The Strategy Room is an immersive experience that helps local authorities engage their residents in designing net zero policy that responds to local, social and environmental contexts.

Between January and March 2023, researchers piloted a novel digital engagement tool, The Strategy Room, to help local authorities understand their residents’ priorities for net-zero policies on the topics of heat, travel and food.

Twelve local authorities ran 66 public engagement sessions between them, attracting almost 640 participants to make policy recommendations for their local areas. This report presents the preliminary results from the pilot study.

Key findings:

• There is strong support for most net zero policies
• Local context seems to make a difference to policy preferences
• Health and community cohesion co-benefits are the strongest predictors of whether people recommended net zero policies
• Participants in The Strategy Room were significantly more positive about net zero policies than the respondents in an online YouGov poll
• Creative digital tools for public engagement on net zero make climate policy more accessible to diverse audiences
• The results show the public has an appetite for bold net zero policies