Climate Action Plan

Change the way we work together

People walk along a path with information written on the floor. Plants line the path either side

Creating solidarity, befriending uncertainty and insisting on urgency.

Now in its third year, our Climate Emergency Network is an evolving, responsive movement. It’s gained traction and agency since its first Climate Emergency Assembly in 2019.

The network is non-hierarchical. It breaches the boundaries of generation, discipline, College, and historical allegiances. It comes together to harness the full force of existential creativity, to match the existential crisis that threatens our world.

The network has been redefining their purpose and their impact on our community:

Community as a catalyst for action – by accelerating and amplifying individual agency and nurturing future leadership.
Community of reflection – a network that looks inwards and outwards to find what is most urgent and relevant, through critical friendship and honesty.
Community as a refuge – where hope and resilience can be restored and replenished together; where rest and care are valued and protected.
Community as a compass – directed by moral imagination and moral courage.
Community as an accelerator – to channel outrage and use innovation for personal, collective and systemic change.

Two people interact with items at a stall — **Generous Waste by Khadijah Carberry at Climate Emergency Network’s Earth Quest at Barbican Centre, 2022 | Photograph: Hydar Dewachi**

What we'll do:

Build an internal movement for change with students and staff and create opportunities for everyone to contribute to climate action at UAL.
Co-produce knowledge across disciplines, sectors and communities.
Work with education, government, industry, and cultural and civil society partners.

What we've done so far

Formed a Climate Emergency Network with over 1000 members.
Held 45 events, attended by over 2500 people. These brought UAL students and researchers together with scientists, activists, community organisers, artists, poets, illustrators, journalists and more.
Curated UAL-wide event programmes that were co-created with 200 students and staff during key moments, including COP26 titled Carnival of Crisis and Earth Day.
Hosted events at key points in the university’s calendar. For example, the Big Welcome, when we welcome students at the beginning of the academic year.
Curated collections of student work as part of our Graduate Showcase.
Curated exhibitions of graduate work, like Material Heroes during London Design Festival 2021.
Commissioned and co-produced the Climate Emergency Interactive, a dynamic teaching tool to prompt collective conversations about the climate emergency and what we can do about it, politically and creatively.
Developed partnerships and collaborations with organisations across arts and culture, civil society, higher education, and scientific research sectors. This includes Glasgow School of Art, King’s Cross Canopy Market, Culture Declares Emergency, the Barbican Centre, V&A Dundee and Architects Climate Action Network.
Created pilot projects such as a pop-up Swap Shop at Central Saint Martins.
Commissioned a social impact evaluation of Earth Day: Appetite for Justice (PDF 4.9MB) with Doc Society.

I chose to go back to university because I realised, that being a field activist isn't the only way of making things happen for a better future. We need more sensibility and a plural understanding of what the future could be. How can we make culture evolve? The only discipline that can do that is art.

- Laurane Le Goff Climate Emergency Network member

People wearing decoration and connected overalls stand by a sign saying 'Ban this plastic poison' — **Nexus Architecture by Lucy Orta at Parade for Climate Justice, Carnival of Crisis 2021 | Photograph: Lori Demata**