Net-Zero Visions for the Devon Climate Emergency
Lead Research Organisation:
Plymouth University
Department Name: Sch of Humanities & Performing Arts
Abstract
This project emerges from a 2-year AHRC-funded Early Career Researcher Leadership Fellowship project, 'Imagining Alternatives: Utopia, Community and the Novel, 1880-2015', which investigated how the near future is being imagined and represented. This research explored a tendency in fiction to either consider the individual or the mass global scale, neglecting sites such as community, region and nation where substantial agency might still be located. It also examined the preponderance of dystopian future visions and the corresponding need for optimistic or 'utopian' thinking that can open a sense of possibility for the future, build capacity for change, and counter feelings of pessimism and disempowerment. Through a series of workshops and events, in collaboration with community groups and the renewable energy not-for-profit Regen, the PI developed an engagement model for catalysing local change through the imagination of place-based futures.
Devon Climate Emergency Response Group (DCERG) was established to coordinate a collaborative response to the Devon Climate Emergency, and is made up of senior officers of about 25 organisations including: 11 county councils; emergency services; businesses; and voluntary organisations. As a result of his research the PI was invited to engage with the Net-Zero Task Force, a team drawn from economic, environmental, health and academic organisations and chaired by a leading climate expert, who have been tasked by DCERG with producing an evidence-led Devon Carbon Plan (DCP) for becoming net-zero carbon by 2050. The PI's research led to the creation of a goal and priority action for the plan: to support community groups to develop local net-zero visions, in which they imagine a decarbonised Devon collectively and in detail. The follow-on funding will allow this goal to be actioned and achieved, thereby helping build public support for the legitimacy and feasibility of change to net-zero; helping people to realise that change for the better is possible; and supporting communities in re-imagining themselves in the context of net-zero, so increasing local capacity for transition.
The project team comprises the PI and CI Dr Emma Whittaker, the Creative Industries Research Fellow for the 'Low Carbon Devon' project at the University of Plymouth. They will work with Emily Reed, Project Manager at the project partner DCERG, and members of the Net-Zero Task Force; acclaimed Devon-based Creative Industry professionals, Sue Gent (illustrator), Ashley Potter (animation), Mutant Creative & Mutant Labs (games developers), Kate Crawfurd (mural artist) with Igneous Interactive (Augmented Reality); community groups or coalitions of groups from 7 locations across Devon; a book production team based at the University of Plymouth. The project activities will have several strands:
1. Coproduction of Showcase Net-Zero Visions in 7 different locations, with each Vision linked together on conclusion by the award-winning Devon-based poet Fiona Benson: to help build public awareness of and engagement with the DCP, and to promote a willingness to consider change as possible. To be disseminated via webpages on the DCERG website, launch events, and a book with photos, essay by PI and participant accounts.
2. Solicitation, selection and dissemination of Net-Zero Devon visions from the public, hosted on the webpages, so as to foster detailed engagement in the DCP via the underpinning research ideas.
3. Coproduction of supporting material for interaction with Net-Zero visions, to be hosted on the webpages. A key aim will be to engage with new audiences as identified by partner DCERG and lead community stakeholders.
4. A one-day workshop with project team, partner, and other stakeholders. This will coproduce the dissemination activities and engagement materials, and feed into a model of best practice for using local net-zero visions as a tool for catalysing change with communities.
Devon Climate Emergency Response Group (DCERG) was established to coordinate a collaborative response to the Devon Climate Emergency, and is made up of senior officers of about 25 organisations including: 11 county councils; emergency services; businesses; and voluntary organisations. As a result of his research the PI was invited to engage with the Net-Zero Task Force, a team drawn from economic, environmental, health and academic organisations and chaired by a leading climate expert, who have been tasked by DCERG with producing an evidence-led Devon Carbon Plan (DCP) for becoming net-zero carbon by 2050. The PI's research led to the creation of a goal and priority action for the plan: to support community groups to develop local net-zero visions, in which they imagine a decarbonised Devon collectively and in detail. The follow-on funding will allow this goal to be actioned and achieved, thereby helping build public support for the legitimacy and feasibility of change to net-zero; helping people to realise that change for the better is possible; and supporting communities in re-imagining themselves in the context of net-zero, so increasing local capacity for transition.
The project team comprises the PI and CI Dr Emma Whittaker, the Creative Industries Research Fellow for the 'Low Carbon Devon' project at the University of Plymouth. They will work with Emily Reed, Project Manager at the project partner DCERG, and members of the Net-Zero Task Force; acclaimed Devon-based Creative Industry professionals, Sue Gent (illustrator), Ashley Potter (animation), Mutant Creative & Mutant Labs (games developers), Kate Crawfurd (mural artist) with Igneous Interactive (Augmented Reality); community groups or coalitions of groups from 7 locations across Devon; a book production team based at the University of Plymouth. The project activities will have several strands:
1. Coproduction of Showcase Net-Zero Visions in 7 different locations, with each Vision linked together on conclusion by the award-winning Devon-based poet Fiona Benson: to help build public awareness of and engagement with the DCP, and to promote a willingness to consider change as possible. To be disseminated via webpages on the DCERG website, launch events, and a book with photos, essay by PI and participant accounts.
