Camden’s ‘ThinkandDo’ Pop Up is a new community space to give people in Camden the chance to come together to develop ideas and projects tackling the climate and ecological crisis. The creation of a new civic space is a direct follow on from Camden’s Citizens’ Assembly on the Climate Crisis .
The ThinkandDo space is being run in an experimental and participatory way based on discussions from a wide range of partners who met at a co-design workshop held on 16th October 2019. They agreed that physical spaces can provide the platform for different people to come together in a way that makes them feel at home and part of a community.
There is currently no dedicated space for people in Camden to come together to talk about their responses to the climate and ecological crisis. These responses can include emotional responses such grief as well as new actions to change lifestyles, consumption, culture as well as greener planning and budgetary provisions to reshape Camden in line with the Camden Action Plan Consultation and the new Climate Action Plan that will be adopted later in 2020.
ThinkandDo came about from Camden citizen’s deep concern about climate change and their desire to get involved in co-creating solutions that tackle climate change and also help social inclusion and cohesion.
Camden has a long history of using citizens’ assembly and participatory approaches to get people involved in decision-making and be active citizens. In response to students strikes and protests by Extinction Rebellion in April 2019, the Council readily agreed to hold a Citizens’ Assembly as part of Camden’s “climate emergency” declaration.
Camden became the first council in the UK to hold a Citizens’ Assembly which met over July 2019 and received over 600 ideas for action. The final report and 17 recommendations of the Assembly were discussed at the Full Council meeting on 7th October, when the Council unanimously agreed to take forward all these recommendations. Prompted by Cllr Gould and Camden environmental leader, Farhana Yamin, the ‘ThinkandDo’ pop up space was created to continue the civic collaboration among and between citizens so everyone could learn about the Assembly’s work and could bring forward additional imaginative ideas and projects. The Council found a premise on Kentish Town Rd it could quickly convert into the ThinkandDo space in October and convened a workshop on 14th October attended by nearly 100 people to help co-design the new space.
The name “ThinkandDo” is deliberate because it signals that each and everyone of us needs to (re)think our roles and choices and all of us need to do something differently in response to the planetary emergency. The activities in ThinkandDo encourage new conversations, reflections, connections and encourage learning by doing.
ThinkandDo is a community initiative run by volunteers from local community groups.
The main partners to date are listed below. Together, we have formed an informal planning team.
But it is important to note that ThinkandDo is community and citizens led initiative. There are many individuals and organisations who are helping who not listed on the website and we are trying to engage and learn about all the other amazing initiatives and actions going on in Camden.
We welcome all those who are keen to get involved to get in touch.
Contact us via the contact form on this website. We need more volunteers to help us run the programme of activities.
Partners of ThinkandDo Camden
Camden Council
Climate Emergency Camden
Climate Emergency Camden is an alliance of 10 local organisations which successfully lobbied the Council to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency.
InnerPlanet
InnerPlanet is a voluntary co-creation collective building a carbon empowerment technology through open-source collaboration, all to empower individuals and communities to change their behaviour for a more sustainable world.
Power Up North London
Power Up North London (PUNL) was set up in 2017 to deliver community owned and managed renewable energy. We are a Community Benefits Society which delivers renewable energy projects owned and managed by the community.
The Sustainers
The Sustainers are a formidable eco-system of secondary school students working to demand and deliver greater sustainability within schools.
Transition Kentish Town
Transition Kentish Town is a part of a movement of communities coming together to reimagine and rebuild our world, focused around sustainability and creating resilient, connected and happier communities.
Dartmouth Park Talks
Dartmouth Park Talks is a community led initiative set up to provide a space for dialogue and discussion around the themes that impact on us all today.
Camden Forest
Planting 2025 ‘story trees’ in private back gardens by 2025. Each tree has a guardian and a story which will be mapped online to create an interactive, ongoing picture of our Camden Forest.
Kentish Town Road Action
Kentish Town Road Action is an established pressure group of residents and business people working to make Kentish Town Road a more vibrant and attractive shopping and meeting centre by improving shopping, air quality, transport, pavements, lighting, design and parking.
NW5 Pickers
Windfall and foraged fruit picking as well as litter. Seasonal events such as apple pressing on our cast iron apple press.
Play Streets
Play Streets is long-running decentralised initiative allowing residents to close
streets for play; there are now 5 Play Streets in our immediate area, and more nearby.
Rewilding Camden
Rewilding Camden is a group of professional local landscapers and gardeners who have started a campaign to rewild our housing estates, and
ourselves!
Vegbox
Vegbox is a social enterprise which is starting to employ local folk and supplies bags of weekly local seasonal veg/fruit and recipes to over 200 households.
Camden Friends of the Earth
Camden Friends of the Earth campaigns for solutions to environmental problems – for action to create a better, greener Camden (and beyond!).