Blog by Rebecca Kinge, Director of Southampton Collective and Co-Chair of Southampton Climate Action Network
Devolution is on the cards in Hampshire and Solent. Have your say here by 13 April: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/lggc/hampshire-and-the-solent-devolution-consultation/
Following Tuesday’s event about devolution hosted by RSA Southampton, here are some questions that, in my view, need some careful focus:
A fuller response on devolution is included in the joint Transition Southampton / Southampton Climate Action Network response: Hampshire and the Solent devolution consultation: (draft) response by Southampton Climate Action Network and Transition Southampton – deadline 13 April
Coming together
On a Tuesday in April 2025, over 50 people came together in Southampton to talk about devolution and a future Mayoral Authority for Hampshire and the Solent area. The panel was made up of Lorna Fielker from Southampton City Council, Rob Kurn from Southampton Voluntary Services, Debbie Tann from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Ross McNally from Hampshire Chamber of Commerce along with Mark Lloyd who is the Head of Policy at RSA.
As advocated by Ross McNally, the real potential value of devolution will be the coming together, with a shared vision that can be implemented in a strategic way. Could anybody disagree? It is the how that is done that will bring the challenges. The idea of a “Council of All the Voices” was suggested, to bring together the politicians, businesses, community organisations and trade unions. Increasingly, these types of forums are including the voice of nature, so we don’t lose sight of the ecosystems that sustain life.
As Lorna Fielker said we all need to be lobbying to make sure that we are influencing the priorities of this new authority and its Mayor. This is harder said than done when consultation and community involvement budgets have been cut to the bone. It has to go beyond the odd survey, and create a sense that people can get involved in creating the vision, with decisions being made in a fair and transparent way. This is an area where Southampton Collective has been working hard to explore and develop techniques in the Southampton area, including through Southampton Coproduction Corner, a local community practice around better working together coordinated by Southampton Voluntary Services
From growth to prosperity
There’s a lot of talk in Southampton and across Government about the drive for growth. Whilst sustainable development has been on the table for decades now, this has not stopped us getting into both climate and nature crises, which threaten life and livelihoods. Debbie Tann reminded us of the commonly expressed false narrative that nature is a barrier to economic success, when in reality natural capital underpins a successful economy, enhances social connections and fosters health and wellbeing.
Debbie Tann also asked the fundamental question about what we mean by growth, which so frequently is measured in GDP. This led to a discussion about other ways of talking about and measuring prosperity such as focusing on happiness indices. To me this is a priority, because some of the narrative around growth remains focused on generating wealth regardless of whether it actually improves people’s lives. GDP based growth also treats the environment as an externality, grossly underestimating its value and benefits along with the risks and costs of damaging it. Doughnut Economics and Community Wealth Building can help us with this. Southampton Climate Action Network will be further focusing on this over the next year and beyond, and anyone can join us in the journey.
A duty to climate and nature
Southampton Climate Action Network, and others involved in climate and nature in the Hampshire area, are advocating for a statutory duty around climate and nature. It is critical that the new authority recruits elected representatives and a Mayor who understands the importance of ecosystems, infrastructure resilience, evidence-based approaches, proven technologies and economic decision making based on sustainability. They will need to make sure that climate and nature is integral to all decision-making.
The conversation touched on the “othering” of environmentalists, when so often those who are passionate about evidence-based sustainable approaches to development and living are ignored, and their only course of action is to protest. We need to move from protest to policy. As Southampton Climate Action Network, we are a broad organisation that involves community groups, and local businesses alongside activists and residents. We focus on evidence-based action and foster collaboration, and this is embedded in our Guiding Principles.
Social connections and social mobility
Mark Lloyd talked about the importance of the Mayoral Authority addressing social connections which is a strong predictor of social mobility. This is where the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector plays a crucial role, because they can offer a bridge between real people in communities and decision-makers. However, VCSE organisations are so busy delivering essential services to people and responding to the harsh cuts that have faced public services, that they have little or no capacity to get involved in lobbying, policy development or visioning exercises. How can they be empowered to speak up and be heard as part of a Mayoral authority?
Mark also emphasised the importance of looking at the deeper barriers to accessing employment opportunities and devolving more power to local service providers, creating a big opportunity from devolution. This will be game changing if the new authority, is able to achieve it. It can only happen in partnership with the communities, businesses and organisations that it serves.
