It gives you a structured, supportive and fun environment in which to work out what you want to change in your live and a community of like minded people to do it with. For the majority of people, making change is easier when done in the company of others, and when the emotional and practical difficulties are acknowledged and tackled – and this is what Footpaths groups aim to do. As individuals we
have the power both to have a direct impact on carbon emission by reducing our own, and to empower other to do so. By acting we also send a clear message to the government that we want them to act too. A Footpaths group consists of 6-10 people meeting for a series of eight meetings covering the topics of climate change, home energy, waste and water, consumerism, food and transport. We provide a handbook which contains relevant information about what actions and choices you make that produce greenhouse gases and references for where to get more information on this. The meetings and handbook create the opportunity for you to think about what your needs are and how to meet them in a low carbon way. Making changes with other people who are doing the same is easier and more fun than doing it alone and sometimes simply knowing others are going through the same process helps us to keep going. Some changes can be made much more easily by a group which supports each other – for example you can share ideas, sympathy, excitement, tools and skills, recipes and researching information. Having a community – or being part of many communities – makes us happier than when we live isolated separate lives. It also makes us stronger and more able to cope and adapt in times of change. With climate change, we need this resilience and joy in life. When we try to change our lives we often get stuck because we feel (or are afraid of feeling) guilty, judged or isolated. These kinds of feeling often hurt or limit us and yet we all cause as
well as suffer from them. So climate change is likely to make us feel guilty, judged and isolated
as well as scared when we think about it, and this is because we are partly responsible for
causing it. Similarly with any group of people, we might worry about them judging us and finding us guilty of thinking or doing or not doing certain things, but we are also responsible for making an atmosphere in which other people might feel judged and found guilty. In other words we all create the climate we live in emotionally as well as physically. In these meetings we have tried to create an environment which will help us to make changes. This includes:
• A stimulating environment where we can share ideas creatively.
• The chance to talk about things we love which may be lost through climate change.
• A place where we can explore feelings in relative safety.
• The chance to choose for ourselves what changes we want to make.
• Information about climate change and carbon reduction.
• The chance to work out what will make the most difference to our carbon footprints.
• The support of other people and opportunities to support others. To really make this environment successful though, everyone in the group needs to take responsibility for these things. This is why we have put the facilitation points in the handbook which everyone gets– we hope participants will read and try to be aware of them. By noticing and caring about the underlying assumptions and interactions which go on in a group environment, we believe people become able to tackle issues and problems as they arise. This is useful both for the long term health and happiness of the group and for our society as we tackle climate change. As individuals we have the power both to have a direct impact on carbon emissions and to empower others to do so. Footpaths is designed to concentrate on what we can do at the local, community level and in our own lives. We hope to help you reduce your carbon footprint in a supportive group environment. What we provide
• Handbooks including information, worksheets and tips for carbon reduction.
• Meeting designs including exercises, games and discussions and the chance to think about what makes carbon reduction hard for you and what you can gain from it.
• Facilitation training and support for groups.
• Help in calculating a more accurate carbon footprint and opportunities to come up with plans
and targets for reducing your carbon footprint.
• A community of like-minded people to work and have fun with. What we’d like you to commit yourself to:
• Trying to reduce your carbon footprint.
• Come to all eight meetings.
• Do the 1-2 hours of homework between each meeting.
• Be willing to listen to other people’s experiences.
• For at least 2 people in each group to do the facilitation training and take the role of facilitators during the meetings. If you’d like to join a group, to organise a group, or for more information
please contact us on:
[email protected]
www.transitionleicester.org.uk
0116 2899 074
