Copy These! 5 Big Local Ideas About Engaging Your Community

1. Find your “best climate thing.” 

The climate crisis will impact all of us, but positive change will only happen with lots of different people taking action in lots of different ways. In Engage Your Community, the latest episode of the Carbon Copy Podcast, Phil Korbel co-founder of The Carbon Literacy Project explains: 

“The last thing that most people want in the room is some beardy worthy environmentalist person preaching at them, that’s terrible. You want people like yourself talking about their own experience and what they can do.” 

Listen to the full episode. 

2. Back to basics. 

Some organisations are now making Carbon Literacy part of their basic training or induction programmes. This decision sends a strong message that climate and environmental issues are not just the concern of those in specific sustainability roles – they are integrated into the strategy and purpose of the organisation as a whole. One such organisation is FTSE 100 automotive business Autotrader.  

Read more about their relationship with The Carbon Literacy Project and their ambitions for the industry. 

3. You know your place. 

It’s easier to engage people when they feel they have “skin in the game.” Community Assemblies are a way for local people to have a say on the issues that are important and relevant to them. In Hay-on-Wye, Powys, the Hay Community Resilience Initiative has run a series of community assemblies on key issues including food, energy and wellbeing. The deliberations and ideas generated through these events have contributed to decision-making in the town, and have also ensured local people are fully involved and engaged with the issues that affect them. 

Read more about Hay-on-Wye’s community assemblies. 

4. Influence the influencers. 

Young people are often more engaged with sustainability and environmental issues than their parents and grandparents. Gen Z have grown up with awareness of the climate crisis, but sometimes the information they’ve seen – whether on social media, from podcasts or via their peers – can be confusing, or even inaccurate. 

The Carbon Literacy Project has developed a Schools Staff toolkit, and now has a Carbon Literacy course that enables staff, volunteers and governors across all educational institutions to develop their understanding of climate science, to read carbon footprints and reduce the emissions and climate impacts of their schools. The learners who complete this course have profound influence on the young people in the school system, and can help to ensure that they are equipped with useful information and practical advice about taking climate action.  

Beyond this, the plan is to train the students themselves, and The Carbon Literacy Project has plans to develop a pupil-facing course for young people aged 14–18. 

Read more about The Carbon Literacy Project’s plans. 

5. It’s not just you. 

If you’re worried about climate, you’re not alone. In fact, recent research puts the percentage of people who want more action for climate and nature between 80-89% globally. That’s a HUGE majority. Bizarrely, however, most of us assume it’s unusual to want to make a difference. An important way to engage those around you is to tell the story of what you are doing. The more action becomes normalised, and the more it is celebrated – the more people will want to join in. 

Actionism is a movement about finding others and discovering your collective power. In this blog, the team explore the cascade effect of taking action. 

Engage Your Community is the latest focus in Carbon Copy’s 25 Big Local Actions in 2025 campaign. For more information about this and to discover a local action that’s right for you, visit our campaign landing page.