Cumbria climate assembly
Statement, principles and recommendations
The Cumbria Climate Assembly – a diverse group of 40 residents from across Cumbria, chosen by sortition (lottery) – has issued a powerful call to action: put people at the heart of climate decision-making. After 30 hours of expert evidence, discussion, and debate, they have produced a set of 17 urgent recommendations for change and a set of principles to guide decision making.
Read the Cumbria Climate Assembly’s statement, principles, and recommendations or download the report.
Download a printable version here.
To find out how they reached their recommendations click here.
If you agree with the following recommendations, please consider signing up to the Cumbria Climate Assembly charter.
Statement, principles and recommendations
The Cumbria Climate Assembly – a diverse group of 40 residents from across Cumbria, chosen by sortition (lottery) – has issued a powerful call to action: put people at the heart of climate decision-making. After 30 hours of expert evidence, discussion, and debate, they have produced a set of 17 urgent recommendations for change and a set of principles to guide decision making.
Read the Cumbria Climate Assembly’s statement, principles, and recommendations or download the report.
“We are citizens, not consumers”
Assembly member
Assembly statement
We are a broad range of citizens unified by a passion to empower the voices of Cumbria. We have brought our own stories and diverse experiences and have worked together to try and show and understand our different perspectives. This process has been challenging for us all, but it has also been thought provoking and inspiring. We have heard from and questioned commentators, as well as each other and feel encouraged by meeting so many motivated people.
People feel powerless and that needs to be taken seriously. Sharing power increases everyone’s power. We are concerned that consultation only happens when a decision has been made and we feel like we are too often simply a box to be ticked. Local communities are full of knowledge and expertise which is under used or just not considered at all. Within our area there are 6 MP’s and we were disappointed that none of them were able to prioritise engaging with this process.
“We want things to change”
We want things to change. More effort needs to be made to engage with the community at a much earlier stage – and much more effort made to engage voices from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds, particularly
younger people who can feel ignored or overlooked. We are an untapped resource of knowledge and power and we should be taken much more seriously.
Principles for good engagement
These principles should be adopted by Councils and other organisations to inform and guide their work in engaging with communities. They should be included in specific policies e.g. Westmorland and Furness Council’s Engagement Framework and other similar initiatives.
The principles are listed in rank order. Assembly members were asked to vote on a scale of “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” for each principle.
Detailed scoring can be found in the report.
1st | 76 points
Engage at an early stage
The community should be consulted on any perceived issues or problems, before any significant investment is made. Then consult meaningfully on any solutions and progress thereafter, utilising the knowledge and skills within the community wherever possible.
Make information understandable and accessible
The community should be consulted on any perceived issues or problems, before any significant investment is made. Then consult meaningfully on any solutions and progress thereafter, utilising the knowledge and skills within the community wherever possible.
- Standardised reporting, that is objective and free from bias and also provides clarity on the environmental impact.
- There should be ‘Plain English’ explanations about what policies and decisions Councils and other organisations e.g. businesses are considering, not just long technical documents*. *Links to longer documents can be included. Keep it simple, but don’t oversimplify. This might mean executive report summaries with full detail for those who want it.
- Easy to find information, that is in one clearly signposted place and accessible to all.
- Different formats (e.g. social images, videos, reports)
3rd | 69 points
Citizens not consumers
We need to be treated as citizens, with something to bring to the table, rather than just consumers. Councils and others should be proactive and enabling in how they engage with Citizens. If not many people respond to a
consultation it probably isn’t because we aren’t interested, it is maybe because something is wrong with the consultation e.g. not explained well, difficult time, short notice etc.
3rd | 69 points
Young People
Quality engagement with young people is an essential. Organisations, when engaging, should be guided by and prioritise the ‘Lundy principles’ of good engagement.
Young people are expected to fix the problem of climate change in the future but not given the power or opportunity to do so now. This engagement must be held in spaces where young people feel comfortable, should be respectful and age appropriate, should be in spaces across Cumbria (we live in a county which is hard to travel across) and lead to results.
Engagement should also include children of primary age. Decision makers must go to young people and not expect young people to go to them, using a range of approaches e.g. meetings, surveys, anonymous QR codes, online and offline sessions etc. Creativity and fun should guide some of these activities.
