Rhian Llewelyn reports on the Dream Space Bath online event which took place in November.

Dream Space Bath was about the people of Bath’s response to the climate crisis. This was a forum to listen to and share stories about confronting the crisis and transformation.

It was hosted by Greenpeace activist, author and Ecojam Bath manager Rebecca Fox. Participants included representatives from Extinction Rebellion (XR), Greenpeace, Schools Climate Network, local councillors, forest school leader James Wood and recent Bard of Bath Conor Whelan.

James made an inspirational proposal to create a hub slightly outside the city for children to explore the natural environment, generate a sense of wonder and place, their relationship with story and narrative through folk tales and stories. He currently works in Willsbridge Mill Keynsham. Email jayofthewood@gmail.com if anyone is interested in working with or has an idea for a location.

Conor, a poet with the Bath artists and writers group, shared Response to Rise, a poetry video collaboration about the climate crisis.

As well as alerting the group to campaigns such as Tufa Field (see BBC news item) , and No Gasps, an XR campaign against the proposed gas fuelled power station in Midsomer Norton – a campaign which is being rolled out across England – there was also emphasis on the importance of celebration and regeneration. For example Share and Repair Bath is still available during lockdown – trading online, offering visits by appointment with distancing and masks – and XR Regen Coordinator Vicky Youdan recommended reading Joanna Macey’s The Work That Reconnects.

There are plans to hold Dreamspace in Spring, hopefully outside, a big blue sky thinking day in a natural space, to talk about dreams for how we would like the city to evolve in the future. DreamSpace is a project conceived and convened by Good for Nothing, inviting people from city communities, to share their local stories of today and their dreams for tomorrow on social inequalities, racism, climate and ecological justice.