Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership are delighted to announce their next co-chair; David F Murphy is Associate Professor of Sustainability and Collaborative Leadership at the University of Cumbria. In September he will formally take up the role alongside Karen Mitchell, CEO of Cumbria Action for Sustainability.
David offers a unique perspective to the position of co-chair. He brings a wealth of partnership experience from organisations such as the United Nations, businesses and NGOs from across the world, and is series editor of Citizenship and Sustainability in Organizations, published by Routledge: Citizenship and Sustainability in Organizations – Book Series – Routledge & CRC Press. David is interested in how diverse individuals and groups work together to address complex sustainable development challenges and how collaborative leadership is realised within and across multi-stakeholder partnerships.
As part of his introduction to the partnership, David attended the June meetings of the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership and Strategic Oversight Board. The board ensures the coordination and ongoing development of the partnership. Both meetings left David impressed with the range of opinions, experiences, and perspectives on offer, and allowed him to start thinking about what he can contribute to the partnership; how he could share partnering frameworks and ideas that will support the collective efforts of all stakeholders to achieve their aims, as well as lead a collaboration with such a diverse set of interests. He has shared his first impressions of the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership:
“It’s great to see such a diversity of organisations and individuals involved…I think the whole carbon agenda (alongside the climate emergency, the climate crisis) is really going to challenge us hugely in the years ahead…This is messy, this is complicated, there aren’t simple answers to the problems we’re trying to address.”
David describes himself a ‘pessoptimist’, calling for pragmatism in response to the questions and challenges that Zero Carbon Cumbria is working with, looking for a way forward whilst at the same time not glossing over or avoiding the complexities and tensions facing us.
David’s first meeting as co-chair will be 13 September – find out more here.
