GoodGeist
A podcast on sustainability, hosted by Damla Özlüer and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network. Looking at sustainability issues, communications, and featuring global guests from a wide variety of sectors such as business, NGOs and government.
GoodGeist
There's More in Common, with Chris Annous
In our first episode of 2026 we sit down with Chris Annous from More in Common to look at how values-based research can bridge divides—and why pride in place may be the most underrated lever for social and climate progress right now.
Chris shares how his team’s segmentation moves beyond left-versus-right to reveal seven distinct worldviews, and how that map helps leaders speak to what people actually care about rather than what the loudest voices demand.
The heart of the episode is a surprising finding: across backgrounds and politics, people name their local parks and green spaces as their biggest source of pride. When those spaces feel neglected, it becomes a daily reminder that nothing works. When they’re cared for, it’s proof that improvement is possible.
We also touch on lessons across Europe, where similar pressures play out with national nuance, and preview Chris’s work on men and masculinity, highlighting a “crisis of provision” that is reshaping political identities.
If you care about sustainability, public trust and campaigns that actually move people, this conversation offers a practical playbook rooted in real lives. Have a listen, subscribe, and share with a colleague.
Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.
Goodgeist a podcast series on sustainability hosted by Damla Eusler and Steve Connor. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
SPEAKER_01:Hello, hello everyone. You are listening to Good Guys, the message on sustainability, which is brought to you by the DNS Network, the global network of agencies dedicated to making the world a better place. This is Domlo Flo Mira Agency Istanbul and This is Steve from Creative Beam CERN in Manchester.
SPEAKER_03:This podcast series explores global sustainability issues, how they're communicating what creativity can do to make positive change happen.
SPEAKER_01:So in this episode, we're going to talk to Chris Anus, an associate at More in Common, a research think tank with offices in a number of countries, and which was established in the wake of the murder of the UK politician Joe Cox. Its core mission is essentially to unpick what is causing division and polarization across our societies.
SPEAKER_03:So I hope we got that right, Chris. Anyway, so before more in common, Chris was at the Strategic Communications Consultancy FGS Global, a way specialized in government affairs. And before that, worked for the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly on their 2021 London mayor election. And I believe has an impressive sideline as a rugby player as well. So, Chris, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to Dammer and myself. Thank you. Thanks for joining inviting me to join you guys. Oh, it's brilliant. So, what we always like to do, Chris, is kick off by finding out more about you. So tell us how you came to end up at more in common via Oxford, Lib Dams, high-level consultancy. What's and what's your personal mission? What are you up to?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a good question. I wish I could say that I've had a life plan which set me out to this point. But I would say fundamentally, I've always been very passionate about politics. And I'm 27, so maybe not so young now, but relatively young. And actually, um, you know, when Brexit happened, I hadn't yet turned 18. So I guess the politics I've always known has been one of instability, division, anger, and disappointment. So I've always been political and I've always wanted to help address some of those challenges. And what's really interested me is why people think what they do and what they think. So the comms angle, uh, more than anything, you know, how can you how can you set a message and what messages can you use to achieve your objective? So that's always what I've been passionate about. So out of university, I worked a bit for the Liberal Democrats, as you said, on our 2021 Merrill campaign, which was a great experience. Very interesting experience to run a campaign during COVID where you know you could do in-person events and uh and campaigning. And that then took me to go to FGS, where which is formerly known as Finsbury, and had some great experiences there with some great colleagues, you know, predominantly on the business side of stuff. So um working with businesses with their reputation and you know, helping them manage uh financial markets. But I just felt increasingly that, particularly in the UK, that things were falling apart politically, and I wanted to really do something proactively to help make me at least make myself feel like I was doing something to fix that. So I've been a long I was a long fan of Moron Common's work. So made the leap to Moran Common, and it's um been here for just over a year now.