2. Solicitation, selection and dissemination of Net-Zero Devon visions from the public, hosted on the webpages, so as to foster detailed engagement in the DCP via the underpinning research ideas.
3. Coproduction of supporting material for interaction with Net-Zero visions, to be hosted on the webpages. A key aim will be to engage with new audiences as identified by partner DCERG and lead community stakeholders.
4. A one-day workshop with project team, partner, and other stakeholders. This will coproduce the dissemination activities and engagement materials, and feed into a model of best practice for using local net-zero visions as a tool for catalysing change with communities.
Publications
Planet & People (CIC)
(2023)
Net Zero Visions: A Resource Booklet for Schools [Keystages 1-4]
Sergeant, D
(2023)
The Net Zero Visions Community Mural Creation Toolkit
| Title | Net Zero Vision murals |
| Description | The murals were painted by Dr Kate Crawfurd [embed https://www.katecrawfurd.co.uk/]. Kate is a Devon-based artist and scientist who is passionate about the environment and ocean. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and painted scenery for many West End shows, Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall. After becoming concerned about environmental change she re-trained as a marine biologist at the University of Plymouth and Plymouth Marine Lab, specialising in phytoplankton responses to climate change. Kate believes murals to be a powerful way of reaching a large, diverse audience, and delivering a message in a positive, thought-provoking manner. While the best way to experience the murals is of course in person, below you can find some photos which give an idea of their style and contents. Each mural's augmented reality experience is available by scanning the QR code at the site. For the Tiverton Pannier Market mural [ https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/sustainability-hub-low-carbon-devon/creative-industries/net-zero-visions-tiverton-pannier-market-mural] Kate worked closely with a group of local people convened by Sustainable Tiverton to bring together ideas of what they could achieve together, including local food, locally generated energy, transport, homes and community projects. She was assisted in the painting by Jessica Mallory, Phoebe Tonkin, Sophie Mullins, Kate Burman and others. The mural's augmented reality experience was created by University of Plymouth, MA 3D Design graduate Ian Kok Saw and includes a variety of animated features, from robins, bees and free range chickens to a turning hydro-electric Archimedes screw, as well as speech bubbles arising from the thoughts and dreams of the people on the mural. The mural on the Sustainability Hub [https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/sustainability-hub-low-carbon-devon/creative-industries/ahrc-net-zero-visions-sustainability-hub-mural] designed by University of Plymouth BA (Hons) Illustration graduate Eleanor Croker and painted together with the Net Zero Visions commissioned mural artist, Dr Kate Crawfurd, and assisted by Jessica Mallory, a University of Plymouth BA (Hons) Illustration graduate] building on the University of Plymouth campus is based on a winning design by University of Plymouth BA (Hons) Illustration graduate Eleanor Croker, in a competition judged by a panel of people drawn from across the university. Eleanor also got to paint the mural with Kate, assisted by Jessica Mallory, another Illustration graduate. The mural's augmented reality experience was created by University of Plymouth Game Arts and Design students Rosie Carter and Aaron Alchin, and includes animated local species, such as the Brown Banded Carder bee, primroses and oak leaves. The Net Zero Visions mural for Plymouth Methodist Central Hall [https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/sustainability-hub-low-carbon-devon/creative-industries/net-zero-visions-plymouth-methodist-central-hall-mural] sits in a prominent position by Drake's Circus, and was painted over the late summer of 2022. It was designed by Jessica Mallory with Kate as lead artist and Jessica and Eleanor Croker also painting. Kate and Jessica worked closely with Plymouth Methodist Central Hall in developing the mural design. The mural's augmented reality experience was created by University of Plymouth students. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Impact on communities involved in developing the murals and in the wider community the works are embedded in. Impact capture continues. |
| Title | Net Zero Visions Game |
| Description | The Net Zero Vision online mobile game was developed by Mutant Labs https://mutantlabs.com/ ]. Founded in 2009 in Plymouth, the Mutants specialise in games, animation, music videos and interactives. Seeking unconventional, offbeat, and imaginative encounters, they have worked with clients all over the world on all sorts of projects - from big-brand games to experimental R&D. For the Net Zero Vision project Alex Ryley and his team conducted developmental play testing with students from Plymouth High School for Girls and Salisbury Road Primary School, as well as gathering feedback at a workshop with artists and communities from all the projects. The game is centred around three key topics. 'Transport Turnaround' is a rapid-fire reaction game to swap out gas-guzzling road vehicles for their greener counterparts. 'Grow Your Own' sees you test out your green-fingers in sowing, watering and harvesting fruit and veg in an allotment. 'Borrow Don't Buy' puts you at the centre of a local community who have items to share with each other. |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | The game is shortly to be completed and impact data will be clearer from that point. |
| Title | Net Zero Visions Illustrations |
