Create your own butterfly effect: citizens and environmental statistics

It’s more important than ever to understand what’s happening to our natural world.

By collecting and analysing lots of data, we can closely monitor the changes that are happening to the environment and create statistics that make a difference – and you can play a part in this too.

During this event, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will explore their environmental statistics, including how they measure air quality and waste and recycling. We will explore how you can play a role in producing Defra’s wildlife statistics by taking part in citizen science. This uses the power of volunteer schemes, like the Big Butterfly Count, which gathers critical information on a wide range of species and monitors changes over time.

We will also explore the environmental statistics produced by the ONS, including measuring climate change concern, the ‘green economy’, greenhouse gas emissions and nature. For example, the natural capital accounts help us to better understand the economic and social value of the UK’s natural resources and what it could provide to current and future generations.

The event is free to join with plenty of opportunities to get involved and ask questions. If you’re passionate about the environment, let’s branch out together and get to the root of environmental stats!

Learn more about the series

From health to inflation or the environment to migration, we explore how statistics are used to help us make better choices and improve our public services.

‘Bringing data to life’ is a series of online events, hosted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which explore how your data makes a difference. We will explain the life cycle of statistics, from how we gather the data to releasing the figures that shape the future.

You will hear from people who work with data across government, exploring how they create statistics, where they have made an impact, and how your data is kept safe. These interactive events are open to anyone who wants to know more about how we tell the story of our society through numbers.

The events will take place through Microsoft Teams. They will also be recorded and available to watch later. We encourage you to support the ‘Bringing data to life’ series by using #StatisticsForThePublicGood on LinkedIn and X.

Getting in touch

For more information about this event, please visit the ONS website, or email [email protected].

All information submitted via Eventbrite will be held in line with the Office for National Statistics privacy policy.

Host or Publisher The Office for National Statistics