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A key decision when setting up a new group is to decide its scope (e.g. focussed only on the climate emergency or broader coverage). From this will follow a suitable name for the group, which is important if only to give the right message to potential members. These case studies will give you some ideas on how other groups have dealt with these issues. The links below provide some examples of how other groups have organised themselves. Click on 'Back to top' will bring you back to this point.
Group leaders have agreed to be contacted directly via the e-mail addresses provided.
Barnet, Herts
Bath & District
Carlisle & District
East Suffolk
Farnham
Grange Over Sands
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Kingston
Malmesbury
Porthcawl
Ruthin & District
Seaford
Sutton
Teignmouth
Tyndale
| u3a Name | Barnet, Herts |
| Group Title | Climate change and the environment |
| Group Formed | October 2020 |
| Leader Name(s) | Irene Nichols |
| Contact Details | irene.nichols@gmail.com |
Format
- Discussion/updates around what individuals have done/are involved with e.g. Tree planting and sustained watering
- A monthly environmental action tip that goes to all Barnet u3a members Correspondence with the Council or others
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Bath & District |
| Group Title | Climate Environment Actionists |
| Formed | Jan 2024 |
| Convenors | Anne French / John Rich |
| Contact | anne.v.french@hotmail.com, john.rich.7780@gmail.com |
Format:
For 2024 there will be a monthly meeting, except July and August. Six months of topics are pre-planned for casual discussion, action ideas and sharing of information. This group is primarily about taking action.
Initially simple actions are planned each month, some to do together some recommended. Follow up via newsletter where the topic is summarized, and the group is directed towards further individual actions, local lectures, local relevant events, on line education, books, etc. Second six months will be more democratically organized with more members involved in planning.
Example Meetings so far first year:
- Circular Economy - introduction, discussion then a visit to the Share and Repair Shop in Bath. Follow up via newsletter with links to action
- Saving Energy in our homes - presentation from a member with an eco-friendly carbon neutral home, question and answers and an optional visit
- Plastics with information sharing, participation in the Big Plastic Count, two planned litter picks along the River Avon and Earth Day plus making of our own beeswax wraps.
- Pollinators, visit to local project a member organizes where trees and pollinator planting taken place, also plant up pollinator pots for general u3a distribution.
- Transport, Food etc. No meetings July and August. Future possible potential meetings: Textiles Fashion/Water/ Council Scorecards /Visit to Biowaste Facility / Visit HEAL's first rewilding farm in Somerset/ Visit regenerative farm
Key Points :
Broad headings allow a wide range of options for actions.
- Recognising climate change and environment issues are complex, information is constantly evolving and there are no simple answers. Members are therefore encouraged to become active in areas they have an interest in already.
- Actions are planned to lift spirits and build community as opposed to isolated doom and gloom paralysis.
- Books, local university groups/presentations are available for deeper discussion.
Last updated: March 2024
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| u3a Name | Carlisle and District |
| Group Title | Environmental Discussion |
| Group Formed | 2009 |
| Leader Name(s) | Barbara Sanderson |
| Contact Details | barbara.sanderson.99@gmail.com |
Format
Monthly meeting with news followed by a central theme. Outside and in-house speakers, numerous trips
Some of the topics covered by our group:
- Water (e.g. water management problems and solutions in Cumbria).
- Oceans (problems caused by warming and sea level - ocean transport – pollution – local Marine Conservation Zones).
- Energy (e.g. renewable sources, energy storage, nuclear energy and the increased production and use of hydrogen).
- Climate change (e.g. what we can do and what the politicians are doing).
- Food and farming (global and local issues such as size and ethos of farms such as regenerative farming).
- Waste (we have considered plastics and the problems they cause among other issues).
- Flooding (why, when and what can be done to alleviate it?)
- Land use (overall and looking at many aspects of Forestry, wilding and uses of wood to improve sustainability).
- Transport (how can it be made more sustainable and environmentally friendly?)