| Description | The Net Zero Visions illustrations are the work of Philip Harris [embed https://philipharrisillustration.co.uk/], a freelance illustrator and printmaker who grew up in Devon and has lived there his whole life. While studying Illustration at the University of Plymouth University he inherited a collection of dip pens and nibs from a grandfather who he never had the chance to meet; that legacy lives on in the way Phil now approaches artwork and uses traditional mediums. The landscape is hugely important to Phil's work and the areas around him are something he repeatedly returns to for inspiration when creating drawings. However, it's not only the landscape that he find himself trying to capture in his drawings, but also a sense of the historic stories and folk tales that weave themselves throughout the fields and moors of the region. For the Net Zero Vision drawings Phil spoke to community organisations in each of the locations and took on board their ideas and aspirations for a net zero future, as it merges into activities that are already underway. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | In process |
| Title | Net Zero Visions Public Commission |
| Description | The project put out a Net Zero Visions Artists Call with the winning entry judged to be the illustrations produced by Rosie Johnson [https://rosiejohnsonillustrates.com/] in collaboration with Transition Exmouth [https://www.transitionexmouth.org/]. The Vision is titled Call of Nature: A Community Eco-hub for Exmouth. The Call of Nature hub will be a small but perfectly formed mini "expo" with loads of practical, working examples of changes people can make to live more sustainably, e.g. solar power, heat pump, insulation, ecology at home, composting, re-use and repair. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Impact capture in process. |
| Title | Net Zero Visions poems |
| Description | Fiona Benson lives in Devon and is one of the country's foremost poets, three times shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and winner of the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and Forward Prize for best collection. As part of the process of writing these poems Fiona joined the Devon Wildlife Trust to visit beavers on the River Otter, explored a solar farm, and swam in Exeter's prize-winning St Sidwells Point, the UK's first Passivhaus swimming pool and leisure centre complex. Of her involvement in Net Zero Visions Fiona said 'I found writing these poems a really constructive way of engaging with climate change, causing me to refocus on the positive changes that can be made rather than the ruin that lies behind us. I was heartened by the positive growth of clean energy, as well as by the wonderful passivhaus leisure centre that makes fitness and swimming available to all, and of course by the beavers who are helping us learn how to manage water, watermeadows and flooding. The project made me feel that it is possible for humans to pull back from the brink." |
| Type Of Art | Creative Writing |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Impact data in process of being captured. |
| Description | The award has engaged a large and varied number of stakeholders in net zero transition, raising awareness and knowledge, providing new modes of engagement, and changing conceptions of place and possibility. Though the funding period of the award has ended the dissemination and further development of the award activities is still unfolding through the ongoing work of the PI with various stakeholders, and through independent stakeholder adoption of the project findings and outputs. |
| Exploitation Route | The methodology of engagement, in terms of co-creating positive net future visions with stakeholders (from creatives to communities) has a varied potential to be adopted and adapted by others, in a variety of contexts; the project has produced toolkits to aid in this. Various stakeholders have taken the core project findings, outputs and research and carried them forward in their own work. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Creative Economy Environment Leisure Activities including Sports Recreation and Tourism Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://devonclimateemergency.org.uk/net-zero-visions/ |
| Description | My research originally led to a call to act as expert witness at a public hearing for the Net-Zero Task Force, who were appointed by Devon Climate Emergency Response Group (DCERG) - made up of senior officers of about 25 organisations including: 11 county councils; emergency services; businesses; and voluntary organisations - to produce a Devon Carbon Plan (DCP) mapping a route to net-zero emissions by 2050. My research is now responsible for Goal 6.4.2 in the Final Devon Carbon Plan (Oct. 2022), in which my AHRC Net Zero project is featured as a case study. The Net Zero Visions project has engaged with multiple organisations and individuals from Exeter, Plymouth, Torbay, Ashburton, Bideford, Tiverton, Wembury, Newton Ferres, Noss Mayo, Yealmpton, Exmouth and Brixton, as well as with transition experts and internationally recognised Devon-based creatives / creative SMEs, to co-produce a series of 'Visions' in support of the Devon Carbon Plan policy goals: three public murals with Augmented Reality elements; seven illustrations; an animation; a set of mobile online games; a set of six poems; a community mural toolkit. Participants in the project have testified to the impact of this process, e.g. the co-founder of Torbay Climate Action commenting 'I have been deeply inspired being involved with Net Zero Visions, and have also been encouraged to do more to try and make a difference in my immediate circles.' Broader public engagement has also occurred. Two initial Covid-impacted online workshops for the project attracted over 150 registrations; in an anonymous follow-up survey the word 'inspiring' was used by 25% of respondents in freeform feedback. A subsequent development workshop attracted 40 attendees (in 34C heat!). These Visions and their methodology are still in their dissemination phase but have received wide coverage across regional platforms, ranging from BBC Devon, Devon Live, community organisation newsletters, social media and Youtube, and in-person presentations at a range of events. The project has reached numerous community organisations through