• Nesta developed the Strategy Room as a citizens’ assembly-like immersive experience using videos of actors and iPads
• The Strategy Room was piloted with more than 630 people in England and found that discussions made people more positive about net zero policies than respondents in online polls
• Nesta is calling for creation of a Citizen Participation Service to engage public in path to net zero and help avoid polarisation

A pilot led by Nesta increased support among participants for net zero policies, highlighting the need for government to step up public involvement in climate policy.

The Strategy Room, designed by Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, the organisation Fast Familiar and UCL’s Climate Action Unit, uses videos with actors to help participants imagine scenarios in which their local council has brought in carbon-reducing policies. The participants are then encouraged to discuss the positive and negative effects of these policies on heating, travel and food. Participants are encouraged to rate each policy using interactive software on iPads.

Between January and March this year, Nesta and Fast Familiar ran 66 sessions of the Strategy Room with more than 630 participants in 12 local authorities across England.

The pilot’s findings, published in a report today, reveal that participants who were able to discuss the policies were more positive about the net zero policies than the respondents in an online poll. People involved in the pilot rated 7 out of 10 of the policies 12% higher on average, than people in a nationally representative YouGov survey of over 2,000 people commissioned by Nesta – and 8% higher on average across all 10 policies. The pilot also showed a link between the quality of debate and how satisfied people were with the recommendations being made.

Nesta is calling for the creation of a Citizen Participation Service – a new unit within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to help people participate in climate change policymaking, build community links and address the potential for public backlash on important net zero policies. This follows the Climate Change Committee last month reiterating the need for the Government to publish a net zero public engagement strategy.

Kathy Peach, director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta, said: “The UK has gone from a front runner in the battle against climate change to a net zero laggard, and to reverse this, both central and local government will have to ramp up their approach on issues such as cutting carbon from cars, heating and food production. It’s important that people feel they are able to have their say on this, which the Climate Change Committee has been calling for.

“Traditional consultations and surveys are outdated and some formats like citizens’ assemblies can involve significant time commitments. Our pilot of the Strategy Room shows that there are more innovative and quicker digital ways to engage people, which can be scaled for big groups of people. Using these, we’ve found that discussion can improve support for net zero policies and satisfaction with consultations. The Government should create a Citizens Participation Service to coordinate this kind of engagement and involve people in its path to net zero.”

Dr Kris de Meyer, director of the UCL Climate Action Unit, said: “The Strategy Room gets citizens thinking and talking about how - as a society - we can remove the roadblocks for people to adopt net zero lifestyles.

“From a behavioural science perspective, that is its unique contribution. It doesn't focus on individual behaviour change. Rather, it puts the public conversation about net zero fair and square where it needs to be: at the level of the policy and systems change needed to make the transition possible. Furthermore, it is expressly designed so that it is engaging for people who have a variety of different interests and values."

Jo Gay, head of climate change at Southend-on-Sea City Council, said: “Southend-on-Sea City Council is really proud to have been part of the co-design for the Strategy Room. We know how important it is to engage with all our communities to ensure that we are delivering effective policies and projects across the city.

“The Strategy Room fills a significant gap in terms of finding an innovative and cost-effective way to work through the complexities of climate change in a scalable way. It really works and we will continue to roll out sessions across the city.”

Across different Strategy Room sessions, participants discussed their local council putting in place policies to:

• increase the number of charge points for electric cars (EVs);
• require private landlords to include energy bills in tenants’ monthly rents, with additional financial help for insulation;
• require supermarket chains to publish an overall environmental rating;
• redevelop town centres by pedestrianising and adding trees and cycle and bus lanes;
• improve the energy efficiency of social housing with insulation and heat pumps;
• create compulsory standards for sourcing local and sustainable food in hospitals, schools and prisons;
• introduce a subscription service for buses, trains, bikes and electric taxis and e-scooters via an app;
• encourage people to invest in a community scheme for locally generated renewable energy;
• subsidise discounted EVs through an ‘e-car club’;
• offer financial incentives for people to trade in their petrol and diesel cars for money toward an EV.

The Strategy Room can be played in one session of less than two hours, with discussion of each separate policy between 5 and 10 minutes, unlike many established citizen assembly formats for discussing issues like net zero. The data captured through the Strategy Room is openly available on a public platform and is comparable between areas, updated in real-time and aggregated to give a national picture.

Nesta is now planning a nationwide UK rollout of the Strategy Room from autumn 2023, making it available to local councils around the UK with an aim to hold sessions with up to 8,000 more people. Local councils who would like to use the Strategy Room as part of their net zero public engagement activities should sign-up here.

Notes to editors

1. The Strategy Room was tested during a three-month pilot. The design was inspired by findings from social neuroscience that emphasise the importance of collective identity for motivating pro-environmental behaviour. All of the Strategy Room’s policy content was developed in close consultation with net zero experts as well as using advice from an expert on social neuroscience to help incorporate the latest findings on the psychology of climate change into the narrative framing. Three local authorities in different parts of England – Lambeth, Sandwell and Southend-on-Sea – acted as co-design partners throughout the development process. Before creating the digital version of the experience, a round of user testing was carried out with local residents in Lambeth, Sandwell and Southend-on-Sea.
2. Nesta commissioned an online survey with 2,009 UK residents through YouGov’s Omnibus platform, employing quota sampling and post-stratification weighting adjustments to ensure the sample was both nationally and politically reflective of the UK population. This was conducted between 13 and 14 April. Participants were asked to rate eight core policies and two fairness-adjusted policies across the topics of Travel, Heat and Food using condensed versions of the policies adapted from the Strategy Room narrative.
3. For more information on the Strategy Room, its analysis or to speak to one of the experts involved, please contact Kieran Lowe, Media Manager, on 020 7438 2576 or [email protected]. Spokespeople are available for broadcast interviews.

About Nesta

We are Nesta, the UK's innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale solutions to society's biggest problems. Our three missions are to give every child a fair start, help people live healthy lives, and create a sustainable future where the economy works for both people and the planet.

For over 20 years, we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation. We work in three roles: as an innovation partner working with frontline organisations to design and test new solutions, as a venture builder supporting new and early stage businesses, and as a system shaper creating the conditions for innovation.

Harnessing the rigour of science and the creativity of design, we work relentlessly to change millions of lives for the better. Find out more at nesta.org.uk

About the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design

Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design focuses on new ways to bring people, data and technology together to harness their collective intelligence, solve problems that matter and strengthen collaboration between citizens and institutions.