The green futures network What is it, and how can it help?
Increasing the impact of the University’s climate and environmental work, by reaching new audiences The Green Futures Network is a mechanism to engage organisations, institutions and communities with our world-leading environmental research. Open to all, and free to use, the network brings together local authorities, businesses, research institutions, health organisations, charities, and community groups, allowing them to access our resources and drive real change on the ground.
How the Green Futures Network can work for you The Green Futures Network is designed to add value to the University’s new and existing environmental and climate work. From supporting research funding applications to accelerating the pace of knowledge exchange to our regional community and beyond, the network provides a ready to go’ environmental network for you to access, engage and collaborate with in co-designing your research.
Staff and academics across all of the University’s Colleges and Faculties can use the network to support their work, from demonstrating engagement and disseminating information to brokering new relationships and testing new approaches.
The network can support you in a variety of ways. Click on the links below to find out more: >> Engagement – A ready-made audience at your fingertips >> Facilitation – Bringing together new connections >> Network development – Building strong and impactful networks >> Dissemination – Getting your work in front of people who can use it
Engagement A ready-made audience at your fingertips
How the Green Futures Network can help you: If you would like to engage new or existing audiences, the Green Futures Network can help to deliver a wider range of events. With access to regional and national networks, specific audience types can be targeted, and we can design bespoke event plans to achieve specific outcomes. The network can also be used in funding bids to demonstrate access to a preexisting audience, through which research, resources, or other project objectives can be shared, tested, or co-created.
Activity in year 1
The Green Futures Network engaged over 2,600 participants at 50 events in its first year, from open workshops and public talks to communities of practice and panel discussions. Having built a proven track record of effective and innovative events, the network has an engaged following of businesses, local authorities, communities and more, as well as continuing to reach new audiences each time.
Supporting green skills development
The Cornwall Green Jobs Summit, held in collaboration with Friends of the Earth, sharing the latest data on attitudes towards and economic impacts of green jobs in Cornwall, and producing recommendations for policy makers and employers.
Maximising impact from our climate research
COP26: What does it mean for you? – a series of events across the South West, sharing the University’s involvement in COP26 and translating the outcomes and impacts of the conference for local organisations, featuring panel discussions from academics and local experts.
Strengthening Exeter’s reputation at a national level
Climate Adaptation Community of Practice – a group of organisations from across the UK who are keen to develop their work on adaptation. The CoP is a mechanism to share new research and resources, for example ECEHH’s Local Climate Adaptation Tool (LCAT), and generate detailed feedback.
What next?
Upcoming events include: 1. The application of Positive Tipping Points to the uptake of cycling in Exeter 2. A workshop to explore how to improve and measure the integration of sustainability across the university curriculum 3. Continuing Communities of Practice on Climate Adaptation and Scope 3 Carbon Accounting.
Facilitation Bringing together new connections
How the Green Futures Network can help you: If you would like to make connections with a new sector, or thematic area, the Green Futures Network can help translate your work for that audience, then arrange and facilitate meetings to explore shared understanding and mutual benefit. With a strong connection to the latest needs and challenges for a diverse range of existing and potential partners, the network can support the brokering of new and effective relationships.
Activity in year 1
Through translating existing and new research for a wider audience, the Green Futures Network can facilitate relationships with potential partners who do not currently engage with the University and the value it can bring to them and their work. As it is establishing a reputation for clear, relevant and valuable insight and information, the network can broker new connections with innovative and impactful organisations from a range of backgrounds.
Positioning Exeter as sector leaders
At the ADEPT Spring Conference, we brought together international experts to discuss the application of Doughnut Economics, including Prof Kate Raworth and representatives from Amsterdam and Cornwall, with over 120 local authority directors, establishing the University as a trusted expert on such alternative models.
Brokering new opportunities for income generation
We are working with academics to communicate the potential value of new research to regional and national funders, creating new opportunities to understand - and access - the wider landscape of philanthropic or endowment-based funding.
Testing resources with new audiences
We have supported hundreds of communities and parish councils to use the Centre for Energy and Environment’s free tool - the Impact Community Carbon Calculator - to increase its impact, learn from how it is being used to drive change, and inform future funding applications for further development.
What next?
