We’re currently organizing the Small Climate Change here in Amsterdam together with non-profit organisation Hivos. The idea behind the conference is to set the agenda for a new way of thinking on tackling the crimate crisis. The Big Climate Change is failing in agreeing on big ideas, while in the end small ideas that get people to act, might actually be the big answer.

An advertisers approach to the climate problem: Rory Sutherland (known to the broader public as the vice-president of Ogilvy and the guy behind this incredibly witty Ted Talk on the power of small ideas that could change the world), addressed the Small Climate Summit with a video message on how powerful insights in behavior psychology ideas could lead to dramatic impact. One of the provocative ideas - based on nudge thinking - is to let people pay in advance for their electricity bill in order to challenge them to stick as long as they can to their prepaid budget. The video will be published later today. 

An architect approach to the climate problem: Bas Römgens plead for growing your own food in the city. This could create some really cool ripple effects that are What if you produce your food in the city: The city will look greener, It creates shadow. (Acutally, cities will become 7 degrees hotter during summer time). You don’t have the ecological footprint of shopping for food or transporting food. Actually very similar to Metfarm.com the winner of the TedxAmsterdam Challenge. The idea to rethink the public space clearly is in the air. 

Documentary: California Dreaming
Example: The urban gardens at Prinzessengarten in Berlin, that won the Utopia Award.

The game designer approach: make it fun to turn off the lights. Shoot at them with a laser gun. To a gamer, a light switch is a broken game design. So they created a working prototype of a laser gun that switches off the light. The awesomeness of this idea is that you can’t switch the light on again. For that you need to get up again. #epic 

Picture of the lasergun in action: http://yfrog.com/h4ywbkrj

The coolness approach: Matthijs Lievaar from @clubvan90 came up with a brilliant idea to nudge people to drive 90 km/h - which is the safest speed, and the least polluting speed: make them feel like real gangsters. Cruising gangsters are never in hurry.

Link: http://www.clubvan90.org/

The educators approach: using kids to nudge adults to improve. 

Kids were approached with a letter from a real organization asking for their help to solve their energy problems

The creative community idea: Great talk by Strawberry Earth: if you can get the influential early adopters to go with a green movement or green ideas, then the rest will follow. Use design and humor. They once organized a party at a hotel and made a deal with the owner: use one percent of the turnover of the party for a sustainable improvement to the hotel. I believe that’s called a carrotmob.