worked for Arthur Young Management Consultants, which became Ernst & Young, as Senior Consultant in advanced technologies and technology strategies. He currently runs the SEAaT (www.seaat.org), a unique cross-industry, group which encourages and facilitates efficient reduction of harmful emissions to air from shipping in the Baltic and North Seas.
Dave Hampton	Dave is a Director of ABS Consulting (www.absconsulting.uk.com). ABS provides consultancy services for the operation, maintenance & life cycle of buildings. Dave chairs the Sustainability Committee for the CIC (Construction Industries Council) and is a founder member of the Fit Buildings Network, a support group for people with an interest in creating and operating buildings that are fit for people, purpose and planet.
Robert Webb	Robert is an architect and designer. He worked at Richard Rogers Partnership before founding his own practice in London two years ago. He is now Managing Director of XCO2 Conisbee (www.xco2.com), a company providing sustainable energy solutions in new buildings, specialising in optimising building performance and creating buildings that are good for users, business and the environment.
Andy Middleton	Andy runs Pembroke Management Development (www.thinkingatwork.com), a consultancy specialising in change management with proven success in designing and delivering workshops on leadership and sustainability-related agendas for Boards, Directors and senior management teams. Andy was a Secretary of State appointee on the board of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and launched the St.David’s Eco City Project.

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