A couple of weeks ago some of the Voice team had the pleasure of attending Goodfest which is a festival in Cornwall for inspiration, reflection, collaboration and action.

It brings together creatives from all over the country…or even the world, who are passionate about making a positive difference whether that’s through business or individually.

Through a series of talks from inspirational people such as Jelle Mul, Senior Marketing Manager at Patagonia, or workshops from out the box thinkers like Ben Akers, Founder of mental health charity Talk Club, we wanted to share with you some of the key takeaways from the event.

Patagonia was founded on doing what’s right – the goal was to create system change and protect the planet. It never wanted to make money.

The brand uses different promotional avenues to raise awareness of its mission. It added a ‘vote the assholes out’ label to its trousers, provides its team with a bail fund and civil disobedience training and set up a platform called Patagonia Action Works to showcase grassroots groups that are committed to finding solutions for the environmental crisis.

We learnt that if we are to make a difference in this world then we must be interconnected, whether that’s with people or nature, and use love as a guiding principle. We need to create a safe space to make change and share, inspire and invite others to be part of the conversation.

It’s time to put emotion back in to money. Poor financial wellbeing can contribute towards physical, mental and social health.

We were told about a website called Green Bank that allows you to see just how sustainable your bank is…we urge you to give it a go.

We learnt about the Founder of Ecotricity, Dale Vince, and the important things he is doing for the planet. He set up The Green Britain Foundation to help businesses evolve their environmental mission. He is also the owner of Forest Green Rovers which has a vegan menu on site, an organic pitch and solar panels.

Insights from a recent PRCA Misinformation in Climate Crisis Group suggested that 57% of people don’t know the outcome of COP 26 whilst 45% of those surveyed have seen greenwashing. As comms professionals it is our duty to be part of the conversation and to educate people around climate change.

Using a scale of 1-10 is an impactful way to share how you are feeling with others, helping to maintain our human sustainability and wellbeing

We only have three years left to make a difference to climate change according to the UN

Goodfest was an incredibly inspirational couple of days. It highlighted the importance of collaboration if we want to make a positive difference in this world. We loved being able to connect with others on a human level and learn so many amazing things.

Voice has now proudly signed The Sustainable Creative Charter, which was set up by Goodfest in 2021 and will be following the below principles in order to pledge our commitment to taking action.

< Create clean

< Declare and share

< Lead by example

< Be human

< Start now, be bold