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | East Suffolk |
| Group Title | Climate Change |
| Group Formed | 2010 |
| Leader Name(s) | Ian Hawker |
| Contact Details | ianhawker101@gmail.com |
Format
We have a monthy group meeting consisting of (1) a presentation on a climate topic (see below) (2) news update and (3) member contributions. Some of the group are involved in local climate related activities and one of us Charles Croydon is the local UN representative on climate.
List of Talks
| Talk Title | Content | Duration |
| Overview | Impact of climate change worldwide, international activities, UK response & what individuals can do | 60 min |
| Adapting to Climate Change | Preparing the UK for inevitable climate change | 45 min |
| Regenerative agriculture | Making agriculture more resilient to climate change | 45 min |
| Oceans & Climate Change | Impact of Arctic & Antarctic melting on sea levels and food supply. Exploitation of ocean resources. | 45 min |
| Buildings, concrete & steel | Building for net zero using low carbon concrete & steel | 45 min |
| World Health & Climate Change | Climate change affects health through heat, access to safe drinking water, sufficient food & secure shelter | 45 min |
| Wind Power | The cheapest UK energy source impact & development | 45 min |
| Climate Tipping Points | What they are and how they could affect the rate of global warming | 45 min |
| Energy Storage | Energy storage in renewable systems | 45 min |
| Biodiversity | Impact of climate change on biodiversity | 45 min |
| Climate Modelling | Predicting future climate change | 45 min |
| Nuclear Energy | Why nuclear & nuclear technology developments | 45 min |
| Hydrogen | Opportunities for hydrogen power | 45 min |
| Geoengineering | Climate change mitigation next 300 years | 45 min |
| Net Zero Economics | What will Net Zero cost the UK? World economics | 45 min |
| Hydro, Tidal & Wave Power | Has tidal and wave power arrived at last? | 45 min |
| Solar Energy | Future Solar Technology & Applications | 45 min |
| Transport | Development of cars, trucks, trains & aircraft for net zero emissions | 45 min |
| Waste | Reuse, Recycling & Repair | 45 min |
| Geothermal Energy | How we can use the Earths vast supply of geothermal energy | 45 min |
| Climate & AI | Use of artificial intelligence in trhe fight against climate change | 45 min |
Last updated: March 2024
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| u3a Name | Farnham |
| Group Title | Climate Change Group |
| Group Formed | 2021 |
| Leader Name(s) | Stewart Edge and Philip Oliver |
| Contact Details | philipoliver49@icloud.com |
Format
- Stewart Edge and I have been running the Farnham Group since it was formed and have held nine well supported meetings using the excellent facilities at Farnham Maltings.
- We meet monthly for two hours and have 24 members and our turnout is usually in the mid-teens. We typically try for an hour's talk followed by discussion and we have had some very active debates. We have produced two papers - New Nuclear Technology and UK Wind and Solar Power for which we have been seeking a wider audience with a view to influencing Government, business or the wider policy agenda.
- We may have half a dozen or so presentations which may be worth sharing when the national resource facility is up and running.
- We are planning to run the group next year (renamed Climate Change and Sustainable Energy) and have already set our agenda for the autumn term. In order to limit the workload on members and to improve the depth of some of our considerations we are beginning to try to find free external speakers by tapping into local academics and businesses. A most useful resource would be a list of well received speakers, and their locations as an in person presentation beats Zoom every time.
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Grange over Sands |
| Group Title | Environmental Awareness |
| Group Formed | 2016 |
| Leader Name(s) | John Eakins |
| Contact Details | john.pl.eakins@gmail.com |
Format
- Our group has been holding regular monthly meetings since January 2016. We have nearly 30 members on our books, though actual attendance at meetings is normally in the range 12-16. The idea of starting the group came from a number of us attending the Cumbria U3A Network’s First Energy Conference held at the Rheged Centre in October 2015. Our aim was (and is) to inform members about all aspects of the environment, not just climate change. We are not a campaigning group.
