CALMfest 2025 - Why the Citizen story is the key to fixing everything

​CALMfest 2025 - Join Sarah Markham, Founder of Calm In A Box and Jon Alexander, Co-Founder of the New Citizenship Project, best selling author and TED X Speaker.

​Who is Jon Alexander?
Jon spent the first decade of his career in advertising for some of the world's biggest brands until he realised he was caught up in the Consumer story.
Going on to co-found the New Citizenship Project, Jon now uses his skills to involve people in decisions that affect their lives through a new story, the Citizen story.

​What will we be talking about?
The headlines of our time are enough to make anyone feel helpless.
What we're going through right now is a collapse of the Consumer story - it no longer works for us to keep our heads down, get things done and get what we're given.
And you can't solve a crisis of loneliness and mental health with a story that is rooted in individualism.
You can't solve inequality with a story that says the world is a competition.
You can't solve a climate crisis with a story that success is all about acquisition of material goods.
But when we start to think and act like Citizens, not just Consumers, everything changes.
So what is the Citizen story and how can it help us?

​What will you take away from this session?
- Understand why stories and storytelling are powerful drivers of human behaviour during times of change
- Discover how we have developed different stories about how to be effective in the world over time
- Learn what the Citizen story is about and why it's the key to fixing everything
- A reminder that together we have all the energy, ideas and resources to solve complex problems and make a real difference in the world
- Take away some lightbulbs to test out to help you do things differently for better outcomes when it comes to driving change at work and at home