Posted: May 15, 2023   •   Posted in: Climate concern, Environment, Event

The Climate Imaginarium: From What is? to What if? to Why not!

The Climate Imaginarium – 10 June (drop in 10am – 3pm)

Beccles Friends Meeting House

What is?

We hear a constant stream of information about global warming and the impending climate disaster. It’s already affecting our lives and to a much greater extent the lives of billions of people across the world. Many of these bear the worst of the impact but the least responsibility for the current situation. What is clear is that it is only going to get worse for the next generation unless we act now to get it under control.

It’s easy to become despondent in the face of such a barrage of bad news. Such despondency can lead to paralysis as far as action is concerned. It is bad and it is getting worse. Yet it doesn’t need to be if we can think beyond the current situation (what is?), develop a vision for a positive future (what if ?), and then work towards it (why not!)

What if?

The Climate Imaginarium is to be held in the Beccles Friends Meeting House on 10 June. It is all about coming together and imagining a future that we want for ourselves, children and grandchildren. A future that’s the best we can achieve if we act now, effecting a rapid transition to “net zero” and a transformation in the way we all live our lives.

Do drop in to the Meeting House on Saturday 10 June between 10am and 3pm.

This event is an initiative that has been developed by the Beccles Quaker Climate Concern Group. A group of concerned Friends has been meeting for the past 4 years, initially concentrating on putting our own house in order in terms of sustainability. More recently we have been looking at how we can contribute to wider climate concern initiatives both locally and nationally.

With this initiative we are participating in the Climate Coalition’s ‘Big Green Week’ which runs from the 10 – 18 June 2023 across the country

The Climate Coalition is a group of over 130 national organisations – both faith and secular – with a common desire to reach out across the UK to show their love for all the things that need protecting from climate change. It asks politicians to put aside their differences and commit to doing whatever is necessary to stabilise the situation. The Great Big Green Week 2023 is expected to be the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature.

Why not!

We are invited by the Climate Coalition to support their campaign to write ‘Letters to Tomorrow’. These will make clear what our heartfelt hopes are for a brighter future if our leaders step up to protect the environment, and our fears if nothing is done. This initiative will be a key strand of the Imaginarium. The letters will be published on the Letters to Tomorrow website, along with thousands of others and sent to UK politicians. We aim to collect ours and send to our own local politicians.

The Imaginarium is open to all and you are invited to come along and join in the imagining. We hope that you will be stimulated by exhibits, workshops, films, and conversation – and refreshed with plenty of tea and cake. You will contribute to developing a positive vision for the future that will help us to be better motivated to take necessary action to achieve it.

Together lets work out how we can spread our concern. Let’s together present a positive vision for the future, multiply our efforts, gather more support, and make it impossible for politicians to ignore our voices.