Jobs and skills
There’s a lot of talk about making sure there are jobs in cities like Southampton for local people, addressing the current over-reliance on people coming from other areas to fill our skills gaps. The conversation on Tuesday included the importance of breaking down the urban/rural divide. More jobs and skills are needed to implement nature-based solutions, so we need to focus on upskilling young people to follow career paths in landscapes and open spaces, farming, the circular economy, sustainable technologies and community wealth building more widely.
Next steps
It is encouraging to think of how things could improve for the better, if we all work positively together and keep evidence-based and community-focused approaches at the centre of Mayoral authority decision-making.
If you would like to get involved with Southampton Collective or Southampton Climate Action Network, please get in touch.
Rebecca Kinge
www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccakinge/
10 April 2025
Empowered communities : what would make a prosperous, planet-positive Southampton in 2050? Last night, we gathered at Mettricks cafe in Woolston to chat about our vision for the city, during an RSA Southampton event. We heard from three amazing people who have a vision and are working as hard as they can, building community, to… Read More
Did you know that Southampton Collective Directors, Mandi, Clare, Rebecca and Katie have all been involved in the development of the Southampton Climate Action Network (SoCAN) over the last couple of years? We have been working with Liz Batten, who has been the instigator and lead in the network’s development since late 2022. Katie and Mandi… Read More
Image: Drawing on the Outside Workshop May 2023 at God’s House Tower, Southampton In September 2022 I embarked on a new project with local visual artist Sarah Filmer called Drawing on the Outside – a space for men who are experiencing isolation to come together and draw and make. The project was always centred around… Read More
Image credit: ‘Diversity and Equality and Inclusion and Empathy’ by Greg Bunbury (b.1976), Black Outdoor Art. Image used in Beam’s Research Report ‘Building a More Diverse & Inclusive Public Art Sector’. From 2019-2023 I was Chair of ixia – UK Public Art Think Tank. An organisation, which has its roots back in the 1980’s when… Read More
Local independent art producer Katie Daley-Yates becomes the 4th Co-Director of the Southampton Collective along with Mandi Bissett, Clare Diaper and Rebecca Kinge. Katie has been based in Southampton for 10 years now working freelance across the city on a great many different visual arts projects including: ‘a space’ arts Artist Development Programme, Sarah Filmer’s… Read More
We regularly hear of meetings, research and policies about the vision and planning for Southampton’s future. We welcome all of this. But sometimes we wonder how the local community is represented in meetings and research. How have residents been involved in co-creating policy? We have seen that often there are places at the table for… Read More
Here at The Southampton Collective, we are delighted to be a partner in two exciting initiatives for the Riverside Park area of Southampton. Southampton based independent visual art producer Katie Daley-Yates of HostProductions has commissioned two public art projects forRiverside Park and the surrounding neighbourhoods, by local artists sarah filmer andDeborah Gearing. The projects will… Read More
Our new air quality campaign hits the streets of Southampton this week to highlight the damaging impacts of air pollution on children. We commissioned local artist Nathan Evans to create striking posters which make clear the link between dirty air and children’s health. They will appear near schools and playgrounds across the city on Thursday… Read More
Date and time: 20th October at 7pm What: What are you going to do this winter to make sure you stay healthy? Where: Zoom event online with a Portswood community focus Come and join this community-led conversation about what we can all do this winter to ensure we stay healthy of mind and body. With… Read More
On 20th May 2020, we will be part of the organising team for the Positive Futures online event. This is all about young people, arts, creativity and mental health. Details here. This event is a partnership with Arts and Health South West, Hampshire Cultural Trust, and us, in our role with the Southampton Art In… Read More
Artist Claudia Friend is helping everyone make something together! Make a line – draw, scribble, sculpt, build, fold, paint, create or find a line – just one – curved, colourful, straight, loopy, dotted, thick, thin…get creative! Send the pic to Claudia on Instragram, Facebook or email doloresfroh@gmail.com including your name, location (e.g. Hampshire), Instagram tag…and… Read More
Today, our Health Model Village joined SO:Linked community project in the first of a series of events around Southampton, hosting drop-in events at Lordshill Library and Lordswood’s Kings Community Church. We asked people what they like about their areas and plotted their local gems on our big map. People told us how they like to… Read More
Interested in the connections between creativity and health? Join the informal gathering of the Southampton Art in Health Forum this Wed 26 Feb 12-2pm at NST City’s Tyrell’s cafe in Guildhall Square. More here.
