Discussing difficult issues

I have just delivered a round of Carbon Literacy training in an art gallery.  It covers climate change and practical things we can do to make a difference.

During a break we walked through an exhibition space to the back office to make some coffee.  As we went we talked about how visitors were responding to the exhibition, and how the team interacted with visitors.  We talked about how they could get across messages about changes they were making.

In the office we talked about the challenges of running a historic building.  We talked about the beautiful old single glazed windows and high roof spaces, adjusting the heating and wearing warmer clothes in the winter.  I gave them some useful resources to look at.

At the end of the session it was a pleasure to see people leaving the room full of energy.  Talking about how they could improve the way they do things in their different roles.  Comparing notes about how the different teams work and batting ideas back and forth, saving water by changing a washing process, reusing old materials in new projects.

It was a wonderful human interaction and it made me very aware of the value of making time to get together and have face to face discussions about difficult issues.  I couldn’t help thinking that a zoom session might have been more “convenient” but there’s no way it could have been as productive.