SPEAKER_01:Now, isn't it like we're all in different parts of parts of the world, and we're all afraid that things are falling apart politically in our respective countries, and it's like kind of an instinct when you're afraid, you're just reaching out and try to hold your friend's hands or someone close to you. So this is like that. You just try to hold people together.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, I I've had a I I I think in my background, I think so. Steve, you alluded to it. Um I'm obviously passionate about politics, but I'm also a passionate sports fan and player as well. And growing up in London, so I grew up in Southeast London in Greenwich, and it's a very varied place. So, you know, on the one hand, you've got great affluence and opportunity next to inner city deprivation, particularly in Greenwich, you know, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, migrant backgrounds, but also like very like old school, like proper South Londoners they they may call themselves. And that sort of diversity of people I grew up with, I think really resonated with me as I I know these people who probably are voting in these ways or you know, support Brexit. And I know it's not as simple as them all just being, you know, evil or bad, as like some people in the media like to paint them. Um I'm sure actually if you just ask them the question like this or frame the issue like this, then they would actually reach a consensus. And you know, the way that more that's kind of more on commons big ethos is that actually, you know, most of us actually agree on stuff. It's just about framing stuff or leaning into uh different parts of the um issue, which is uh what seems to divide us.
SPEAKER_01:So, Chris, we are really keen to dive into your really fascinating work around pride in place, a piece of research from last year. But first of all, give us a sense of the research agenda at More in Common. What's the overreach, overarching strategy?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we're kind of twofold as an organization. So, first of all, we kind of operate as our own think tank and and fought leadership. Um, and as you alluded to in the introduction, um we were set up after Joe Cox's murder in 2016 by those close to her. And Joe Cox's big thing in her politics was that there's more in common than divides us. So, as we've discussed already, you know, it feels like politics and society in Britain, Europe, America, all across the world is becoming, you know, drifting further apart and people getting angrier. Our mission really is to help policymakers, media, um journalists, uh academics better understand public opinion. So rather than seeing, you know, these two extremes, they actually see the big rump of 60% of the public who are you know in the middle and then don't want to don't want either extreme to be uh dominant. So we do lots of thought leadership. We work closely with politicians from all parties in the UK, cabinet members, shadow cabinet members, etc., just to let them know where what the public really believe. And it's at that point, it's up to them to decide you know what they do with it, and we stop there. Um but we think it's very important, at the very least, they're informed about the public. Um so that's our sort of more think tank signing stuff. But we also have a consultancy arm, which I spend a lot of time um on. That's my specialism, where we help organizations, so businesses, NGOs, campaign organizations with their own strategies. So, you know, say you're at the coal face of decarbonisation as an energy company, how can you best land the case for renewable energy and investment in green energy if it increases the cost of your customers?
SPEAKER_03:That's spooky, Chris. I've got that brief on my desk literally right now. So we'll have to have a talk separately. Oh god. Um so before we get into the the research that I really wanted to talk about, because I was really excited about it when I when I encountered it. I don't think we can really properly discuss it without knowing a little bit more about the segmentation that Warren Common has done and how what you called Shatter Britain and the the really interesting work that you've done to not look at sort of left and right polarization, but different cohorts. So could you explain that for us a little bit before we get into the research?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I think our specialism at Moran Common is around understanding why the public think what they do. And what we try to do is to start at their starting points, so their core values which underpin, you know, why are why have we diverted in in different directions, you know, me and someone else who have seemingly diametrically opposed views on say on immigration, and because once you know the starting points, you can know sort of where to go back to the common ground of where we actually agree. So, as past that, we have a values-led segmentation. So this is based on um moral core values questions. So there's 20 questions we ask on each of our surveys, and then we run something called a cluster analysis, which groups people into seven broad segments. And basically, what this does is it explains your worldview because it's your core values that underpin any view that you have, and it's extremely powerful. Often it's a far stronger predictor of people's views than say vote choices. So knowing what segment someone is is far more helpful for knowing how they feel about an issue than knowing if they voted for Labour, reform, green, etc. The last election. And there's seven segments, and it's not really left-right, it kind of does kind of marry up. But to give an example of the seven, I imagine many people in the climate and sustainability space will be progressive activists. So these are people who have a very strong moral compass. They believe that injustice needs to be tackled, all suffering is important, and that lends itself to very strong views on sort of equality, climate, migration, etc. And then it goes all across to our dissenting disruptors, who are perhaps the increasingly important or driving segment of the public. They're what we might call the populist right. So these people basically think the system is broken and want radical change to address that. And they will have very strong views on immigration, be a bit more climate skeptic, but also, you know, have very strong views that against big business. And generally they're kind of very anti-system, but maybe more on the right than our progressive activists who are the anti-system of the left.
