At a time of eco-anxiety, climate scepticism, and widespread disillusionment with formal political institutions, how do diverse young Londoners connect with climate politics at a local level? How do they imagine the future of their neighbourhoods, and how can their visions and values be brought to the heart of London’s green transition?
Young people arguably have the most at stake in the battle for liveable cities today, and a liveable planet for decades to come. And yet, youth voices are rarely heard in heated public and policy debates about urban green transitions.
Building on recent findings from an LSE Cities peer research project in Islington, this event will discuss how young people approach the core debates of the green transition, especially how environmental justice relates to social and economic justice, and how the local green transition can open up space for a deepening of democracy.
Meet our speakers and chair
Mete Coban MBE became the Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy in July 2024, overseeing the Mayor’s world-leading climate action plan for the capital. Before becoming Deputy Mayor, Mete was a Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering a £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis. He is best known for pioneering Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, providing clean, green, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profits. Mete is widely credited with making politics more accessible to young people as the Founder of the youth-led charity My Life My Say. He led the Give an X voter registration campaign, which resulted in over 488,000 newly registered voters ahead of the UK General Election in July 2024.
Rowena Champion is Executive Member for the Environment at Islington Council. Rowena was elected as a councillor for Barnsbury ward in 2016. She has been the Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality and Transport since December 2019. In that time, Islington introduced seven LTNs, 37 School Streets, built a network of cycleways, and launched the new liveable neighbourhood scheme. This has led to Islington being judged the top London borough for Healthy Streets for four years in a row.
Maanya Jones is a young researcher employed by LSE Cities for the peer research project ‘Re-thinking Green Transitions’. Over the past year, she has been working with LSE Cities and Islington Council to understand what young people in Islington want from the green transition, and how Islington Council can work with them better in the future. She is also a Programme Support Officer at Action for Race Equality (ARE), committed to ending racial inequality. She holds a BA (Hons) in International Politics and Sociology and an MA in International Politics and Human Rights from City, University of London, where she built a strong foundation in global issues and human rights frameworks. Her academic background deepened her understanding of institutional racism and its impact on local, national and international systems, informing her work at ARE and LSE Cities, and her passion for policy and advocacy.
Imogen Hamilton-Jones is Lead Researcher on Re-Thinking Green Transitions LSE Cities. Imogen is an urban anthropologist leading the peer research project ‘Re-thinking Green Transitions’ at LSE Cities. Her research centres on urban climate politics, city government innovation and the cultural politics of economic systems change in European cities. She is based within the European Cities Programme at LSE Cities, a research, engagement and capacity-building initiative focused on the future of European cities. Previously, she was Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban Studies and lecturer in the Anthropology Department at the University of Amsterdam. She began her career at Centre for London, London’s think tank, and is committed to research that shapes urban politics and policy in practice.
More about this event
This event is part of the LSE Festival: Visions for the Future running from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 June 2025, with a series of events exploring the threats and opportunities of the near and distant future, and what a better world could look like. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 19 May.
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