By Ryan Carter of CrowdLeaf and Adam Manning of Green Hampshire

Green Drinks describe themselves as an ‘organic and self-organising’. Starting in London in 1989, the idea has spread throughout the world. The local group in Southampton from which we both draw our experiences is a great group. They meet regularly every third Thursday of the month, often at the Art House Café, Above Bar Street.

There is stimulating and informative conversation and it gives you a chance to say what you do in your day job and to talk to professionals and interested individuals. There is room for anybody and you can join in the discussion with individuals who work for academia, government, business, environmental organisations and those who run their own businesses too. A particular focus of Green Drinks is sustainability and a number of people who attend work in this area to discuss this field and learn from one another.

We’ve been to more than five of these now and have met some really inspiring and active people who attend Green Drinks as regulars and one offs. Friendships have been formed, business links made and information shared. There have been presentations covering waste to energy projects, hybrid electric boats and more. The meetings are informal and relaxed. There is certainly none of the cliquishness that is sometimes associated with networking groups and for all these reasons we will keep attending when we can.

There is a wide variety of organisations present at these networking sessions, both to present, showcase, engage and for the good atmosphere present at each event. Everybody is welcoming, engaging and interested in what you do and what your thoughts are, whatever your background. Whether you work in the area, want to work in the area or are just interested, you will find something to talk about.

The Southampton Green Drink’s group have a Facebook page at : https://www.facebook.com/SouthamptonGreenDrinks

You can obtain more information on these events on both of our pages, Green Hampshire and CrowdLeaf or by emailing us on adam@greenhampshire.co.uk and Ryan@CrowdLeaf.org.uk.