SPEAKER_03:So interesting. Before you pick up, Danler, I did the if you go onto the more in common website, Danler, you can do the quiz, you can do the questions to find out which you are. I was annoyingly predictable, Chris. Just like right down the line, progressive activist. Yeah, when the result came up, I went, oh god, of course.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I know. I mean, I've I've to anyone listening as well. I generally it was worth doing the quiz because then you understand your worldview and you understand where you may differ from other people. So it's you know, um, often we get to do trainings or workshops with uh organizations, and before we start, we often we do we ask everyone to do the segment quiz, and then we toss up the the mix of the company or organization. So we say, more often than not, like 90% of you are progressive activists, but only 10% of Britain is progress progressive activists. So you know, you there's a huge section of the country perhaps that your worldviews aren't reflective of that's because he read French Philosophers.
SPEAKER_03:Sorry, that's an in-joke, Chris. We we we struggle to get through a podcast episode without referencing Foucault or Derrida, because we're quite pretentious as well. But anyway, Gamla.
SPEAKER_01:So we were talking about the green space and what's going on in climate communications and the climate views of the public. But let's talk green space. In November, you released a really fascinating report, certainly for us both, about how people feel about green spaces and the political potential of Pride and Place. Can you tell us about the headline findings of that?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so the genus, if I may start, the genesis of this report was that we do focus groups up and down across the country. And one of the things we do when we do a focus group is we do an icebreaker. And often the icebreaker we ask is to get people comfortable sharing their views. So this is slightly less scary for them. And one of the icebreakers we do is we ask people what's the favorite thing about your local area? And generally, no matter what type of person they are, whether they're a dissenting disruptor or progressive activist, if they're from a city or from a rural area, every single focus group, people most people say that they're green spaces or their parks or the nature. And the problem to this for in me is why doesn't everyone think this is not a political issue? What like, you know, if you speak to if you speak to the sector and you speak to politicians, they're like, of course, you know, we want parts and green spaces, but it's not going to win me a new vote. So, yes, it's important, but it's gonna go straight down the the inbox or the list of prior priorities. So I wanted to test this. And from the focus groups we did, so we did this big project with the Waits Family Enterprise Trusts and the Town and Country Planning Association, those were our two partners. So that was like the question is like, are there votes to be won on this? And the starting point we have from our wider research is that fundamentally people were very angry with politics in this country. I don't think it will surprise any of you to hear that. And the reason is they don't think politicians are capable of making improvements to their lives. Like that very basic assumption that those in power will make things better can has gone. And we face as a country huge challenges, some of which are really hard to tackle. But what isn't really necessary so hard to tackle is the parks and green spaces because it probably would cost maybe a few hundred million pounds a year. I'll leave it to the experts to determine. But this is something you can do, and it can show actually we are capable of making your life better, and it's a thing that people care most about. So we tested it, and what we found is that um we tested it quantitatively, and we asked people one of like a huge range of questions. One of them was what's your biggest source of pride in your local area? And every single group, reform voters, green voters, urban, young, old, they all said they're parks and green spaces. And they're often seen, and when we touched in focus groups, so we went to Grimsby, to Birmingham, to Wakefield, to Scumfore, and these areas which feel kind of left behind by the system. And one of the key symbols that they have a feeling left behind is the fact that when they go to the park, you know, there's litter everywhere, there's fly sipping, there's crime taking place. So what we found is a real symbol of decline, and therefore it presents this real opportunity for politicians to show people that actually things can get better. And what we found is so we did this thing called a uh Max Diff experiment. And basically, what we would do is we force people to rank stuff brand and me. So they get five choices, each which are different random options. And what we asked them said, if the government achieved this, how much confidence would it give you that they which would give you more confidence that they're capable of making your life better or in another experiment your community better? And what we found was parks and green spaces were extremely high, so much so that actually they were higher than cutting uh legal migration. So the the conclusion that we reach with this report is, and we do touch on other stuff about you know why people love the parks and green spaces so much and what the problems are. But the fundamental conclusion is that actually there is so much more political capital to be had on this than anyone in power seems to realize. Because yes, immigration is a very important issue, and you know, politicians need to address that. But if they maybe gave 5% of the time they do on that issue on parks and green spaces, that's an opportunity for them to have huge political rewards.
