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We need to reduce our carbon footprint at high speed. But how do we get there? Designing our low carbon lives workshop offers some answers, using an original, visual, intuitive and low-tech approach. It’s a great opportunity for groups to come up with positive solutions and ideas. The cards are intuitive and visual, and in no time at all you’ll be able to work out the orders of magnitude involved in the realities of everyday life (food, transport, housing, etc.).
It can be done anywhere, in 2 to 3 hours! It shows us that we can live better by responding to the climate emergency. It helps us to understand so that we can take effective action, and leads us to change the way we look at what really matters.
In practical terms, what does it mean to respect the Paris Agreement? We have made a commitment to keep global warming below +2°C in order to keep our planet habitable. To achieve this, we need to keep to the IPCC’s carbon budgets: it’s a race against time against greenhouse gas emissions. This is what is meant by “climate emergency”.
To take effective action in the time available, you need to have a few pointers. This workshop provides clear, visual, objective and simple information to help you project yourself into a viable and happy future that is equal to the challenges. Based on scientific data, it provides an opportunity for discussion that removes obstacles to action (false good ideas, emotions, expectations, representations, etc.). With facilitators who embody solutions that have already been tried and tested, we can give meaning to our climate commitments in our own lives. Let’s make people want to take action!
This workshop is based on an overall vision inspired by permaculture: we need climate solutions that reduce inequalities and pollution and preserve peace, biodiversity and soil. The solutions discussed are relevant to the 9 planetary limits, even if we only explain the climate aspect.
Discovering our individual and collective impact
Intuitive, visual cards are a quick way to understand the issues surrounding our carbon footprint, and to discover the orders of magnitude linked to everyday realities (food, transport, housing, etc.). By illustrating the components of the average carbon footprint in France using scale colour cards, this workshop makes the data easy to understand, with a real impact for everyone involved. The visual comparison of the current situation (10tCO2e/person) with the target (<2tCO2e/person by 2050) creates a strong awareness: only large-scale coordinated action in all areas of society will enable us to meet our commitments.
Understanding the effectiveness of our actions
Keeping to the visual aspect of scaled cards to represent emissions, we explore the impacts of our various behaviours (eating X kg of meat per year, cooking vegetarian? Drive X km by car, take a plane? Travelling by bike? Buying clothes or a smartphone? etc.). These “solutions” cards are used as a basis for discussion between participants and with the facilitator in sub-groups. They help us to discuss the line between what is “necessary” and what is “acceptable”. Everyone can share the obstacles to action that they face.
Devising effective and desirable solutions
Each group formulates its vision of a possible and desirable future. We realise that it is possible to take up the challenge, provided we start now. The facilitators’ experience of beautiful low-carbon lives enabled us to discuss real life paths. Examples show us that what makes us truly happy does not harm the climate; we can live better while responding to the climate emergency. This intense time of group dialogue will help us to come up with positive solutions and ideas for taking action to reduce our emissions.
The Inventing our low-carbon lives workshop can easily be adapted to a variety of contexts. While the full workshop lasts 2 to 3 hours, sessions of 1 to 2 hours are possible, and a short 20-minute sequence can be used to share the main orders of magnitude. Our facilitators can run the workshop in public establishments, in companies, at events, in the public space, etc.
Video launch of the 2021 crowdfunding campaign
You’ll soon be able to buy the workshop kit from our shop, which is currently being translated. If you live in France, you can already buy the cards in English here.