To develop relationships, we are building on the University’s growing reputation with Doughnut Economics to become an approved consultant to work with other organisations interested in its application. Working with community networks is also a priority, with work underway with the Transition Network to learn from and inform the evaluation of their movement of international climate initiatives at a grassroots level.
Network Development Building strong and impactful networks
How the Green Futures Network can help you: With experience and expertise in network building, the Green Futures Network can support you in designing, building or maintaining regional, thematic or action-focused networks. Networks are complex systems that can easily fall apart without the right infrastructure in place, or can struggle to function beyond a simple list of contacts. The GFN offers advice, facilitation and delivery to identify and meet your bespoke needs to ensure a thriving network delivers the required outcomes.
Activity in year 1
As well as maintaining its own network structure, the Green Futures Network can also support the development of other new or existing networks across the University. With a deep understanding of network theory, and ways to measure and demonstrate network impact, we can help design networks to function with highly specific purposes.
Designing new networks
With the ACCESS network, we supported the establishment of a network of academic and governmental organisations to further the project’s ambitions, by designing monitoring and evaluation sessions at the annual conference and supporting targeted interventions to build and maintain the most effective connections for network growth.
Building networks with a thematic focus
We can develop Communities of Practice - specific sub-networks within the Green Futures Network that respond to specific challenges or opportunities identified within the university. Examples include the adaptation work of the ECEHH, or the Environmental & Climate Emergency team’s ambitions to improve Scope 3 carbon accounting.
Supporting effective governance
We are also working with external partners to embed effective governance within new networks that the University is a partner in, including the newly developed Sustainable Food Cornwall initiative.
What next?
Network development is a long-term activity, so the existing networks will continue to be supported through carefully designed engagement and governance. The Green Futures Network will also work to support the internal Research Networks, where appropriate, and is continually mapping the formal and informal environmental and climate networks emerging within the University in order to better understand the flow of information and impact.
Dissemination Getting your work in front of people who can use it
How the Green Futures Network can help you: If you want to share your work more widely, the Green Futures Network can help. From simple solutions, including newsletter articles and Twitter threads, to more comprehensive approaches such as specific events or visual translations, the network can support you to reach broader numbers or more targeted audiences. We can test language and get feedback on what makes sense to different sectors, or discuss how to support your dissemination ambitions or funding requirements.
Activity in year 1
Many potential audiences for the University’s internationally-recognised work in this area are unfamiliar with the language of research papers and academic processes. In order to provide an alternative way in to what we have to offer, the Green Futures Network has spent its first year testing different methods of sharing research and resources, and establishing itself as a trusted source of environmental and climate information.
Translating research to new audiences
Trialling Twitter thread breakdowns of new research papers, distilling the key information into digestible chunks and tagging relevant partners to increase reach and engagement. The threads also serve as resources to introduce new audiences to research concepts without them having to read through an academic paper.
Generating engagement and feedback
Dissemination events – specific talks and workshops about new resources being developed by the University. For example walking Local Government Association members through the Local Climate Adaptation Tool, or demonstrating the potential of the Impact Community Carbon Calculator to community groups and Parish Councils.
Showcasing new research and opportunities
The Green Futures Network newsletter gives network members a monthly update on events, new research and resources, and opportunities to engage. The newsletter will launch with the new website, and already has hundreds of sign-ups from the South West and beyond, across a range of sectors.
What next?
The Green Futures Network has secured funding to test the application of illustration to new research papers and projects. This will enable the valuable information to be shared with wider audiences and lead to greater impact. The network will also be producing monthly briefings to be shared via the newsletter, containing summaries and links to new research and policy developments.
Get in Touch Contact the Green Futures Network team to find out more
Peter Lefort runs the Green Futures Network from within the Environment & Clean Growth Team in IIB. His background is in environmental network building, having previously worked for People & Planet, the Eden Project and Cornwall Council. He is also the Co-Chair of the Transition Network, an international movement of grassroots climate initiatives, and is on the Steering Group for the Happy Museum Project, which works to support the cultural sector to respond to the climate crisis. He has worked in the climate sector for over a decade, and has strong connections with many national and international organisations working for change. Contact Peter at gfn@exeter.ac.uk
The new Green Futures Network website is launching soon. The Green Futures Network is on Twitter at @GFuturesNetwork.