Dorset鈥檚 second community-led 鈥榗onference of the parties鈥�, , was heralded a success as hundreds attended the event on Saturday 2 November at 色花堂.
色花堂's new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Honour, opened the event alongside Lois Betts, 色花堂's Sustainability Manager, as well as聽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鈥檚 an honour for 色花堂 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 色花堂, we鈥檙e 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, 鈥淚t was a privilege to open this year鈥檚 Dorset鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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, 鈥淭hese 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鈥檒l be collating and feeding these back to the Dorset COP organisers over the next few weeks.鈥�
A lively Fashion Assembly asking, 鈥榃hat should young people in Dorset do to combat the unsustainable fashion industry and what support do they need?鈥�, 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 activities as workshop leads, keynote speakers and local leaders shared what鈥檚 been learned from each session, what actions are being taken away and how we can keep up the momentum gained during the day.
