The rest of the day was a series of workshops, all of which were incredibly insightful and really in the spirit of this community-building event.
The workshops included:
A Climate comedy session by the one and only Matt Winning.
Getting to play with lego and build a future vision by Lucy Hawthorne from Climate Play
Practising coaching skills with the wonderful Charly from Climate Change Coaches
I finally got to watch a screening of ACTionism, which James has been telling me about for months now. And we had a wonderful Q&A with Ellie and Jon afterwards
Caroline Harris talked about her journey with IMMA Collective, and our friend Dan Sherrard-Smith shared his story of turning purpose into profit.
We even had a session of singing with James Sills, which I have to admit I enjoyed far more than I was anticipating.
I was even lucky enough to present a few minutes on the impact of our online activity, and the carbon footprint of email.
But my stand-out favourite workshop was Sarah Flynn’s session on building authentic resilience. Sarah’s insight is super vital in the Sustainability field, where we’re constantly trying to dodge the extremes of climate-anxiety, burnout, and paralysis.
As a massive foodie, I should also shout-out the wonderful catering provided by OnNom for lunch.
In another life, I used to attend Estate Agency software conferences, and the smell of cheap bacon butties still haunts me to this day…
But OmNom’s buffet was incredible; a sumptuous spread of vegan delights. All very much in-keeping with the ethos and spirit of the event.
It was clear that Carlos and the OmNom team had carefully thought-through every tiny detail.
Flyers were banned, airplane travel discouraged, no-one was handing out useless ‘promo-swag’, and even our lanyards were compostable!
This was an event which truly lived and breathed its mission and ethos.
I’m sure that doesn’t come without hard work and some compromises, but it all seemed completely worth it. I felt truly rejuvenated and inspired by the day.
It was a delight to connect with so many changemakers, all out there creating their own little ripples for positive change.
Matt from IMPCTDRVN, Jim from Carma, Alex from Film Division, Hermione from Hurd, Nick from Daring Works, the list honestly goes on and on.
And this was the ultimate antidote to all the doom and gloom we are regularly exposed to from events happening around the world.
I can only round off by expressing sincere gratitude to Carlos, his team, my fellow speakers, and all the changemakers who showed up and joined together for an unforgettable day-out.
I’m sure Carlos was exhausted from all the planning, but I really hope he will look to host another in-person GoodRipple event soon.
And the EcoSend team and I will be delighted to attend and support once again!
Thanks for reading!
📸 Photo Credit: Cassius Frankson