On Monday 3rd February 2020, we were at Gods House Tower with 27 people from a range of arts projects, health services and community groups. This was a combined event between CHAOS (Creative, Heritage and Arts Organisations of Southampton) and the Southampton Art In Health Forum. We all shared a little bit about ourselves. We… Read More
Getting creative is good for our health. Whether you like dance, theatre, visual arts, cooking, gardening, music, cooking, sewing, woodwork (anything really), there’s so much potential to be creative and enjoy the creativity of others. The evidence says that arts can make a powerful contribution to health and wellbeing. As the Parliamentary Inquiry into Creative… Read More
What’s On for a Sustainable and Healthy Southampton? Here’s some events that we are involved in, or think you’d like to know about: Getting net zero on track: a workshop with Hope for the Future This will explore the role of People’s Assemblies for a zero carbon future. Fri 31st Jan 2020 6pm at Edmund Kell Hall.… Read More
This workshop, with a focus on the role of a People’s Assembly, is being held on Friday 31 January, 6pm, at Edmund Kell Hall in Southampton. Book your tickets here Hope for the Future are specialists in training citizens to have effective conversations with their representatives. This workshop focuses on how a People’s Assembly can… Read More
Southampton Art in Health Forum 3rd Feb 2020 – 10am til lunchat Gods House Tower SO14 2NY We’re teaming up with the CHAOS network on 3rd February. CHAOS is a network for creative, heritage and arts organisations of Southampton. The gathering starts at 10am with a general CHAOS meeting, and then we’ll focus on health from 11.30am.… Read More
We’ve had an amazing year with our Breathing Spaces project in St Denys, including: hosting five Clean Air Cafes; ten particulate matter air quality sensors installed across St Denys; and a whole load of community action. Hundreds of local people have been involved. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of enthusiasm and action for… Read More
Happy Autumn! Our Breathing Spaces project is coming to an end, and we have our final Clean Air Cafe on Saturday 30 November. We’ll be sharing the learning from the project, celebrating the community activity that has been happening and having a think about the future. More details on our Breathing Spaces website. Interested in… Read More
Interested in access to health, active travel and air quality? Join us on Fri 27 Sept 2019 for all or part of the day at our Southampton Health Cycle and/or City Wheel and Walk tour. You can join sections of the route, or you can come and chat at our various health stops. For more… Read More
In August 2019, we set up Southampton City Vision as a place for residents and those with a strong connection to the city to have a conversation about what Southampton should be like. We’d been to a Friday Forum gathering at Southampton Voluntary Services on 2 August, and heard about plans for the next phase… Read More
September steps towards a sustainable, healthy Southampton with the community at the heart. All Aboard, a Musical and Theatrical Treasure Trail at High Tide (11.30-2.30) on Sat Aug 31st 2019 around the River Itchen’s Cobden Bridge and Blue Rail Bridge. Watch out for the troll! This event has received a Breathing Spaces bursary from The… Read More
Join us for the film premiere of The Race is On. Let’s start a revolution.… Read More
A year is a long time in environmental politics. Last summer, an unknown school girl was striking outside the Swedish Parliament, frustrated by a lack of action on climate change. Back then no-one would have dared to believe that Greta Thunberg would one day be on the cover of Time magazine or nominated for the… Read More
Our Breathing Spaces project in St Denys is gathering lots of momentum. We’ve had three Clean Air Cafes now, where people have shared their ideas and pledges for action to improve local air quality and promote liveable neighbourhoods. Our next event is a Clean Air Ideas Drop In on Tues 18 June 5-9pm at St… Read More
We have two events coming up for April. On Thursday 11th April 6.30-8.30pm we’ll be at October Books for Cuppa Social, an informal chance for a chat over a drink. Just turn up, all welcome. On Saturday 27th April at 3pm, we’ve got the second Clean Air Cafe in St Denys. If you want to… Read More
We had a fantastic time on Sat 23 March exploring arts and health, at the Umbrella Arts Festival at NST City. Hundreds of people came and got involved in singing, interactive theatre, drumming, all sorts of painting and collage activities, board games and joined the health cafes. We made asked people to draw a bike… Read More
This year’s IWD falls on a FriYay! and the theme is #balanceforbetter . Women can be very good at hosting, feeding and juggling everybody’s needs but often at a cost to their own enjoyment and participation. We wondered how we could balance organising a fun Friday night out without exhausting ourselves or our wallets. We… Read More