its dissemination pathways, e.g. 70+ attendees from multiple community groups as a keynote presentation for the Devon Community Action Group (CAG) SkillShare. Images of the artworks feature with originally commissioned essays by transition experts in a UoP Press book I co-edited which in Spring 2023 was distributed free to public libraries across the county . The underlying research is also being disseminated organically, independent of any top-down initiative, as per the project design; for instance a 15 year old contributor to one of the murals presented on the mural and her involvement with it for COP27 as an invitee of a Creation Care Officer for Exeter Diocese; another original participant has organised events informed by the funded project and presented on it to a regional NGO, and then received inquiries from stakeholders elsewhere in the nation about adopting the idea and methodologies. In collaboration with Planet and People CIC I developed an educational resource drawing on Net Zero Visions in the context of the Devon Carbon Plan for English teachers in all Key Stages that was presented as a cornerstone UoP initiative to teachers and educationalists from across the South West at a university symposium and workshopped by P&P with teachers from the region. This rollout was supported by £3.5k funding from Devon County Council. University of Plymouth funding also allowed for the completion of a Community Mural Toolkit which is currently being disseminated. As part of the project I directed over £50k to leading artists and arts/culture SMEs linked to a regional sustainable agenda. This has resulted in major new work being produced by: Fiona Benson, twice shortlisted for T. S. Eliot Prize and Forward Prize best collection winner; an in-demand games agency, Mutant Labs; a scientist and international scene painter and muralist, Kate Crawfurd; an illustrator, Phil Harris, whose clients include NowTV and the New Scientist; and a Bafta and Emmy winning animator, Ashley Potter. It has also allowed for creative social enterprises and organisations to enhance their own enterprise activities, providing funds for them to produce new public-facing projects that trial more effective ways of working in the context of climate emergency (see 2b above). For instance, Kate Crawfurd was commissioned on similar work by stakeholders Bideford (£5k). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Education,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Citation in Devon Carbon Plan |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| URL | https://devonclimateemergency.org.uk/view-devon-carbon-plan/ |
| Description | Educational material development allocation |
| Amount | £3,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Devon County Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2023 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Devon Climate Emergency |
| Organisation | Devon Climate Emergency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | My project research informed a priority action and goal for the Devon Carbon Plan. |
| Collaborator Contribution | DCE are driving the attempt to transition to net-zero carbon in Devon by 2050; the Carbon Plan is the mechanism for this, and is currently being finalised through extensive consultation etc. Devon County Council (DCE's funder) contributed funding to the schools resources (3.5k). |
| Impact | Interim Devon Carbon Plan |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Community Action Group Presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | CAG SkillShare, to hear more about what communities across Devon are doing as part of the Net Zero Visions project, and how new communities can get involved. 72 registered attendees from groups across Devon. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Creation Hub event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Net Zero Visions project influenced one participant to influence the Sampford Peverell Team Mission Community take the project on board. As such, they hosted an event to address the very issue of what next. The team covers the villages of Halberton, Uplowman, Holcombe Rogus, Hockworthy, Burlescombe and Sampford Peverell. All six churches in the team are keen to play a part in supporting local people to become more sustainable, as well finding ways to improve the sustainability of their own village churches. As part of this project, they held a Creation Hub in Uplowman on October 8th with stalls and speakers, alongside a fair trade / local produce lunch. Local people, not just church members, came together to discuss the Tiverton mural, the ideas contained within it and work out ways to respond locally, acknowledging that the rural setting is different to the Tiverton town setting. The aim was to send people home armed with good practice ideas to try as well as information about local and national organisations addressing climate emergency issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Devon County Show |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A DCE stall at the Devon County Show used Net Zero Visions to engage the public and communicate information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Devon Wildlife Trust talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Devon Wildlife Trust webinar on engaging through the arts; one project participant presented on her experience of and adoption of the project ideas in her community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | School Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 1 workshop on utopian future imagining linked to net zero for online games development; x2 sessions of games development on this theme. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Tiverton Mural launch |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Public launch of Tiverton mural: https://www.middevon.gov.uk/new-mural-in-tiverton-shows-what-devon-might-look-like-in-2050/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.middevon.gov.uk/new-mural-in-tiverton-shows-what-devon-might-look-like-in-2050/ |