Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To inform the Committee of an approach to the Council for support for the 30U30 (30 under 30) Northern Ireland Climate Change-Maker’s programme.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

i.       agree to contribute £8,750 plus VAT to the overall 30U30 Northern Ireland Climate Change-Makers programme costs;

ii.      note that, whilst the Council’s support represents a modest proportion of the overall budget (circa £100,000 in total), it will be crucial in making the initiative (the themes of which complement and supplement the Council’s climate programme) a reality;

iii.    note that the Council’s support will resource the launch along with six modules/events featuring world-class speakers/experts taking place from January – June 2024; and

iv.    note that the collaborative, cross sectoral initiative, featuring world-class speakers and experts, will be supported by organisations such as Pinsent Masons, Coca Cola and Danske Bank with a request for local authority involvement being addressed through this approach to the Council.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       The 30 under 30 initiative is a climate focused programme where young leaders from Northern Ireland have the opportunity to take part in an international learning programme, led by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Podiem. Following an exceptionally successful, multi-award-winning pilot programme (supported by the Council last year) a new cohort of young leaders will be competitively selected and there is a request for the Council to support the programme of activity they will undertake. Most of the 30U30 modules are being delivered in Belfast City Centre and the vast majority of the participants will either reside or work within the Council footprint. The cohort will be diverse with a broad range of backgrounds, sectors and interest/expertise areas represented. Within the pilot programme over 55% of the group were female with a mix of those in education, employment and currently economically inactive.    

3.2       Within the modular programme, participants will learn from globally renowned thought leaders and exemplars across a range of relevant topics. These topics have been carefully crafted to create a cohort of leaders who will return to their fields of expertise with the tools to become planet positive change-makers in the short/long term. Speakers and facilitators from the pilot programme included globally renowned individuals such as:

·        Alice Thompson, an international speaker and social business leader who co-founded Social Bite in Edinburgh and helped to establish ‘The Worlds Big Sleepout’ which took place in 52 cities around the world;

·        Gerry Hussey, Ireland’s leading health, wellbeing and performance coach, who has worked with many leading sports people and teams, and author of ‘Awaken Your Power Within’;

·        Philip Hesketh, an international authority on influence and persuasion, who has worked with clients such as the BBC, Nestle, Walt Disney, Nike, Microsoft and Bank of America, among others; and

·        René Carayol MBE, who has worked with leaders such as Mikael Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Sir Richard Branson, Bill Clinton, and Kofi Annan, and authored the book ‘SPIKE’. He has been Chairman, CEO and MD of businesses and served on the boards of Marks and Spencer’s and Pepsi. He is an authority on inclusivity and leadership.

3.3       The programme includes an international element which will encourage and enable the NI climate change-makers to build relationships and collaborations with climate change-makers from other parts of the world through the 30 under 30 programme currently run by the North American Association for Environmental Education.

            Potential benefits for the Council

3.4       The programme coordinators will ensure that the Council will be positioned as championing (along with the other partners) the creation and development of the next generation of local leaders who will lead work to address climate change in Northern Ireland. This will support the cities ambition, articulated in the Belfast Resilience Strategy, to ‘transition to a low-carbon economy in a generation’. It will also build on work undertaken by the Council Climate Unit with young people through the Belfast Climate Commission and Council funded research on young people’s perceptions of the climate crisis undertaken during COP26 in 2021. Should the Council support the initiative, the Climate Unit will explore opportunities to align with our existing climate programme and the work being undertaken with young leaders through Belfast Climate Commission and within other projects such as Belfast One Million Trees Programme, the UPSURGE project, the Belfast Retrofit Hub and the Belfast Sustainable Food Partnership. In supporting this programme, the Council will be going well beyond its own carbon footprint and direct activity, it is proactively inspiring and equipping those who have the ambition to transform industries (similar to Artemis and Responsible, both from Belfast) and create global solutions (for example Catagen, also from Belfast) to our most pressing climate and environmental challenges.

3.5       In terms of profile, the Council brand will be prominent on all of the initiative marketing material which will be launched to ensure mass awareness. The Council brand will also be highly visible at all of the modules (including the finale event) and a Council representative will be invited to participate in the press photos launching the event and at the finale event.

3.6       There is also an opportunity for a member of the Council’s Climate team to present on how a city is playing its part in helping to avert a climate crisis. The cohort will feature some of NI’s finest future leadership talent (including those from the local government sector), so this content will be very useful and relevant to the participants.

3.7       There is an opportunity for the Lord Mayor of Belfast to greet the group and hear how they are planning to create meaningful impact as a direct consequence of the programme. A short video of the Lord Mayor greeting the group as part of the pilot programme is visible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3wI5qXyd48 There is also an opportunity to host one of the modules in the City Hall and secure the press coverage associated with that. This would be the ideal event for the Lord Mayor to greet and listen to the group and the positive planet impact they plan to create.  

            Financial and Resource Implications

3.8       £8,750 plus VAT which will be allocated from existing City and Organisational Strategy budgets. 

            Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Implications

3.9       None.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.