Are you working in your community to build resilience and awareness around the consequences of climate change? This is the conference for you.
The Climate Resilience Assembly is a hands-on, peer-to-peer learning event for community practitioners, organisers, and local leaders to share their lived experiences—their successes, challenges, and practical tips—with others starting or scaling their journey.
We know some projects are already thriving, while others remain aspirational or “still on the list.” This is your chance to exchange knowledge in person over two days that might otherwise take months to gather online.
This unique event will convene a specially curated 80 participants—60 community organisers and 20 young leaders from UCL—for a powerful exchange of knowledge and intergenerational collaboration. If you are ready to share, learn, and help build our city's collective resilience, we invite you to apply.
This event is delivered in collaboration between the Islington Climate Centre and University College London (UCL) Students' Union, and made possible by the generous support of the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Resilience Unit and the Network for Social Change.
What to Expect
Seminar-style sessions: Each seminar will feature short talks from 3–4 organisations actively leading work in their communities, followed by group discussion and Q&A.
World Café Networking: On Wednesday evening, organisations will host table displays, creating space for informal conversation, collaboration, and inspiration.
Free to Attend: Thanks to the support of London Resilience, UCL, and the Network for Social Change, tickets are free.
Themes & Topics
Our agenda is built around the topics that community leaders are facing right now. Sessions will be peer-led and packed with practical advice, covering key areas including:
Community Mapping
Identifying local assets and climate risks
Retrofit & Home Heat Surveys
Making homes warmer, cheaper to run, and fit for the future
Community Climate Action Plan
Creating a practical roadmap for local action
Wellbeing
Fostering connection and supporting mental health in uncertain times
Community Power & Energy
Building local, clean, and affordable energy schemes
Workshops & Education
Designing engaging workshops that build skills and awareness
Flood Preparation
Boosting readiness and community response for flood events
Communication, Engagement & Networks
Crafting compelling narratives that inspire action and build community
Food Systems
Strengthening local food security and supply chains
Agenda
We have designed a schedule that moves beyond traditional presentations to create a balanced experience for you to learn, connect, and recharge. Please note that this is a preliminary agenda, which we will tailor based on the responses we receive in the participant forms.
Day 1, November 5
9:30
Arrival
10:00
Welcome
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Housekeeping and agenda
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Keynote address (Miriam Levin from Demos)
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Introductions: participants & organisations
11:00
Coffee break
11:30
Seminar block 1
-
Community mapping
-
Workshops on climate education
-
Communications
13:00
Lunch & networking
14:00
Seminar block 2
-
Community power
-
Flood/emergency preparation
-
Community climate action plan
15:30
Tea break
16:00
Seminar block 3
-
Wellbeing
-
Communications
-
Workshops on practical skills
17:30
Networking evening
20:00
Close
Day 2, November 6
09:30
Arrival
10:00
Seminar block 4
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Food systems
-
Retrofit & home heat surveys
-
Community mapping (deep dive)
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Wellbeing & resilience planning
11:30
Coffee break
12:00
Round up
Talks: Deliberative democracy
12:30
Lunch & networking
13:30
People's assembly
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How can we help each other going forward?
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What do we need from the government, local and national?
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Ideas as to how we could improve this conference format for next time?
16:30
Close & departure
Meet our team
Anna Hyde
As Co-Founder and Director of Islington Climate Centre, Anna Hyde's mission is to accelerate community-led climate action. Through the Climate Resilience Assembly, she is creating a space to strengthen local resilience by pooling resources and sharing collective wisdom. Her ultimate vision is to develop a successful, replicable blueprint that can empower communities everywhere.
Keerthi Raj
Keerthi Raj is a documentary filmmaker and leads Climate Care Films, where he supports climate organisations through audiovisual strategies and production. A core partner in the Climate Resilience Assembly, he has applied his expertise in strategic planning to coordinate the project's development. He is now focused on documenting its impact, aiming to create a powerful case study that champions this peer-to-peer learning model.
Clarissa Salmon
Clarissa is the UCL brains behind the Assembly. Across her roles at UCL SU, Oxford Net Zero & the Climate Coalition, Clarissa is passionate about supporting grassroots and youth climate action. From her very first cup of tea with Anna, Clarissa knew this was the real deal. She’s buzzing to bring learning around community resilience and local action to life at the beautiful UCL Stratford campus.
Levi Fernandez
Levi Fernandez is a social enterprise nerd who loves to share his passion for it with the world. He is the Social Enterprise Manager at UCL SU, where he supports students to ideate, prototype and scale social enterprises. Levi is also the proud Co-Founder of For Change Co., an Australian social enterprise tackling youth homelessness. At the assembly, Levi will provide his innovation expertise to support the development of climate justice solutions.
Joolz Thompson
Joolz Thompson empowers communities to turn conversation into concrete action. His process guides residents in creating and enacting their own Community Climate Action Plans through a series of participatory workshops. At the Assembly, he will offer practical insights on how communities can effectively collaborate with local governments to bring their climate plans to life.
Aneira Roose-McClew
As a co-founder of the "Trust the People" movement, Aniera Roose-McClew is dedicated to building democracy from the ground up. At the Assembly, she will channel her expertise in facilitation and content development into powerful sessions that demonstrate how to create effective tools for democratic organising.
Ida Carlens
Ida is the Social Enterprise Coordinator at UCL Students’ Union, where she supports students to explore social entrepreneurship and create ventures that drive positive social and environmental change. With a background spanning sustainability, food systems, and community engagement, Ida has worked across corporate, start-up and grassroots contexts. She founded 'Garden of Ida', a community yoga initiative that helps people connect with themselves and others through yoga and mindfulness practices. Ida is passionate about helping people turn ideas into action through collaboration, creativity and community.