Breaking with tradition, Engage decided not to hold a final Q&A after our third seminar this year (held at the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal and taking as its theme European Green Capital 2015 Bristol). Instead participants were invited to create small reflection groups around the room to ask themselves “What should be the Next Step for yourself personally, for Liverpool City Council and for Engage?”
We were keen to make sure that everyone who had accompanied the process of the seminars reflecting on the experiences of three European Green Capital cities (Tallin, Valencia and Bristol) went away with some actions to embed in their own lives and some suggestions for change in the city in which we live. As a result Engage has been seeking meetings at City Council level to share people’s hopes for change locally. Two meetings with council officers are now arranged, one for Friday 20th December and one for Friday 10th January.
We’ve taken a first pass at summarising the key themes in each set of next steps, with the aid of ChatGPT (an Engage first!), but you can also read the full list of steps below each summary box.
Next Steps – for Engage Liverpool
Key themes
Building Networks and Partnerships
Many suggestions emphasise the importance of creating partnerships and networks, both with other local bodies (LCR, LCC, other community groups) and between attendees. Ideas for fostering connections across different groups include establishing a platform or directory for like-minded individuals and organisations.
Expanding Outreach and Inclusion
There’s a strong call to reach out to a broader audience, particularly marginalised groups, younger people, and those not currently engaged in these topics. There’s a suggestion that Engage’s events should be free. Some attendees requested that outputs of events like this one be shared.
These themes highlight a desire for broader community involvement, enhanced collaboration, and transparent communication to support shared goals.
Work with LCR and LCC to share ideas and make partnerships
Create a network of everyone who attends these meetings so we can all work together
Reach out to more young people
Make events free so it’s more accessible (donations only requested, student came free)
Engage should collaborate with all interested parties
Partnerships – wider
Foster partnerships, social groups, go beyond the council, speak to electorate
How to get different community groups to share ideas or join up?
Communicate with other local community groups
City centre street workshops
Participatory idea gathering
More events like this, bringing people together
More outreach to marginalised and little heard communities
Focus on education
Expand engagement beyond city centre
Share data obtained further, with those currently not aware / marginalised communities
List the places involved, and give to the public
Find out why people came tonight – what can they offer? Share list.
Offer communications between all seminar participants
Help people with funding
Directory of like-minded enterprises, Engage as the connecting glue
Create a network platform for like-minded people to connect and exchange ideas
Reach out across the city
Involve ordinary people who aren’t thinking about these issues.
Continue to encourage people’s ideas + opinions to be heard for different viewpoints
Try to cast net wider, to involve those who are not yet involved in climate activism or are not environmentally conscious
Next Steps – for me personally
Key themes
Community Engagement and Awareness
Many comments focus on engaging directly with people in local neighbourhoods, schools, universities, and community meetings. There’s an emphasis on building connections, sharing knowledge, and raising awareness within local communities, with suggestions to use social media, conversations, and community gatherings to foster dialogue and understanding.
Personal Responsibility and Advocacy for Environmental Action
A strong theme here is personal accountability in reducing carbon footprints, driving less, and improving energy efficiency at home. Several suggestions focus on individual actions (like analysing one’s carbon footprint or exploring renewable energy options) and advocating for change by writing to MPs, lobbying local councils, and educating policymakers on climate science and urgency.
These themes highlight both the importance of community involvement for broader impact and individual efforts toward environmental sustainability and political advocacy.
Talk to people, get to know aspirations
What’s the interest in your local neighbourhood?
Explore options for gas boiler replacement
Everyone needs to analyse their own carbon footprint and reduce all kinds of wastage
Local area community meetings
Get out into my community and start conversations with people
I want to save the world and overcome the fact that I’m outnumbered
Social media
Knowledge sharing
Community
Schools & Uni
Talk to neighbours in the community, schools, colleges, universities
Write to MP
Lobby the council
Volunteering
Be aware of own impacts
Commit to stop using cars for local journeys
Drive less, more active travel
Improve energy use at home – investigate insulation, retrofitting
Act as an ambassador and spread the word
Keep politicians under pressure = engage in politics
Recognise small steps making a difference
Go into schools and youth clubs
Educate our decision-makers to ensure they actually understand the science and urgency of the climate & biodiversity emergencies
Research solar power opportunities for my home
Try to speak to people around me and raise awareness
Next Steps – for Liverpool City Council
Key themes
Community Involvement and Collaborative Decision-Making
There’s a strong emphasis on involving local voices in policy through citizens’ assemblies, panels, and collaboration with community groups, schools, and neighbouring councils.
Improving Public Transport and Reducing Car Dependency
Many suggestions call for better public transit, reduced car use through congestion charges, and more sustainable options like trams and city bikes.
