University of Manchester academic and entrepreneur Dr. Joanne Tippett will speak at the World Symposium on Climate Change Communication conference in Manchester this week.

The co-inventor of the RoundView – an innovative way to support learning and design for a sustainable future – and founder of Ketso, a Manchester-based social enterprise with global reach, will speak to an international audience at the three-day event aimed at exploring how we can communicate and engage people effectively about climate change.

Award-winning Ketso – a creative engagement tool and hands-on ‘workshop in a bag’ – was developed in the mountains of Lesotho in the mid-1990s by Dr. Tippett. From its origins in University of Manchester research, it is now in use all over the world, from climate change planning in the UK, Cameroon, Tanzania and Ethiopia, to mental health transformation in the UK to exploring child trafficking issues in Bangladesh, to developing enterprise skills in Australia.

Dr. Tippett’s speech at the conference at The University of Manchester also comes after the RoundView recently inspired an innovative approach to community engagement for the £3.1million Carbon Landscape project – which has announced its successful funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund.

She said: “I’m very excited that this prestigious conference is not only taking place in Manchester, but that I’ve been given the chance to talk at it.

“My talk will build on decades of science and thinking about sustainability – with the key message being that we can change direction.

“I know first-hand that Ketso and the RoundView really are working and making a tangible social difference to people, from the most vulnerable in society to those in the highest positions when it comes to decision making,” said Dr Tippett, from the School of Environment, Education and Development.

“Ketso is also in use in over half of the Universities in the UK while local authorities use it to engage with communities – such as in Renfrewshire’s Community Planning Conference – where over 400 people used Ketso to explore ideas for the future of their area.”

Dr. Tippett, who works closely with The University of Manchester technology transfer division, UMIP, in a bid to develop the RoundView and Ketso, added: “Over 25,000 people have used Ketso around the world while the RoundView has been tested and developed with over 1,600 participants, including 250 members of staff at Tesco in action research funded by the Sustainable Consumption Institute.

“It’s great that I’ll be able to present some findings and practical hints for improved communication to people from all over the world who will be attending the conference.”

The World Symposium on Climate Change Communication is being organised by the Research and Transfer Centre “Applications of Life Sciences” of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester and the International Climate Change Information Programme (ICCIP) in collaboration with key international organisations.

It will be held at The University of Manchester from February 22 to February 24.