Dorset’s second community-led ‘conference of the parties’, Dorset COP, was heralded a success as hundreds attended the event on Saturday 2 November at Bournemouth University.
BU's new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Honour, opened the event alongside Lois Betts, BU's Sustainability Manager, as well as recently elected local MP, Jessica Toale, and the Dorset COP organisers.
The full day of speakers, events, and workshops ran from 9.30 until 17.00 and were well-attended by local MPs, councillors, businesses, community groups and charities, students, and residents from across the county all eager to work together on a local action plan to tackle the climate and ecological crises at a regional level.
Professor Alison Honour commented, "It’s an honour for Bournemouth University to host such an important event for the region. Tackling big issues like the climate and ecological crises can at times feel beyond our abilities to change, but by bringing it down to a local level and understanding what we can do as a community is empowering and impactful. At Bournemouth University, we’re committed to protecting and preserving the environment in all that we do, and it was a pleasure to host this event to identify collective actions."
Jessica Toale said, “It was a privilege to open this year’s Dorset’s COP. What an incredible event, and one that I hope can be replicated throughout more counties across the UK. It brings together these wonderful grass roots organisations with policymakers providing a real opportunity for us to make more positive changes.
In the Kimmeridge Lecture Theatre, Rufus Boyd, Lead Director at Great British Railways Transition Team, joined the expert panel on the Transport Workshop for a lively session on how the county’s public transport could be improved to mobilise rural Dorset and ease congestion in the conurbation. Among other solutions, many called for increased bus services, an electric bus fleet, an improved rail network, and reignited the argument for a light rail addition to help ease congestion, improve air quality, and reduce Dorset’s reliance on fossil-fuelled transport.
An interactive session, LEGO Serious Play, invited attendees to design a better Dorset. Hosted by Rachel Parsons, the session used LEGO as a tool to explore solutions to difficult problems. Rachel has worked in sustainability and behaviour-change for over 20 years and uses this method in schools, tourism, and leadership coaching. Rachel commented, “These sessions are always so interesting, when people use their hands to work out complex issues, it sparks different pathways and leads to innovative outcomes. We saw some incredible ideas develop over the course of the day and we’ll be collating and feeding these back to the Dorset COP organisers over the next few weeks.”
A lively Fashion Assembly asking, ‘What should young people in Dorset do to combat the unsustainable fashion industry and what support do they need?’, was hosted in the Fusion Inspire Lecture Theatre by a range of inspirational speakers including Sara K. Arnold, Co-founder of Fashion Act Now, Zoe Gilbertson, a fashion ecologist and textile systems designer, Penelope Norman, MA Design Fashion Innovation Course Leader at Arts University Bournemouth, and Jennifer Morisetti, Founder of Defashion Dorset and Hawkers Re-Creatives.
Dorset Community Energy hosted a session on Community Renewable Energy in Dorset on how the county is a national leader in the development of community renewable energy. Starting with an introduction to Dorset Community Energy, the session also looked at Energy Local Bridport and the Hazelmead Co-housing project in Bridport - currently the largest electricity microgrid in England. Attendees came away with a better understanding of the road map to the development of these projects, the county’s achievements to date, and barriers to similar projects in other areas of Dorset.
In the Fusion building, the Speakers Corner Community Sessions opened with a planned slot for the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator group followed by an open afternoon for anyone to have their say, the Community Exhibition in the atrium gave a platform for attendees to explore Dorset’s many community groups and campaigns, while two of the Dorset COP organisers, Zero Carbon Dorset and This Living Place, hosted a session on Nurturing the Network in BCP.
Business related sessions ran all day in the Kimmeridge Marconi Lecture Theatre including a panel event on How to be a Sustainable Business hosted by Emily Fripp, Founder at Efeca, Nick Whitnell (B-Corp leader), David Matthews, Founder at Maia Growth, Nikki Barry, Sustainability Manager at Organix, and James Dixon-Box, Operations Director at Marsham Court Hotel.
The annual one-day event closed with a fast-paced, uplifting round-up of the day’s activities as workshop leads, keynote speakers and local leaders shared what’s been learned from each session, what actions are being taken away and how we can keep up the momentum gained during the day.