- The format of our meetings has not changed significantly since we started. Members take it in turns to research a topic and make a 45-60 minute presentation to the rest of the group, allowing 30-45 minutes for discussion. Over the years we’ve covered a wide range of topics, including:
- wind energy
- press coverage of environmental issues
- sustainable manufacturing
- fashion and the environment
- vegetarianism
- sustainable forms of burial
- light pollution
- carbon capture and storage
- We vary this format from time to time with general discussions (such as the impact of COP26) and short presentations on a linked theme (such as tourism). We’ve also organized a number of visits to local sites of environmental interest, such as the nuclear power station at Heysham and Shanks’ recycling centre at Barrow.
- What has worked well? The format of getting members to research a topic in depth has meant that we have all learned a lot about a wide range of environmental issues, some of which we weren’t even aware of (how many people know about the problems caused by sand mining, for example?). We’ve always had a good balance of opinions within the group (not everyone is a tree-hugger), which has led to some lively and stimulating discussions. External visits have also been a valuable part of our programme, allowing us to learn at first-hand what is happening locally.
- What hasn’t worked so well? Not everyone has the talent or inclination to research a topic and make an interesting and informative presentation about it. This has meant that the burden of making presentations has fallen on a relatively small number of members. The group hasn’t been very successful over the last few years in getting new members able and willing to make presentations, meaning that fatigue is beginning to set in among our regular presenters. And it’s proved far more difficult than we’d expected to get local firms to allow us to visit them. Insurance and sometimes security issues seem to be the main problem.
- Overall, I feel that our group has been very successful in meeting its aims over the years. Whether we can continue to maintain momentum as our membership ages remains to be seen. Unfortunately, few of our recently-joined members seem to be any younger than those we have already!
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Hampstead Garden Suburb |
| Group Title | Climate Emergency |
| Group Formed | 2019 |
| Leader Name(s) | Catherine Budgett-Meakin |
| Contact Details | catherine@budgett-meakin.co.uk |
Format
Members are encouraged to engage by presenting to the rest of the group, helping them to ‘own’ the process. Books have been read collectively (with chapters designated to individuals), topics are researched and presented by group members.
An open day has been held by HGS u3a and this has encouraged additional membership.
Some of the topics covered by our group:
- Is Global Warming primarily due to humans adding CO2 & other Greenhouse Gases to the atmosphere or due to natural factors?
- Reducing domestic energy consumption.
- Psychological barriers to tackling the unfolding climate catastrophe.
- Travel and transport – including sea.
- Politics and the changes necessary to bring about coherence on the climate emergency: examination of councils and their actions on green challenges.
- Economic changes necessary.
- Barriers to action: resistance, inertia, denial etc.
- Effects on poor communities in the Majority World (who are already experiencing climate change), and what can be done to help them.
- Top-down change or bottom upwards? What brings about societal behaviour change?
- Information about the IPCC.
- Misinformation: see BBC programmes on How They made us Doubt Everything.
- Zero Carbon Britain: The Centre for Alternative Technology.
- The Natural World – extinction of species.
- Agriculture and low carbon farming.
- Food choices to reduce carbon emissions.
- Post Covid: threats and opportunities.
- Ways of slowing the rise of fossil fuel energy consumption.
- Political action – are the non-violent protests by Extinction Rebellion and Greta Thunberg useful or a barrier to change?
- Health effects of climate change.
- Trees and the Natural World.
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Kingston |
| Group Title | Climate Emergency Group |
| Formed | 2022 |
| Coordinator Name | Christine Thompson |
| Contact Details | chris.cpt3@tiscali.co.uk |
Format
- Most of us had been involved in Climate matters before.
- The aim of the group is to persuade and convert, not just hold meetings so we meet once a month for two hours and also take part in other activities. We decided that we would encourage each other in our own specialist interests.
- We aim to have a paragraph or article in each newsletter/booklet of Kingston U3A but by various people on relevant topics e.g. vegetarianism with a good recipe. This is so that people don’t look at it think ‘oh climate again’, and turn the page.
- An initial project was to keep a file of one defining article on each relevant subtopic on the group site and update it regularly. So much information comes out that this had proved more difficult than I hoped!
- We had a stall at one of the council environment days, took part in a church Green Day and some of us have been on peaceful demonstrations (including one organised by XR). We visited the local recycling plant and organised a talk by Brenda Ainsley, aimed at entry level climate concerns.
