Copeland Peoples panel on climate change citizens’ jury consists of 30 members of the public that come together to deliberate and make recommendations on climate change. The panel met every week between July and September 2021. All meetings took place online.
Problems and Purpose
Background History and Context
Copeland, in West Cumbria stretches from north of the town of Whitehaven to past Millom in the South. Its coastline includes St. Bees, Sellafield, Ravenglass and Haverigg to the west and reaches into the Lake District National Park in the east. Its population is some 68,183 people in a mix of urban and rural communities. There is a mounting evidence base as to the increasing impacts of climate change and on the shifts in behaviour, culture and practice that will be needed to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change and adapt to those which are now unavoidable.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
With the support of the Zero carbon Cumbria Programme and Shared Future, Copeland Borough Council commissioned the Copeland People’s Panel on Climate Change — a citizens’ jury that will guide the council and partner organisations on where their priorities should lie as they work towards their ambition of becoming a net-zero carbon district.
The project has an Oversight Panel consisting of a group of local stakeholders from a range of public and private sectors who meet separately. It supports the work of the People’s Panel, lending it the additional influence and legitimacy essential for the successful implementation of the People’s Panel’s recommendations.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
The Sortition Foundation sent 6,000 letters to randomly selected addresses across the borough inviting them to register their interest in joining the panel. They then selected the 30 people who made up the people’s panel, ensuring it reflected the diversity of the local population, both in terms of demographic make-up and opinions on climate change.
The panel comprised 30 residents from Copeland who met between eight and 10 times. During the process, which Shared Future facilitated, members heard presentations from a range of commentators, who bring expertise on climate change. Panel members will be able to ask questions of those commentators and share their own views and opinions with each other, before making recommendations for actions that can address the climate emergency.
Methods and Tools Used
The project has an Oversight Panel consisting of a group of local stakeholders from a range of public and private sectors who meet separately. It supports the work of the People’s Panel, lending it the additional influence and legitimacy essential for the successful implementation of the People’s Panel’s recommendations.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The panel comprised 30 residents from Copeland who met between eight and 10 times. During the process, which Shared Future facilitated, members heard presentations from a range of commentators, who bring expertise on climate change. Panel members will be able to ask questions of those commentators and share their own views and opinions with each other, before making recommendations for actions that can address the climate emergency.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Analysis and Lessons Learned
See Also
References
External Links
https://sharedfuturecic.org.uk/copeland-council-peoples-panel/
https://sharedfuturecic.org.uk/
https://cafs.org.uk/our-projects/zero-carbon-cumbria-programme/#:~:text=The%20Zero%20Carbon%20Cumbria%20Partnership,gas%20emissions%20to%20net%20zero.
