Talk about it! It’s one of the first things you can do about the climate crisis, and one of the main pieces of advice anyone from climate scientists to engineers and teachers would give. But it needs to be constructive talk in conjunction with action.
This series of unconferences explores complicated topics (last year it was GDPR with OMGDPR) together with anyone who’s interested. Following a successful first unconference tackling the climate crisis in Berlin earlier this year, OMG CLIMATE is coming to London.
Why an unconference about tech and climate?
With climate breakdown unfolding as we speak, the world has to both mitigate the problems created by us, and to adapt to a changing climate and ecosystem. To minimise harm to the living world, and to our society, we need to implement existing solutions, and develop new ones where necessary.
Chris Adams, tech professional and one of the initiators of the Berlin unconference, thinks we need to talk about tech and climate change because, “if there’s an industry known for its talk of changing the world, it would be the tech industry. The term software is eating the world was first coined nearly ten years ago by Marc Andreessen of the venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz, and it turns out, with good reason: 7 out of the 10 largest companies by market value were tech companies in 2018.” On top of everything else, “the tech industry is now responsible for about the same share of CO2 emissions as the aviation industry, or shipping – or if you prefer to think in terms of nations and states, more than Canada, or Australia, any European country or states in North America.”
👉 Read the full account of the Berlin unconference (May 25, 2019) and the reasons behind its inception here.
Wait, what is an unconference?
Unconferences have been around for a couple of decades now, and are popular with groups of activists and enthusiasts, usually taking place outside of formal organisational structures. These alternative events use open spaces where content is decided by attendees on the day.
After attendees pitch ideas to discuss, the schedule is constructed around the most popular choices. Participants work on these ideas during lightly facilitated conversations (or sessions), exploring the subjects in smaller breakout areas to capture key insights.
Unlike classic conferences, unconferences’ focus is less on absorbing information, and more on connecting to action: the reason attendees are networking with each other throughout.
Before wrapping up, all attendees regroup for one final session to share what they learned.
👉 Read more about unconferences here.
👉 Read more about the OMG CLIMATE London format here.
How can I join OMG CLIMATE in London?
You can join as an attendee, meaning:
- You’d like to see something done about climate change at your place of work.
- You’re interested in exploring a question of your own with others, or in helping others do the same.
Alternatively, you can join as an attendee willing to help facilitate a session.
Either way, you need to register here (name and email address only!).
The organisers want this to be an inclusive event with participants from a diverse range of communities; “without a diverse group, it’s easy to miss loads of really important stuff that would be obvious in retrospect.” So if you’re running a meet-up and are interested in one of the organisers attending your event, reach out to them; contacts are available here.
Don’t forget!
📢 Friday, October 18, 2019, at Phoenix Court. We’re looking forward to meeting you all. Bring your skills, good intentions, solutions! We promise you’ll leave with a good dose of hope. 🙌
