Lancaster Local Climate Engagement (LCE)
The Local Climate Engagement Programme was run by Involve; UK100; the Democratic Society; Shared Future CIC and Climate Outreach.
It was established to support councils across England and the political spectrum to deliver high-quality public engagement projects on climate policy. The goal was to support the UK in reaching its climate targets in a way that is fair and empowers communities to fulfil their potential.
As part of the LCE programme Lancaster City Council received training and support from Shared Future CIC in running its public engagement project.
The project built on the work of the Lancaster Climate Jury (2020), focusing specifically on the impact of travel on climate change.
Working with the council officers and elected members, we settled on the following question:
‘‘How can we as residents of Lancaster district access the resources we need to lead a good life by moving around freely and at the same time reducing emissions”
To answer this, we designed a mixed-methods engagement utilising:
- Pol.is (a digital democracy tool) to gather a range of opinions
- Community Explorers (ex jury members recruited as community researchers) to gather opinions from other residents in pubs, gyms, cafes, bus stops etc.
- ‘Digging Deeper’ Deliberative Workshops with jury members and officers exploring two key issues in depth.
As a district council, Lancaster only has limited control over transport policy. Our Local Climate Engagement provides a useful case study for district councils looking to produce an evidence base to influence policy at the county-level.
