Partnering on systemic change: UCL and North Star Transition
UCL’s Prof. Chris Rapley was quite clear on his reasoning for collaborating with us: he had spent thirty years trying to persuade policy-makers that scientific evidence required them to act on the emergent climate crisis, but with insufficient effect. As he explained to Jyoti Banerjee, he wanted to see a new approach taken in the push for climate action.
When I met Chris Rapley for the first time, I did not realise he is quite the science celebrity. I met him as the chair of the Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science, a key part of University College London’s efforts to help policy-makers make the right decisions relating to the climate emergency. A little research uncovered that he used to be head of the British Antarctic Survey, led the Science Museum and was a recipient of the Edinburgh Medal for his contribution to the well-being of humanity.
As a result, it was a real privilege to get a call from Chris a few days later to say that his UCL climate group had decided to partner with the North Star Transition initiative I had gone to tell him about. Chris was quite clear on his reason for collaborating with us: he had spent thirty years trying to persuade policy-makers that scientific evidence required them to act on the emergent climate crisis but, as he put it, “with frustratingly insufficient effect.” He wanted to see a new approach taken in the push for climate action, and felt that the systemic change approach being espoused at North Star Transition was something worth doing.
Seeing that Chris was so serious about this partnership, I felt it was only right to remind him that North Star Transition was still an idea that we were working on, not a real organisation. “If it’s not real, you better make it real,” was his response. “ We absolutely need to pursue systemic change.”
We have gained so much and learned so much in the intervening period from our partnership with the UCL Climate Action Unit, a new body that has spun out of the UCL Policy Commission. Kris de Meyer, Andrew Jackson and Lucy Hubble Rose have been instrumental in bringing to life our intention of connecting unlikely allies from across multiple domains. An example of this is the tremendous work they are doing in our Wales Transition Lab initiative, which is focused on reconnecting food, health and nature.
Thank you Chris and Kris, in particular. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with you.
Photo credit: Prof. Chris Rapley, photographed during a performance of 2071, the dramatic monologue that Chris wrote with playwright Duncan Macmillan, and performed at the Royal Court theatre, and later in Hamburg and Brussels. Photo courtesy Royal Court Theatre.