Honesty and Transparency
Decision makers must be clear about what decisions have been made, how they have been made, and why. We need to understand the gap between what decision makers want to do and what they can do (e.g. what is
blocking them from taking action).
This can help to break down the high levels of distrust in government and will ensure that citizens can make environmentally conscious decisions when shopping or using services. In any consultation process, there must be openness about any budgetary or legal constraints that might apply to actions or recommendations made as a result.
Honesty and transparency might be evidenced through:
- Businesses: Environmental reporting
- Councils: A council climate dashboard
- Government: Adopting the EU rules on greenwashing language.
- All: More reporting that is peer reviewed by an independent body.
Reaching out to specific groups
Efforts must be made to reach out specifically to minority groups and groups whose voices are not traditionally
heard on this topic. Including those who will face the biggest impact, for example those on lower incomes /
working-class and those with specific needs for example disabled people.
We all have different needs which must
be heard, understood and articulated. Efforts must be made to work with such groups to identify their access
needs with them science, history, arts, and the natural world.
7th | 64 Points
Accountability and Feedback
Engagement should be followed up / tied in with realistic and ambitious targets and dates. Organisations, groups and individuals that have committed to taking action must be able to demonstrate clear, tangible, and verifiable progress against clear timescales. They must be willing to provide feedback on progress, explain why they have not met targets and how they will learn from this. This might look like:
- Adopting SMART targets (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timebound) and encouraging ambition
when setting them. - “You said, we did” reporting, but also “we didn’t, here’s why”
- Regular reporting through e.g. newsletters.
There should be standardised methods and meaningful words for reporting statistics and progress.
Engagement Methods
Use engagement methods that are fun, creative, accessible, have variety, consider people’s circumstances /
needs, are advertised well (giving good notice) and use appropriate language to engage target groups.
Routine Dialogue with Communities
Dialogue with communities should be: proactive, embedded, ongoing and regular. We are a powerful resource which the status quo is not tapping into. For example regular monthly events in the evening (one in person, one online) where a whole range of current problems, potential solutions and opportunities can be shared with the community.
The Council and other organisations can share information and seek input at these regular events. Having regular meetings will help community members engage, rather than having to keep track of many different times and arrangements for various initiatives and consultations.
10th | 55 Points
Bringing People Together
There must be opportunities for various groups to come together so we can understand each other’s perspectives and value each other rather than blame each other, for example intergenerational engagement
11th | 36 Points
Who Engages
Engagement whenever possible should be facilitated by a person the community can relate to and identify with, ideally a person with a similar identity or from the same demographic group or people with similar attitudes
Recommendations
The recommendations are listed in rank order. Assembly members were asked to vote on a scale of “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” for each recommendation. Detailed scoring can be found in the report.
The recommendations are grouped into 7 themes.
MPs and national politics, businesses, young people, new ways to engage, planning and infrastructure, campaigns and protest, informed citizens.
Recommendation 1
=1st | 70 Points
MPs and National Politics 1
MPs and all other elected representatives need to be proactive, seeking the views of everyone rather than reactively responding to the vocal minority. They need to work harder to capture more voices from their community about the environment and climate change. They can do this by:
- MPs annually reaching out to their constituents via post, social media, emails etc to specifically seek out ideas and concerns about climate change and environmental issues (3 month window to submit ideas/concerns, 3 months for the MP to report back the findings to constituents, 3 months to put the concerns/ideas forward to local and national govt, 3 months to start action, then repeat cycle)
- MPs holding regular open invite Zoom meetings and online polls on climate issues
- Elected representatives (local and national) should attend (not as a participant but e.g. as commentators or observers) any climate juries/assemblies or similar processes that are held within their constituencies
- It would be beneficial for all elected representatives, relevant employees and civil servants to receive ongoing climate literacy training to enhance understanding and communication with the wider community
Recommendation 2
=2nd | 69 Points
Planning and Infrastructure 1
Local Plans: there needs to be a concerted effort to inform people about the significance of the 4 Local Plans that affect Cumbria and how to have their voices heard during the creation of the plans. This consultation/ engagement should adhere to the Principles outlined by this Assembly. The timeline of the development of the four Local Plans should be aligned so that:
- Standardised reporting, that is objective and free from bias and also provides clarity on the environmental impact.
