The People’s Emergency Briefing
On a Tuesday evening, 5th May, in Titchfield, around 70 local residents packed into the hall and made it feel full in the best possible way. They had come together to watch The People’s Emergency Briefing — a film that does exactly what its title suggests. No dramatisation, no metaphor. Just the science, presented clearly and honestly, on the state of our natural world and our climate.
It wasn’t an easy watch. But then it wasn’t meant to be.
What followed was one of the most engaged community conversations we have had. Our panel — Professor Denise Baden, Katy Gary from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and EcoTitchfield’s own Chris — tackled questions ranging from how we reach people who weren’t in the room, to what a genuinely nature-friendly Titchfield could look like in twenty years.
A few things stood out.
Facts alone don’t change behaviour — stories do. Professor Baden’s research showed that fiction, plays, and community storytelling shift attitudes in ways that data simply cannot. She cited her own novel Habitat Man, where 98% of readers adopted greener attitudes after finishing it — proof that narrative reaches parts of us that statistics never will. If we want to bring more people with us, we need to find more creative ways to make this real, local, and personal.
Local action matters more than we think. Katy reminded us that parish councils own significant amounts of land, and that even small changes — an unmown verge, a rewilded corner, a restored pond — add up. Nature recovery doesn’t have to wait for national policy. It can start on your street, or at your next parish council meeting.
And perhaps most powerfully: Hugh Montgomery’s point from the film that each of us has roughly seven people in our lives who trust us enough to listen. If you share what you heard that evening with just those seven people, and they each do the same, the ripple effect is extraordinary. Twelve cycles of that, and you’ve reached more than the world’s population. It starts with one conversation.
So what can you do right now?
- Write to your MP — use this link (and a draft text below if you need somewhere to start)
- Come to our next screening on Tuesday 1st September and bring two people who wouldn’t normally come
- Join us at upcoming EcoTitchfield events — details at www.ticketsource.com/ecotitchfield
The people who filled that hall proved that Titchfield cares. Now we need to make sure that care turns into something lasting.
We’re just getting started.
Small Steps, Big Changes