- Issues on our radar - checking on what the Council does (Kingston is better than many), persuading banks, pension funds and universities to stop funding fossil fuel projects.
Last updated: April 2024
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| u3a Name | Malmesbury |
| Group Title | Sustainable Planet |
| Group Formed | 2019 |
| Leader Name(s) | Tom Wilkes |
| Contact Details | tjwilkes@btinternet.com |
Format
- Monthly meetings, face to face and/or via Zoom. Several speakers (outside and in-house), presentations and discussions. Visits to - a local re-cycling plant, bio waste digester, nearby hotel (going green) and a re-generative farm.
- Regular newsletter with tips (including local shopping), advice on films, podcasts, books and ideas on how to turn theory into action e.g. personal experiences with PV panels, heat pumps, electric cars/bikes etc.
- We have also liaised with other local environmental groups e.g. Climate Action Network and supported their initiatives.
Last updated: March 2024
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| u3a name: | Porthcawl |
| Group title: | Sustainability |
| Formed: | January 2022 |
| Leader name | Eddie Morgan |
| Contact Details | sus@porthcawlu3a.org.uk |
Format:
- Presentation with questions and discussion on a wide range of environmental topics with pointers on how individuals can take action (usually through checklists) to achieve sustainable solutions.
- Members are encouraged to think about their own actions, how to encourage others to take action and how to contact and influence our local political representatives. Key is that we should encourage optimistic views and take a positive approach.
- We are in contact with other local groups so that we can share ideas and assist each other. Group members have access to a WattsApp group where we share information and encourage each other to sign relevant petitions.
- Past presentations are available online.
Last updated: April 2024
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| u3a Name | Ruthin and District |
| Group Title | Sustainable Living |
| Group Formed | 2019 |
| Leader Name(s) | Nick and Carol Ward |
| Contact Details | nick.ward1@outlook.co |
| Website |
Format
- In October 2019, two members of the Ruthin U3A called a meeting of others interested in forming a new group, under the heading ‘Sustainable Living’. This title was deliberately broad, but also pertinent to individuals and their lifestyle choices. The idea for the group is to inspire members (and maybe through them, their friends and families) and explore the information and tools needed to ‘make a difference’.
- A list of possible topics was tabled at the initial meeting and those present were asked to indicate their top three priorities for the group to cover. This provided an excellent guide for the group leaders to plan a programme of events for the next 12 months. It was agreed to hold monthly meetings; the most mutually suitable day of the month was selected by looking at when other existing U3A group meetings were held. It was also agreed that the meetings would actually comprise site visits during the summer months.
- The idea at that stage was to have a mixture of speakers, films, discussions and sharing of members’ knowledge. It was also hoped that some members would volunteer to research a particular topic and then report back to the group. As it has turned out, experience over the next couple of years (hampered by the pandemic) has been that many members are quite passive, being pleased to turn up monthly for an interesting meeting but not being keen on a more active role.
- As the pandemic receded, face to face meetings re-started and the agenda for meetings included a ‘news’ section, where each member present has an opportunity to inform others about things going on, locally or otherwise. This has been successful in encouraging more participation. The group has also held a couple of sessions with members taking on the task of reporting back from an on-line climate change conference held annually in Wales. Another interesting meeting consisted of holding a ‘mini-CoP’, where willing members gave a presentation on the climate change policies of a contrasting selection of countries. And two very popular films nights have been co-organised, for the public, with the local Friends of the Earth group
- The majority of meetings have involved an invited speaker. In general it was found that academics are often very happy to offer a presentation and are usually good at leading a discussion. During the pandemic, meetings were at first cancelled and some momentum was maintained through a monthly news email; and then the benefit of virtual meetings was discovered, whereby speakers from further afield were willing to address the group. But face-to-face meetings are undoubtedly more popular with members.
Topics covered by indoor meetings have included:
- Red meat – greener than you think?
- How your food choices impact on the environment.
- Zero Carbon Britain (long-running project by the Centre for Alternative Technology).
- Discussion about options for Wales’ Green Recovery.