- There should be ‘Plain English’ explanations about what policies and decisions Councils and other organisations e.g. businesses are considering, not just long technical documents*. *Links to longer documents can be included. Keep it simple, but don’t oversimplify. This might mean executive report summaries with full detail for those who want it.
- Easy to find information, that is in one clearly signposted place and accessible to all.
- Different formats (e.g. social images, videos, reports)
Recommendation 3
=3rd | 68 Points
Informed Citizens 1
More needs to be done to focus on what we stand to gain from climate action rather than what we stand to lose e.g. in relation to energy efficiency and resilience. We should all play a part in this: MPs, Local councils, Community groups and Individuals. This is not just the job of climate change organisations.
Recommendation 4
=4th | 66 Points
Informed Citizens 2
We recommend the set up of a Cumbria-wide independent central hub where all groups, organisations, councils, businesses and members of the public can access information and resources, engage with each other on issues concerning climate change decision making, and actively invite feedback on issues and concerns.
Recommendation 5
=4th | 66 Points
Informed Citizens 3
When Local Authorities make a decision on any matter, they must carry out a carbon impact assessment which must be included in any documents relating to the decision. e.g. cabinet papers, planning committee reports etc. This would provide our citizens with some comfort that climate change is considered within all decision making.
Recommendation 6
=6th | 65 Points
Planning and Infrastructure 2
Funding should be ringfenced to engage the public in options assessments before any infrastructure development is proposed (e.g. discuss a variety of traffic reduction solutions before starting feasibility studies for a ring road or explore waste reduction potential before considering planning for a new incinerator). This should be for example via a standing citizens assembly or through an independent organisation e.g. People Powered or New Citizen Project. This should be mandatory for public funding projects and best practice for privately funded projects.
Recommendation 7
=7th | 64 Points
Young People 1
It is essential to engage young people and in order for this engagement to be meaningful all organisations should apply the Lundy principles (considering space, voice, audience and influence).
Recommendation 8
=7th | 64 Points
Young People 2
Climate change should have a compulsory part in the curriculum, this could be carried out at both a national level and also at the local level including learning about its effect on local communities. Without this priority young people have limited understanding of what climate change is and what its implications are.
As a result young people who want to influence decision-making on climate change are not taken seriously and intimidated and sometimes ridiculed by their peers. This learning should also enable young people to understand how they can best use their voice to influence climate change decision making.
Recommendation 9
=9th | 61 Points
New Ways to Engage 1
There should be a pilot for a standing assembly on climate change and nature in Cumbria with a rotating membership. Its design must remove barriers to participation (compensating people, covering childcare etc). It must lead to change so more people are then encouraged to engage. The assembly will decide what issues the elected officials should consider / act upon in response to the assembly’s work and feedback regularly on action taken.
In its design the assembly should firstly be ground breaking in making sure there are spaces for children and young people as well as spaces for both young and old to deliberate together and secondly draw upon the experiences of existing standing assemblies (see this briefing and the example of the permanent climate assembly in Paris (pp.121-124). We request that existing councils, the National Park Authority and any future mayoral authority considers that the assembly becomes part of its formal decision-making process.
We hope that the success of this experiment can be built upon to consider other issues, not just climate change. A citizens assembly is a very specific model of engagement. We also recommend that key decision makers undertake training to better understand this approach and its value and that there is further research on what model of operation might work best in Cumbria.
Recommendation 10
=9th | 61 Points
Planning and Infrastructure 3
The planning system and planning documents are difficult for the public to understand. People don’t know what they can change and when is the best time/point to intervene. It is not clear what is local vs national government responsibility. Citizens want to be involved – you can help by adopting the principles developed by this Assembly and providing clear information such as:
- A widely available summary infographic about the planning process with a background detailed document
- A recording of an explanatory webinar
- All of the above could be developed with the assistance of the Standing Assembly
- Having training sessions for people interested in more detailed understanding of the planning process with the opportunity to ask questions
Recommendation 11
=11th | 57 Points
Campaigns and protest
We are opposed to the draconian antiprotest laws which stifle discussion and democratic engagement and make people more radical and disruptive or politically apathetic. People increasingly feel like they must do extreme things just to be heard.