SPEAKER_03:Brilliant. No, uh honestly, Chris, because I'd I've been badgering a few politicians already before I read your report. I've been saying, look, let's talk about nature in local communities. I use it as the starting point of the conversation, and all of a sudden it just will it will take so much anger and heat out of that dialogue. And your report came out and it's like total light bulb. It was absolutely brilliant. What do you think? Just going a little bit deeper with people and what they're thinking, what do you think it is about parts and green spaces that's cutting through, particularly for those who are being courted by populists? And for those of us who work in that sector, who work on nature and nature recovery, green issues, what what should we be doing? What should we be doing with your insights?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we tested just specifically some of those points, and what we found was it was increasingly actually the overwhelming thing that people loved about their parks and green spaces was the mental well-being benefits that they brought. And this people in our focus group spoke about how post-COVID that's really come to life because you know, life's stressful. You've got work, you've got kids, you've got bills to pay. The place where people like to go just to have some, you know, peace and slowness in their mind is the parts of green spaces. It's where they switch up, and that's increasingly valuable to people as well. So it's so, for example, one thing we recommend in the report is for those nature campaigners and green space campaigners to focus on the well mental health benefits that parks and green spaces bring. And it brings me on to your second question about the wider implications for the sector. And I think first of all, and hopefully it should surprise anyone, but the first thing to focus on when you're making these arguments, and what we found was focus on why the benefits that these nature, the environment, the climate brings to people themselves, because that's how most people see the world. And progressive activists that maybe they don't see that in the same way because they're much more collective in how they they view things. Um, but people, you know, care about what impacts them and what makes their life better. So, first of all, it's to frame anything that you're doing in about the benefits it brings to them. So when it comes to parks and green spaces, it's you know, people love nature and they love the wildlife in their parks and green spaces, but they love it because it makes them feel pleasure and enjoyment and peace. They don't love it because they're worried about the biodiversity and the impacts that has on the wider climate, and you know, they don't love nature in itself, they love it for instrumentally for what it brings to them. And I think that's really important. And it like reads across to wider climate debates because you if you're making the argument about why people should switch to a heat pump or should cut down their meat consumption or you know, anything on the grounds of what it's gonna do to the wider world, yes, some you know that's important, but people say actually, you know, what's it gonna do for me? So that's the first thing I would say. And then I think second of all is, and it interlinks with that, is we say this, you know, local is everything in politics and in people's lives. So how does it relate to people's own communities? Not does it how does it relate to the wider ecosystem or country or world which they have feel they have much less of a stake in?
