Place matters: community action for climate and wellbeing

With climate politics at the national and international level so often deadlocked, could action at the community level offer a way forward? This workshop explores how local neighbourhoods can become powerful drivers of climate action and social wellbeing when top-down approaches fall short.

The discussion will examine what motivates people to get involved in climate activism and how grassroots initiatives can help reduce local carbon impacts, while addressing wider challenges such as deprivation and inequality. By looking at real examples of community-led action and campaigning, the event will highlight how local collaboration can build both environmental sustainability and stronger, more resilient neighbourhoods.

Bringing together LSE academics and community practitioners, the workshop will include contributions on LSE Housing and Communities’ Sustainable Communities project and their Housing Plus Academy programme, alongside Sam Nadel’s research at Social Change Lab on environmental activism at the local level. Together, these perspectives will offer a practical understanding of how climate change can be tackled from the ground up. The workshop will be an opportunity for people to share their own perspectives.

A live scribe will capture key ideas and connections throughout the workshop, creating a visual record that brings the conversation to life and serves as a valuable resource for future reflection and write-ups.

Meet your workshop facilitators

Ellie Benton works as a research officer for LSE Housing and Communities. She leads on qualitative research across a range of topics impacting low-income communities these include homelessness, housing management, the environmental upgrading of social housing estates, and the response of community groups in the pandemic and cost of living crisis. She also organises the Housing Plus Academy, a series of events that aim to empower people to make a difference within their own community or organisation.

Laura Lane is a Policy Fellow working within the Housing and Communities team in CASE, London School of Economics. She has experience across a number of areas within housing and communities research. She is currently working on projects focused on sustainable upgrading of social housing estates; mitigating the harms from overcrowded homes; neighbourhood renewal and sustainable communities; and how multiple insecurities affect life chances and wellbeing and what joined-up policy can do to help.

Sam Nadel is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. He's spent his career working with social movements to drive change and is currently Director of think tank Social Change Lab. He was Head of Policy and Advocacy at Oxfam Great Britain and holds research positions at the University of Bath and University of Exeter, where he has led qualitative and mixed-methods research projects.

More about this event

This event is part of the LSE Festival: How to save the planet running from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026. This year's Festival explores how existential threats including the climate crisis, conflict and AI are affecting all parts of the world, transforming the way and where we live, and how our societies function. With a series of events asking what can we be doing to save the Earth, its people and environment? Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 18 May.

The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) examines different dimensions of social disadvantage, and analyses the impact of public policy.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival

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