Thanks to everyone who contributed towards the ThisPlace book. The trip to Copenhagen was tiring and highly eventful. We met lots of amazing people and based on our calculations managed to get the book to about 15% of delegates. The outcome of the conference itself is being interpreted differently by different interest groups. I have heard all the extremes from ‘the historic first step,’ to ‘an unmitigated failure of leadership and process.’ I guess for us, it is somewhere in the middle. One of the things that we realized while in Copenhagen is that the extreme views are often the loudest and clearest. They are also perhaps the most newsworthy as the press works off drama and antithesis, presenting polar opposites evenly and impartially so as not to have to choose. This project was, and still is, more about the people in the middle – the biggest group but often the least heard and represented. The people who want practical solutions to the problems they face rather than whole new ideologies. That’s why the book is primarily about highlighting the local, personal and immediate impacts of climate change. Impacts that are real and ongoing, despite the politics of global meetings.
Above is the book in its entirety. For some people, it might be worth a look to see if their submission is in there! When we started the project, the overall goal was to spread a bit of empathy amongst delegates. Hopefully now it will help spread a bit of empathy amongst regular people too. We are going to need it in the coming months to stay on the right track towards an ambitious legally binding agreement befitting of the science. So I would encourage you to share it with others. We always thought of the project as a small part of the first chapter in a long journey. In retrospect, perhaps it is more part of the introduction or even the prologue. However when re-reading the back cover, in in light of the outcome of the conference, I think it still conveys the right sentiment… Take a look for yourself.
Before we started this project we had no idea how big 5,000 books was. Problematic if this proved to be more than could fit in two cars while still allowing for five people and luggage. Luckily it was manageable and our focus has turned to getting the books to the right people. This is more difficult bearing in mind that the project kicked off far later than the six months needed to get the accreditation needed to get inside the Bella Centre – the home of the COP15 conference. So far the hotel route has proven difficult to say the least. The Marriot is sporting some very tough looking security guards and their ‘no’ was the swiftest. The email practically landed in Christian’s in-box while he was still walking away from the desk. The Radisson was much nicer and human from the off, and their email came some time later. I genuinely think that the manager was consulted before their ‘no’ landed a few hours later.
I can understand why the big hotel chains don’t want to make any waves or disturb the balance. Nobody wants to get in trouble – not when all eyes are watching. And on paper we are no different to any kind of activist or crack pot who are harbouring mischief in their message. Having said this our project is meant to provide a positive experience and something of value to the people who happen across it. Our approach has always been to try and get a good response from the people we are targeting by giving them something they will like. Everyone we show likes the book and the concept very much, but the gate keepers are proving challenging.
We have been pretty rushed off our feet since we arrived in Copenhagen in the two Toyota Prius’ that were kindly provided and driven by Greentomatocars. More updates to follow about our ‘outsiders’ take on the conference. Â The book itself is proving to be a big hit and its about time that we started sharing the brilliance of the illustrators that took part, with the world. Â The cover image is one of my personal favourites and sets the tone of the book really well i.e. positive, accessible, human, simple. Â It was created by Sarah Dyer who is a well known artist and illustrator. Â We think its awesome.
