London Sustainability Exchange

London Sustainability Exchange (LSx) is a charity which helps government, business and the third sector put sustainability into practice. LSx helps several local authorities to act on sustainability strategies and policies.

The context

LSx asked us to develop a workplace campaign for the London Borough of Havering to help bridge the ‘intention gap’ between attitude and action.

The aim was to:

• achieve a 7% decrease in CO2 emissions (equivalent to 1,800 tonnes of CO2)
• save over £300,000 through lower energy costs
• change staff attitudes towards climate change and get people to work together to change behaviour

The message we developed was inspiring, straightforward and achievable. “Together we can tackle climate change, save energy and save money in the London Borough of Havering”.

‘Living in Havering’ magazine was the only external media channel for this campaign, holding print ads and an insert. The rest of the campaign used internal channels to reach London Borough of Havering employees – including posters, intranet banner advertising, and AV presentations for staff

What's good about it?

Six months after launch we’ll be measuring changes in culture, attitude, views and awareness through attitudinal research. The Borough itself will also be measured against annual targets on CO2 reduction and energy/cost savings.

The Borough’s taking its commitment seriously. Climate change will be integrated into all business and service plans, there will be an energy consumption survey for all areas and an individual in each service area will be nominated to lead on emissions reporting. A corporate climate change working group will oversee progress, particularly looking into carbon dioxide emitted, cost of energy and energy consumption annually across the Borough.