Patagonia has opened a pop-up café in London’s Broadway Market offering visitors climate activist training, ideas for effective campaigning, and free to borrow books for inspiration.
The Patagonia Action Works Café, which will be open until 9 October, will host training sessions around activism, workshops on topics such as carbon literacy, habitat conservation and non-violent direct action – with the expert guidance of UK environmental organisations who are supported by Patagonia, via the 1% for the Planet giving programme.
Additionally, the space will act as a lending library for those seeking to read books written by thought leaders and activists and play host to a library of ‘Action Postcards’. Each of the 24 postcard designs details different actions the reader can take to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, from signing petitions to filing lawsuits.
Outside of the café, on Broadway Market itself, Patagonia staff and green campaign groups will be running stalls aimed at educating, inspiring and engaging passers-by. The café and the stalls will be open daily until 17 October.
Inspiration for the café comes from Patagonia Action Works, the outdoor clothing brand’s new online platform which connects people with local, national and global grassroots organisations fighting to solve the climate crisis. Through the online platform, users can volunteer skills and time, sign petitions, discover local events and donate money to causes they are passionate about.
The launch of the online platform in Europe follows the huge success of the platform in the US, where it has seen half a million people take action to support environmental issues, enabled users to volunteer time and skills, join events, sign petitions and donate to conservation causes.
Mihela Hladin Wolfe, Patagonia’s Director of Environmental Initiatives, said: “With Patagonia Action Works we want to help more people go further in their environmental activism. The platform should be an entrance into activism for first timers and a place to connect and share for those who have already begun.”
Patagonia has a history of supporting environmental activism including, most recently, closing all stores around the world in support of the Global Climate Strike movement, led by youth activists. The company gained world headlines in 2017 for filing a lawsuit against the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, for illegally reducing the size of two National Monuments.
Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyles including sustainable and green living. She also offers content services to businesses and individuals at Rosamedea.com
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