Addressing the climate emergency – How to inspire local action.

This interactive in-person workshop will include

• Welcome and introduction to the climate emergency and why local action matters.
• Interactive talk by Dr Miriam McGowan (Durham University) and Dr Louise Hassan (University of Birmingham), highlighting how identity can be used to design more effective sustainability campaigns.
• Live experiment: Participants experience different types of identity-based campaign messages and discuss their immediate reactions.
• Participatory activity where attendees reflect on their own identities (e.g. local, family, workplace, environmental) and how these shape everyday behaviours such as recycling, purchasing choices, or community participation
• Group work to design campaign ideas relevant to participants’ own community or workplace contexts.
• Sharing back key insights and strategies from groups, with collective discussion.
• Participants will also receive an information pack with a summary of key research and practical recommendations.

This event explores how local communities can make a difference in addressing the climate emergency. While governments and international organisations declare climate targets, change also depends on the everyday choices of individuals, community groups, and workplaces. The workshop asks: How can small businesses, charities, community groups, and individuals design campaigns that truly shift behaviours long term?

Drawing on academic research, we show that factual information alone is rarely enough to change behaviour. Campaigns are more effective when they connect with people’s identities, such as being a parent or grandparent, belonging to a local community, identifying with a workplace, or caring about the environment.

The event will be interactive. Participants will reflect on how their identities shape their own practices, take part in a live experiment testing different campaign messages, and work in groups to design campaign ideas relevant to their own contexts. Attendees will leave with evidence-based strategies and practical tools to apply in their workplace or community.

Dr Miriam McGowan, Assistant Professor in Marketing at Durham University
Dr Louise Hassan, Associate Professor in Marketing, University of Birmingham

This event is designed for anyone who wants to make a difference in addressing the climate emergency. 

It will be especially relevant for local charities, community organisations, small businesses, and social enterprises that are interested in running sustainability campaigns or encouraging behaviour change. It is also well suited to professionals in the third sector, educators, local authority staff, and workplace sustainability leads who are keen to apply research insights to real-world challenges.

More broadly, the event is open to any residents of Durham who would like to reflect on how their everyday identities, as parents, neighbours, workers, or community members—shape their behaviours, and who want to gain practical tools for promoting more sustainable lifestyles across the city and county.