- Decreasing the environmental impact of ‘stuff’.
- Community-owned renewable energy projects in north Wales.
- Energy efficiency in the home and what advice / support is available.
- One Planet Living strategies and how you can reduce your ecological footprint.
- Water efficiency, including behaviours and technical fixes.
- The Crazy Irrational Consumer (or why you don’t know why you buy).
- What are the UN COPs, how they work and what they can achieve?
- Climate change: do our individual actions matter?
- Soil health – why should we care?
- Climate Change, CoP26 and what can be done.
- The future of farming in Wales.
- The ‘circular economy.
- Influencing public policy on climate change.
Site visits during the summer months have been very popular.
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Seaford |
| Group Title | Climate Change |
| Group Formed | 2019 |
| Leader Name(s) | Robert Plank |
| Contact Details | rplank01@btinternet.com |
Format
Annual courses of four weekly two hour sessions, leading up to the UN COP for that year. Presentation followed by discussion.
Topics Covered
- Science and Solutions (2019) - What is climate, the basic science, feedbacks, recent climate change and 400 ppm of CO2, the cryosphere and permafrost, ocean acidification, the Anthropocene, deforestation, mitigation, adaption and geoengineering, renewables, climate change and the food system (and global food security), sustainable agricultural practices, biochar and BECCS, strengthening carbon sinks and the biosphere, the built environment, the future of cities and their water supply.
- Further material came from internet and included Greta Thunberg ‘speech to COP25, The Carbon Map, a Guardians report on pollution by the oil companies, Dame Julia Slingo’s 2018 Sir Thomas Gresham annual lecture, anAlice Bows Larkin lecture: Climate change is happening, here is how we adapt, aJenifer Wicox TED talk A new way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, Ecosia on ‘is everyone getting tree planting wrong’, the film The Race is On, the issue of public consent and handouts from the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s 2019 report to Parliament.
- Climate Change: What you can do tohelp (2021) - Education (what you need to know), examining your individual carbon footprint and what you can do to reduce it, carbon - offsetting your carbon footprint, spreading the word to others, joining campaigns and lobbying, and holding the Government to account for its actions and inactions, covering on the way - pitfalls, diversions, red herrings and irrelevancies.
- Climate change – where do we go from here? (Planned for 2022) - Technology and technological solutions, Citizen Power with reference to the UK Climate Assembly, Education, consent and social engineering, Diplomacy
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Sutton |
| Group Title | Climate Emergency Awareness group |
| Group Formed | 2019 |
| Leader Name(s) | John Sliney/Catherine Sliney |
| Contact Details | jsliney0@gmail.com/catherinesliney@gmail.com |
Format
- Monthly meetings with one or more presentations by members dealing with some topic related to environmental matters, often accompanied by slides and/or videos. We then have lively discussions with tea, coffee and cake.
- We have covered a large range of topics from Hurricanes to extinction of Pangolins and other plant and animal species: deforestation and attempts to counter this such as the charity "The size of Wales." Kelp farming and the problems of soil erosion.
- We also dealt with matters of energy, including alternative energy.
Last updated: October 2022
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| u3a Name | Teignmouth |
| Group Title | Climate Emergency |
| Group Formed | 2022 |
| Leader Name(s) | Antony Turner |
| Contact Details | antony@realworldvisuals.com |
Format
A presentation and review of books. Preparing a talk for the Teignmouth u3a group as an agreed role is to influence the wider u3a membership in the area.
We will be updating this document and indeed adding to it from time to time.
Last updated: October 2022
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| Name of u3a | Tynedale |
| Group title: | Environment group |
| Formed: | December 2021 |
| Leader: | Liz Barnes |
| Contact details: | lizjbarnes@hotmail.com |
Format
- We meet once month. Meetings take a variety of approaches - guest or member speaker presentations, discussion led, site visits, book studies.
- Topics are varied too... e.g. carbon sinks, peat bogs, pesticides, farming, state of nature report, visit to recycling plant, wind turbines and renewables, economy of the environment, county council climate change talk, impact of game bird shooting...
Last updated: March 2024
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