Our events are not typically recorded, in order to maintain a confidential environment for everyone taking part. However let us give you a flavour of topics explored at previous Cadence workshops.
CCRA4 What risks going unsaid?: As the government prepares for their fourth round of national adaptation policy, we reviewed the consultation’s framing of risks and key absences within it. Headlines were agreed for a collective response to the Met Office call for evidence for a ‘Well-Adapted UK’.
A Recipe for Disaster: Tom Lancaster (ECIU) investigated the vulnerability of agriculture, exploring near-term impacts of droughts and unprecedented wet on UK farmers. Noah Wescombe (ALLFED) delved into resilient food options in case of global catastrophe.
Defining Adaptation: In collaboration with the Climate Majority Project, we examined definitions of ‘adaptation’, testing them against the full weight of potential impacts. We do not want the term to go the way of ‘sustainability’ and mean all things to everyone. The way we define it can save lives.
Health Sector Roundtable: A white boarding session designed and led by health sector professionals, exploring the understanding and preparedness to climate risks and cascade impacts. We have had our second round of this, ascertaining an appetite to develop a strategy to action the necessary steps for climate risk management.
Economic Infrastructure: Interdependency, Vulnerabilities, and Cascade Failures: This was a deep dive into the resilience building of digitally connected infrastructure systems in a world where there are increasing challenges to it and reliance on it.
How to save a city: We outlined a call to arms for city planners to take action on the converging and accelerating emergencies of our age – the climate emergency and deep, long standing social inequalities.
Tell us straight – new data turns climate messaging on its head: We discussed the disconnect between public optimism and grim reality, while urging transparency in leaders to galvanise genuine and urgent action. See here for highlights.
Is the government risk assessing climate tipping points? A short video featuring some of the presentation can be found here.
Game of consequences – planning for climate risk in public services: We explored some of the interdependencies and cascade risks that challenge complex services, pragmatic approaches to managing them, and strategies for building buy-in among stakeholders.
Initiating workplace conversations on environmental breakdown: It takes courage, empathy, persistence and planning to introduce existential threats into our work with colleagues. First impressions count, and pitfalls can open up at any time. In the first of two workshops, we considered one-to-one conversations. In the second we focussed on meetings and group settings, and invited participants to identify strategies for normalising environmental breakdown conversations.
Extreme weather: time to get serious. Following flooding of unprecedented ferocity in Europe, this workshop reflected on what extreme weather events mean for the communities living through them, for national adaptation efforts and for us as individuals in our work and the places where we live.
Unpicking ‘resilience’: what do we mean, and what does that mean we need to do? The terms ‘adaptation’ and ‘resilience’ give the impression of a manageable problem – an inadequate reflection of where we are and where we are headed. This session considered realistic policy approaches to preparedness that match the problems we face.
Climate and conflict: emerging dimensions in policy and professional ethics. How are large, strategic and international organisations preparing for and engaging with climate threats? What can we understand about how the ‘new normal’ of climate instability is being managed and how does this relate to our own professional experiences? In this session we heard from two international development and human rights professionals speaking about the experience of working on complex global emergencies as climate change starts to bite. Further detail in this blog
The ethics of transparency. In environmental breakdown are there risks from ‘excessive’ or ‘unmanaged’ transparency, for instance in social unrest, public mental health or economic volatility? What does the responsible disclosure of existential climate risk look like? Or is the upper end of ‘not enough’ disclosure already ‘too much’ for the common good?
Breaking the collapse taboo. It is becoming ever clearer that what is technically feasible to mitigate carbon emissions might not be politically or practically feasible. How can we change the terms of business to encompass vulnerability, uncertainty and whatever lies beyond the myth of progress?
The hyper-local and the enabling centre. In a scenario of environmental breakdown, resilience must be local, and national government must make room. What would hyper-local networks that are resilient to collapse look like, and what role then for the nation state?
Finding the words. In politics and policy one must choose words carefully. When is it best to talk about ‘collapse’, ‘breakdown’ or ‘disruption’? We discussed how much we are prepared to compromise on our vocabulary to get into the room.
Climate Migration. Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute, gave a presentation in November 2023 on the impacts of climate change on migration, and government immigration policy at the time. Exceptionally by request of participants, his presentation was recorded and can be watched here.
Cadence Roundtable 