Protests are a fundamental democratic right and have played a critical role in the fight for women’s rights, disability rights, and raising awareness of climate change. The government should repeal these laws now. It must explore options to reduce disruption from protests by providing more open communication with the government.
Recommendation 12
=12th | 50 Points
New Ways to Engage 2
Organisations should experiment with new, different, innovative and diverse ways of engaging with communities that seek out lived experience and tap into the ideas and energies of everyone, such as:
- Participatory policy making and participatory budgeting.
- Polls and debates to gather public opinion before voting / debating / deciding, for example; a call in radio show/podcast/online video show, a telephone hotline (voicemail box where folks can contribute ideas / opinions / questions)
- Big regular community meetings including: guest speakers as starting points for deliberation and public question and answers.
- Legislative theatre
- Using the Spacehive platform to crowdfund for local projects.
Recommendation 13
=12th | 50 Points
MPs and National Politics
The system is not responding as if this is an emergency. We think this needs proportional representation and free voting for climate issues (not on party lines). MPs and other elected members should be accountable in making sure that policies including budgets and funding are sufficient to reach milestones in Cumbria’s progress towards its net zero goal of 2037. We would like the national Climate Change Committee to scrutinise progress in Cumbria specifically in addition to its UK-wide remit.
Transparency is needed about finance and lobbyists potentially affecting decision making – the government should publish figures on funding and donations to be transparent about the basis on which decisions are made.
Recommendation 14
=14th | 49 Points
Businesses 1
We recognise that businesses may have many different obligations (Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Value, Sustainability) and these change all the time. At the very least, we think businesses with such polices, and where possible, small businesses that do not yet have such policies, should fully consider their climate and nature obligations, and where possible:
- Raise public awareness of climate change.
- Actively report on the climate impact of the business and its products
- Support non-profit climate action groups to amplify their voice
- Hold customer focus groups on sustainability and climate contributing change.
- Employ a climate impact officer. For smaller companies, this may be an existing employee with additional responsibilities. This would be a channel for influence.
Recommendation 15
=15th | 46 Points
Businesses 2
Businesses need joined up sustainability and engagement corporate functions with real opportunities for employees or citizens to influence decisions. Large businesses in particular should recognise that they have a responsibility to empower and educate citizens so that they are able to influence decision making.
- Large businesses must ensure that community engagement and sustainability teams work together, not in siloes, to help communities have meaningful influences.
- Shareholders must be asked what kind of return (e.g. not just profit) they want to see.
- Businesses should report on what environmental action they are taking in their annual reports / AGMs and give shareholders the opportunity to vote on options.
- Employers must provide mandatory carbon literacy training to their employees (management and staff) to influence decision-makers within their organisations. This should also apply to small businesses, which make up 70% of the UK economy. The returns on accreditation far outweigh the initial cost. This could be delivered through government funded non-profits or funded through tax incentives.
- Large businesses could consider funding training for small businesses and voluntary sector organisations.
Recommendation 16
=16th | 43 Points
New ways to engage 3
We recommend using fun and creative ways to engage the whole community. Some examples of engagement methods could include: a festival, newsletters, roadshows, local theatre, etc.
Recommendation 17
=17th | 32 Points
Campaigns and Protest 2
Shareholders can remind companies that their priorities may not be only financial, but environmental.
- Shareholders should be encouraged to use their power to influence companies.
- Climate campaign organisations should research into polluting companies that can be influenced through shareholder meetings and how (e.g. what are the minimum shareholdings required to attend) so that citizens can be empowered to coordinate and strategically purchase shares and influence climate policies at their Annual General Meetings.
If you agree with these recommendations, please consider signing up to the Cumbria Climate Assembly charter.
Register your interest today!
10,000 households in Cumbria have been randomly selected from the Royal Mail Address Database.
If an invite has dropped through your letterbox, then you’re invited! We want to hear from a range of people who may have different experiences or opinions. We want to make sure we have a diverse range of people in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, where people live and their feelings about the changing climate. Your views are as important as everyone else’s – we want to hear from you!
If you have received a letter, type in the link to register your interest.
