What is a Changeprint?

It’s time for a change.

Things these days are feeling precarious with an unrelenting news cycle of trade wars, culture wars, real wars. No less urgent, a climate and nature crisis that’s not going away. And yet, the doom and gloom of national headlines are drowning out a multitude of positive changes closer to home.

If you’re not yet involved in some of this positivity, it’s easy to feel that you don’t have a say or can’t make a difference. The good news is that you already have the power to change the world around you. You just have to use it.

What’s in a name?

A Changeprint is the collective impact created when people join forces to make something happen. It’s visible proof that collaboration works.

It isn’t the project itself – it’s the sum of all the good it generates such as stronger community ties, healthier environments, shared learning and visible local progress.

Where a carbon footprint measures what we take away, a Changeprint shows what we build together. In simple terms, you shrink a carbon footprint and you grow a Changeprint.

Each Changeprint starts locally, then grows as others copy what works and make it their own – creating ripples that move us closer to a social tipping point.

Names have the power to change the world around us. In talking about a Changeprint, we gather up into one word all the positive benefits of taking collective action. We have a name that makes things easy to communicate and copy.

What does a Changeprint look like?

Warmer homes, more vibrant communities, cleaner air, better health and wellbeing, access to fresh food, thriving wildlife… just some of the varied benefits that could be part of a Changeprint.

Carbon Copy has been gathering stories of people taking collective action for climate and nature for over five years now, and there are literally hundreds published on our website.

Each one of these stories has a Changeprint, and now you can explore this collection to learn more about what a Changeprint looks like.

You’ll see some of the far-reaching benefits of collective climate action and discover other motivations beyond reducing carbon footprints or hitting net zero targets. It’s amazing what more can happen when we work together.

Changeprints in action.

These collaborative, dynamic and lasting ways of working together create a Changeprint. Here are four examples from our national collection to give you a glimpse of this new, positive way of talking about impact:

Share and Repair  A small charity based in the southwest of England, Share and Repair is helping reduce waste and keep items in use for longer through its workshops and borrowing initiatives.

Share and Repair’s Changeprint can be measured by the items fixed instead of thrown away, in their repair cafes; by the items loaned and money saved from not buying new, in their Library of Things; by the people who gain new maintenance skills, in their ‘how to’ workshops; by the electricals re-housed instead of rejected as e-waste, in their HomeKIT initiative.

Maes Gwenfrewi Biodiverse Town Centre Park  A former bowling green in the town of Aberystwyth, West Wales, has been repurposed with help from a Challenge for Nature grant into a new wildlife haven and community green space.

Their Changeprint can be measured by the increase in local biodiversity; the number of thriving new trees; the amount of local food grown and enjoyed; and by how the space brings the local community together in different ways.

Safe, Warm and Well  Northern Ireland has the highest incidence of fuel poverty in the UK, so this initiative, run by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, is helping address a significant need for people locally. The service provides advice, support with implementing energy efficiency measures and other health and wellbeing services.

The Changeprint of this service can be measured in terms of community health and wellbeing, improving residents’ ability to stay Safe, Warm and Well. Safe, by addressing home safety issues, poor energy efficiency, high energy costs. Warm, by supporting households through the Affordable Warmth grant scheme. Well, by addressing fuel poverty, making homes more comfortable, reducing carbon emissions and providing ongoing referrals for additional support.

Glasgow Food Policy Partnership  A group of public, private and voluntary sector organisations who have come together with one specific objective: to create a fairer, healthier, more sustainable and resilient food system that makes Glasgow an even better city to live in.

This partnership’s Changeprint can be measured in so many different and far-reaching ways. More equal access to healthy food in all areas of the city. Lower rates of food insecurity. More food procured locally. Higher proportion of food consumed in Glasgow from local producers. More land available for food growing. The development of local and short food supply chains. New employment and training opportunities. Reduced food waste. And last but not least, better health of people in Glasgow longer term.

We hope that any one of the stories shared on Carbon Copy will inspire you to grow your own Changeprint by joining in, taking part or copying the change you wish to see.