Dear Youth 4 Climate Strikers You have our full support. There’s no question that politicians and businesses are asleep at the wheel when it comes to climate change. Here you are, waking them up, encouraging them to rethink their policies and steer the juggernaut away from the edge. It’s not going to be easy. Before… Read More
“You say it’s either our future and our problem, or we’re too young to understand. Which one is it?” Young people in Southampton and across the world marched and sang and danced in the streets today. This was not a celebration, but a protest about the party the grownups have been having on this planet… Read More
Last summer, the Southampton Collective was awarded funding to run a clean air project in Southampton through Nesta’s Connected Communities Innovation Fund. Since then we have refocused the idea from a city-wide project to working with residents in one neighbourhood – St Denys. This new project is called Breathing Spaces because we want to support… Read More
Following the success of our Cuppa Socials last November and January, we’re heading east to Woolston for the fabulous views from Mettricks at Centenary Plaza, SO19 9UE. Come and put the world to rights with Rebecca Kinge (from The Southampton Collective and Healthwatch Southampton) and Vie Portland (from Vieness) from 10am. Together we can talk… Read More
Fun to be had in Portswood this Saturday with body confidence coach Vie Portland of VieNess. We’ll be chatting and cutting and sticking and all sorts of prep for our International Women’s Day event in March.
We decided that there’s never enough time just to sit and chat, so our very own Rebecca Kinge has organised a ‘Cuppa Social’ on Thurs 22nd November at 6pm at By Sea Coffee Lounge. This is chance for anyone interested in health and sustainability in Southampton to come and chat. It’s very informal, let’s grab… Read More
Deb Wilkes and her partner Chris Townsend are the inspiration behind Southampton’s Dead Good Days, a new festival taking place from 23rd October to 10th November. It is a series of family-friendly events, workshops and talks that will entertain, inform, intrigue, and equip us all to better deal with death, dying and loss. The Southampton… Read More
In May this year, the Nuffield City Theatre was the venue for for TEDxSouthampton 2018. It was a whole day event featuring creative and challenging ideas around the theme of ‘Growth’, such as: How can we grow inclusive communities? | What has driven the growth of human societies and perhaps even our species? |… Read More
Maps are great tools for enabling people to understand and transform their cities. Southampton’s very own Ordnance Survey has OS Greenspace, a comprehensive catalogue of green spaces across the UK; and Mapping for Change has itself run a project to map community air quality in London. Over the summer we also used cartography to raise… Read More
We are very proud to have been awarded a prestigious grant to help tackle air pollution in Southampton! The ‘Sniffy’ project will help drive community action for clean air by using citizen science and the power of individuals and communities to create change. The Southampton Collective is one of 16 organisations selected to take part… Read More
Artwork is by Kev Munday – Part of the Stand Together exhibition Thursday 12 April 2018 11am-6pm we are having a Get Together for Health and Wellbeing. This is part of Stand Together for Health week at Solent Showcase Gallery, just off Southampton’s Guildhall Square next to Artisan Cafe. Drop in during the day, or… Read More
Every year, Dangerous Ideas Southampton marks International Women’s Day by putting on an event and sharing news of gatherings organised by others. Sisters Act! is on 8 March at 7pm at Solent Showcase Gallery with artist Sarah Filmer. Full listings of loads of other #PressforProgress events are available here. There are also a… Read More
Creative Places is working for Solent Showcase gallery on behalf of Go Southampton, the city’s Business Improvement District, to produce some school holiday trails for the February half term. Families will be able to explore the city centre with a Spitfire theme, learning about the city during World War II and the role of the… Read More
Come along to Touch Network’s evening of live storytelling, taking place on Friday 19th January at 7.30pm at Mettricks Old Town (117 High Street). Debs Carter, the Founder of the Touch Network was a speaker at TEDxSouthampton 2016. The speakers for the storytelling evening have been arranged by Rebecca Kinge, one of the Southampton Collective… Read More
Rebecca Kinge, our coordinator of the Creative Places Southampton, chatted with Alex Ivancevic on Unity 101 radio station during Community Hour, talking about the range of community projects that she has been involved in over the years. Click here to listen to Rebecca chatting about The Southampton Collective, why we need Creative Places and… Read More
