Devon peoples panel climate assembly brought together 70 randomly selected groups of people to learn about climate issues, discuss them with one another, and proffer solutions to the public consultation of the Interim Devon Carbon Plan. They met online between June and July 2021.
Problems and Purpose
The Devon Climate Emergency (DCE) partners convened a Net-zero Task Force of fifteen volunteer specialists to steer the creation of an evidence-led Devon Carbon Plan to achieve Net-zero emissions in Devon and recommend the earliest credible date for achieving Net-zero emissions.
Background History and Context
In May 2019, a partnership was formed to respond to Devon's climate and ecological emergency.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The assembly was funded by Devon county council, facilitated by Involve and supported by Sortition Foundation
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The first stage in selecting Assembly members is a ‘civic lottery’, which involves invitations being sent out to randomly selected households in Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay, inviting one member of that household to put their name forward.
Households that receive an invitation have until the 24th May to respond. From those responses, 70 members will be hand-picked against a criterion that will reflect Devon’s demographic profile.
Age, gender, ethnicity, disability, geography, socio economic status, and people’s own attitude towards climate change are all factors that will be used to produce a representative Assembly.
Methods and Tools Used
Some of the tools and methods used include facilitated breakout discussions, collaborative question and idea generation sessions using Jamboard, plenary discussions; • group ranking/negotiation activities in breakout rooms and collect quantitative and qualitative data from each member
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The Assembly met for three blocks of online meetings in June and July 2021. In total this involved 9 meeting days, and a total of 25 hours together, typically made up of 2 hours on a Wednesday evening, 4.5 hours on a Saturday (with a 90-minute lunch break) and 2.5 hours on a Sunday. The process of learning, dialogue and deliberation set for the Assembly was designed by Involve, with input from the Devon Climate Assembly Project Team. Each meeting was led by a lead facilitator from Involve. During the meetings members spent much of their time in small discussion groups, of seven to eight assembly members, which were supported by independent facilitators experienced in delivering deliberative processes.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
The Devon Climate Assembly produced 14 Resolutions across the three categories. Each resolution is attended by specific conditions, which you can find in the Devon Climate Assembly Report. Members voted on each resolution, and the percentage of support for each is given after the statement in figures 1 and 2 below.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
References
External Links
https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/
https://www.involve.org.uk/
https://www.devonclimateemergency.org.uk/interimcarbonplan/?cat_id=2572/