Accessible Funding for Community-Led Environmental Initiatives
Attendees highlight the need for simplified funding and grants to support local environmental projects, with accessible resources for grassroots action.
These themes reflect a desire for a more collaborative, sustainable, and community-supported approach to city planning and environmental action.
Understand their communities and then enable via themselves as a funder
Be open to working with artists who are already doing art projects about nature, environment, and climate. We are already here but it is so hard as an independent artist to work with the council.
Speak to graduates of MA Art & Science program at LJMU
More OPEN calls for art projects that the council fund
Fix transport
Improve links for business and pedestrians
Green space for schools to use and look after
City Congestion Zone
Trialing hydrogen combustion systems on commercial vehicles
Make all city black cabs electric
Make funding available and easy to access – we want to do good things but money is needed to do them
Tax / charge petrol vehicles in the city centre
Remove the charge off the Mersey tunnels and Runcorn bridge
Council needs to be more open about the changes they’re discussing. At very early stages community groups should be invited to discuss ideas for their areas.
Sustainable Development Goals in schools – start in primary schools
Design brief, Local Plan, Citizens Panel
Keep the design codes
Citizen Panels
Identify the key stakeholders
Work with other local authorities
Concentrate on something very urgent – air pollution in highly trafficked areas – can we restrict car use through congestion charging, select road pricing eg: charging more for gas guzzlers? – could raise money for green causes
Work and outreach with partner organisations, eg: Engage; Love Wavertree; Homebaked Anfield; L8; Transition Liverpool; young people; universities etc.
Community health needs to be part of the environmental decision-making, eg: pollution caused by industries
LCC needs to get together with councils along the Mersey Basin, including Greater Manchester, to get our government to legislate on reducing dangerous PFAS levels in the Mersey
Citizens Jury
Clear annual action plans
Integrated travel plan that covers whole city
Less talk of what “should” be done, and more action/leadership
Sustainability + health + prevention should underpin everything and not be an afterthought / box-ticking excercise. Less siloed thinking.
Improve transport
Council needs to listen to the community and produce robust strategies and policies
Engage with neighbouring authorities
Tax relief for volunteers!
Collaboration
Reduce red tape
Cheaper buses?
Toolkits so people know how to help and what they can do
Organise Citizens Assembly
Central body for local volunteering activities
Start now. Focus on next step. If the city works for its citizens, the citizens will work for the city.
Improve public transport & active travel
Increase (transport? housing?) density
Engage with local “wider” community, eg: street workshops. Varying age groups. “Employ” local people to do this.
Less car dependency – reintroduce trams
Fees on petrol vehicles entering the city centre
Get recycling well organised, and the ability to recycle all materials that are recyclable.
Make sure all takeaway outlets encourage recycling of all their packaging – so a minimum amount of rubbish is incinerated and there is far less litter
Set up a Citizens Assembly + online forum
Build a green map of Liverpool/Wirral
Involve pensioners to pass on knowledge + wisdom
Actually involve those who are affected by decisions in decision making
Trial cycle routes through paint and bollards
Run commuter ferries all day + at weekends to connect Wirral to Liverpool better, enable families to take kids to beach with bikes
Bring back City Bikes (not electric)
Great investment opportunities – eg: Merseyside Pension Fund
Next Steps – general/unclear
Engage with local communities
Tangible timescales
Evidence of what is actually happening in the city now
Educate – schools, workplaces, universities
Communicate decisions
Transfer of power
Create the network
Create opportunities for people at the edges
A circular economy in Liverpool that sit high above any other
Directing money to good purpose
Directing (section) 106 money for maximum social value
Importance of art, music, good food, and ecology
What were the specific measurements and metrics?
Data analysis and visualisation to show impact and get stakeholder engagement
Emphasise that Liverpool was, in some respects, greener in the past than it is now, eg: trams & green low traffic boulevards; electric mass transit, Liverpool Overhead Railway; local shops, schools, etc, in a traditional “15-minute city”; ships powered by wind and made from timber
Emphasise that we have overcome problems in the past: Smokeless zones; river pollution cured by Mersey River Estuary alterations
Low Carbon Liverpool did great work. It is still there in terms of the research. Alex Nurse knows all about it.
Bristol built on Green Capital – we wasted 10 years – time to set up a LIVERPOOL GREEN PARTNERSHIP
Make connections between existing community groups
Community fundraising – encouragement and support from the community
From an Everton perspective – the local people are “time poor”, they have low wages, work several jobs. So don’t have time to volunteer.
Education – promote how health can be improved through Net Zero
Horticultural nursery – seed sharing libraries
Mechanisms to collectively fund and provide investment opportunities.
Coordination of local initiatives under the umbrella of a set of issues related to urban planning, space design, and sustainability.