Under our Creative Places project, we are hosting an event “Innovation on the High Street” on Friday 8 December at 9.30am. This is in partnership with Culture Southampton and others. If you would like to attend, please register via Eventbrite. It’s free and we are delighted that a cross section of people involved in various… Read More
Working towards a sustainable city and liveable neighbourhoods is a key feature of our work. We actively support projects focusing on both climate action and clean air in Southampton. Solent Air Watch is developing low-cost air pollution sensors to enable us all to monitor the quality of the air we breathe. Southampton is one… Read More
We are very pleased to have been awarded Community Chest funding by Southampton City Council! This will be used to develop The Southampton Collective as an economically viable, resilient, collaborative community development organisation, which complements the work that others are doing in the city. This includes the outcomes of the council’s consultation on the future… Read More
You may have heard of the world famous TED talks, and watched a few online, but did you know that you can watch them live in Southampton? Since 2013, annual TEDx events have been taking place in different venues across the city.… Read More
Here at Southampton Collective, we file our annual accounts with Companies House. As well as submitting information about our profit and loss, we also prepare a Review of the Year and a CIC34 statement, which sets out how we have been operating in the community interest. You can ask us for a copy of these… Read More
We are getting ready for the following event. Could you help us by sharing an image with us in advance that could help us imagine a prosperous, planet-positive Southampton in 2050? The RSA Southampton: Thursday 27 June 5.30 pm: Empowered Communities How can people and communities imagine and deliver a more prosperous, planet-positive Southampton? Southampton’s… Read More
Date and time: 20th October at 7pm What: What are you going to do this winter to make sure you stay healthy? Where: Zoom event online with a Portswood community focus Come and join this community-led conversation about what we can all do this winter to ensure we stay healthy of mind and body. With…
Read More
The “Mush”Room – a pop-up space where we re-imagine our place
On 20th May 2020, we will be part of the organising team for the Positive Futures online event. This is all about young people, arts, creativity and mental health. Details here. This event is a partnership with Arts and Health South West, Hampshire Cultural Trust, and us, in our role with the Southampton Art In…
Read More
Positive Futures
Artist Claudia Friend is helping everyone make something together! Make a line – draw, scribble, sculpt, build, fold, paint, create or find a line – just one – curved, colourful, straight, loopy, dotted, thick, thin…get creative! Send the pic to Claudia on Instragram, Facebook or email doloresfroh@gmail.com including your name, location (e.g. Hampshire), Instagram tag…and…
Read More
Drop Me A Line
Today, our Health Model Village joined SO:Linked community project in the first of a series of events around Southampton, hosting drop-in events at Lordshill Library and Lordswood’s Kings Community Church. We asked people what they like about their areas and plotted their local gems on our big map. People told us how they like to…
Read More
Community conversations
Interested in the connections between creativity and health? Join the informal gathering of the Southampton Art in Health Forum this Wed 26 Feb 12-2pm at NST City’s Tyrell’s cafe in Guildhall Square. More here.
On Monday 3rd February 2020, we were at Gods House Tower with 27 people from a range of arts projects, health services and community groups. This was a combined event between CHAOS (Creative, Heritage and Arts Organisations of Southampton) and the Southampton Art In Health Forum. We all shared a little bit about ourselves. We…
Read More
Art and Health – February gathering
Join VieNess for a day of inspiring talks and more, at the Phenomenal Women event on 8 March. Details here
Getting creative is good for our health. Whether you like dance, theatre, visual arts, cooking, gardening, music, cooking, sewing, woodwork (anything really), there’s so much potential to be creative and enjoy the creativity of others. The evidence says that arts can make a powerful contribution to health and wellbeing. As the Parliamentary Inquiry into Creative…
Read More
May is the month of creativity and health!
Deb and Chris went to London Southbanks’ ‘Deathfest’ in 2012 & were amazed at how many people were there to find out more about death & dying, that they decided to try it in Southampton – and call it ‘Dead Good Days‘. With years of Palliative Care Nursing / Environmental teaching behind them, they continue…
Read More
Dead Good Days
What’s On for a Sustainable and Healthy Southampton? Here’s some events that we are involved in, or think you’d like to know about: Getting net zero on track: a workshop with Hope for the Future This will explore the role of People’s Assemblies for a zero carbon future. Fri 31st Jan 2020 6pm at Edmund Kell Hall.…
Read More
What’s coming up