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Two psychologists from Edge Hill University are launching the first-of-its-kind experiment to discover whether children are the best people to convince adults to live more sustainably.

Professor Geoff Beattie and Dr Laura McGuire have created The Great Community Climate Change Experiment –  a unique psychological research project – where adult participants will be shown a new film about schoolchildren changing their own behaviours after learning about climate change. The grown-ups will then be asked by researchers whether the film has influenced them and their attitude to sustainability.

Participants will be asked to complete a brief survey both before and after watching the short film to test what effects the film has had.

The Sefton event will be held on:

Friday 24th June, Southport Eco-Centre, 6-8pm

Esplanade, Southport, PR8 1RX.

Book your event using this link: The Great Community Climate Change Experiment – Southport Eco-Centre

Professor Beattie said:

“What influences people to make changes in their everyday lives? Can local children be role models for adults? These are some of the big questions we will be asking in ‘The Great Community Climate Change Experiment’. If urgent action against climate change is going to be effective, we have to learn how best to convince people to make changes to their everyday lives and live more sustainably.

“We are assessing whether people are more likely to alter their behaviour once they’ve seen children from their own community change because of their increased emotional engagement with climate change through the creative arts. It’s a very local angle on climate change, with a very high-level goal – making significant change in attitudes to sustainability.”

 Dr McGuire explained:

“By using creative arts techniques, such as drama, creative writing, art, songs and rap, we wanted to really engage children and young people with climate change and to tap into their underlying implicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes are attitudes which are held without conscious awareness but direct much of our everyday habitual behaviour.”

“This project was the first of its kind because it measured the change in the pupils’ underlying attitudes towards climate change and the film we then made, funded by the AHRC, really shows the impact of the project. It was a huge success with the children taking climate messages home, telling their parents to save energy and recycle more.”

Sefton Council is asking people to help shape the future of housing across the Borough.

A consultation, which lasts until Friday 29^th July is now underway and details can be found at www.sefton.gov.uk/housingstrategyconsultation. The feedback will be used to help shape a new, 2022-2027 Housing Strategy .

Have your say.

More than bricks and mortar

Cllr Trish Hardy, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing, said: “Sefton Council knows housing is about more much more than bricks and mortar.

“It’s about people’s homes, which are a vital part of all our lives and have a direct effect on our health, wellbeing, quality of life and the opportunities available to us.

“Our homes need to be secure and safe bases from which we can support and enjoy our families, go about our jobs and education and make the best of our lives and how we want to live them.

“The Council has a key role to play in ensuring that is the case by ensuring the local people’s needs are met through a properly functioning housing market.

“This new Strategy that we want people to help us shape will sets out our vision for housing in the Borough, along with aims and objectives to achieve it.”

Quality

Key themes of Sefton Council’s draft Housing Strategy include Improving the quality of housing in the Borough and Providing homes that meet people’s needs.

Enabling people to live independently and Tackling Barriers to Obtaining Suitable Housing and Services for the most vulnerable are also main objectives along with Effectively using council-owned properties and assets to support additional housing.

Sefton Council’s Local Plan includes a commitment to enabling the development of over 11,500 new, high-quality homes across the Borough by 2030. Part of the Council’s plans to meet this target have included the establishment its own housing development company – Sandway Homes Limited.

Social housing

The Council has also registered with the Regulator of Social Housing to become a social housing provider, stock owner and landlord. For the first time since 2006 we will be able to provide Council-owned social housing to our most vulnerable residents with a range of good-quality, affordable homes.

Cllr Hardy added: “Housing affects everyone in Sefton so I would urge people to visit www.sefton.gov.uk/housingstrategyconsultation and give us their views.”

Have your say.

Extending Housing Licensing schemes

Sefton Council is also carrying out a 12-week consulting on plans extend its Housing Licensing schemes for a further five years.

Since March 2018, Sefton Council has had a Selective Licensing scheme for private landlords in the Bootle area. There is also another licensing scheme which is called ‘Additional (HMO) Licensing which is only for houses of multiple occupancy (rented to at least three people, who are not part of the same family) for privately rented property situated in parts of Seaforth, Waterloo, Brighton-Le-Sands and central Southport.

Since introduced Housing Licensing in 2018, serious health and safety hazards – including issues relating to fire safety, electrical hazards, damp & mould and excess cold – have been removed from hundreds of properties.

Find out more and have your say on extending Housing Licensing schemes here.