SPEAKER_01:Wow. That also brings me back to the general scope of more and common. So let's get back to the wider work. And across our European network, we encounter the far right on a very regular basis. And for our agencies working on issues like climate change or social justice. It's an almost daily issue to be reckoned with. Do we need a Europe wide and more joined up response to this insurgency? How can we work together more effectively to protect and advance a progressive agenda or an agenda that benefits all?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think so fundamentally, I think there's lots of shared points across Europe. Let's talk about Europe. I think America is slightly different, and that's an even more challenging situation than we have in Europe. But there is still shared points with America. So there's lots of shared points that we have because fundamentally we're facing the same challenges in Britain, whether it comes to migration or climate or you know like public finances. So there's lots of shared challenges. And across the countries as well, there's lots of shared answers. So like my point earlier about making it in the interests of the people themselves massively pays across across every country. And more convenient, we've got teams in Spain, France, Poland, and Germany. Hopefully, I've done all of the European ones, otherwise I'll get in trouble. But we've got segmentations of the different countries as well, and like we've got in the UK. And we find huge crossover between, like, you know, the arguments that work in the UK and the arguments that work in Poland. I guess my only challenge to you on that, on that wider piece is it's got to be nation-specific, ultimately, because you know, as I said, if you're making the argument for why renewable energy is going to be good for Britain, that's probably going to be you've got to contextualize it in a way that resonates with British people, in a way that maybe it may not, you may not use the same argument in France or Poland. So there's huge crossover and these huge challenges that we face with shared answers, but they just got to be adapted to the specific context. And you know, when it comes to parks and green spaces, in Britain, people really love our parks and green spaces and the nature, and they're very proud of that, you know, the rolling hills. So that's a very British uh thing. And I don't know whether it's you have to ask my European colleagues whether leaning into that in Germany or Poland would work so well.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. No, um uh and we are gonna eventually run out of time, Chris, which is really gutting because I'm loving this conversation and that delving in that whole there is a whole philosophical school around intrinsic value of nature and whether it appeals to people and what you're the your your discourse there around the almost the transactional nature of people's experience of nature is really fascinating. So we could get into that, but we're gonna have to move on. And but before we close, I just wanted to quickly alight on another topic completely because I spotted online you posting around some recent work on men and masculinity. Now that's a whole other topic, but I just wondered whether you wanted to give us at least a trailer for what we might cover another time with you on men and masculinity.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. So I've had the great fortune since I joined Moran Common on uh working on men and young men because you know there's increasingly this discourse and debate about what's happening to young men and them being radicalized, etc. So you saw it particularly rise to prominence in the UK following the Netflix, Netflix adolescence program. Um, and what we've been working with is organizations like Movember and other leading men's sort of uh focused organizations, but also actually progressive organizations wanting to appeal to young men. And we've been looking into like what's going on here, like what's actually happening? Because I think, and it's my belief, progressives are looking for easy, easy, easy fixes, but also easy problems to blame. So everything is about social media and influences and Andrew Tate. And if we just stop people on Instagram or TikTok, then maybe young men, we wouldn't have this phenomenon with young men. But what we've actually found from speaking to young men across the UK, and we've done this similar research in America, of all backgrounds, and disillusioned men particularly, is actually, you know, far less you know radical and unique to them than it is, then people like to make it out. So what we found for our research is that we called it a crisis of provision, because when we ask men what makes them proudest to be a man and what they most associate with a man being a man, it comes down to providing for families and to being a source of you know, a provider for those you are close to. And increasingly, that provision is not just financial and economic, but care and social and emotional. And what my what uh we argue in our report is that actually the cost of living has made for many people, men in particular, women as well, has undermined that ability for them to provide. And that's making them really angry and really disillusioned with the system because fundamentally they say I worked really hard, I go out to work, and I still can't afford to heat my home. And when my kids, like we had people, you know, from across the country being like, I like when my kid says, you know, can I get a nice, can I get that chocolate bar or a new toy? And I can't say that they can, that makes me feel like I failed as a man because you know they don't want they they recognize the role of women working, but they still feel they want to be able to provide for people, and that's made people feel really disillusioned with the system. And I if I was to put in a word, uh in a sentence, sorry, in the in America, you've got the concept of the American dream, which is you know, go to America, work hard, be successful, and you'll be a billionaire and you'll run the world. In the UK, we don't necessarily have that same concept, but if I was to say what the British dream is for people, is you go to job, you go work hard, you have a good job, you can own your own home, and you can you can afford to provide for your family and your kids and have a nice, pleasant life, maybe a holiday abroad every year. That British stream has broken down for people, and that's what's driving this phenomenon of men away from the established parties. And in many ways, that is similar to women, but I think the unique role and emphasis that society puts men on men as being providers makes it manifest itself slightly different among men, it makes it more cute for men than it is for women.
SPEAKER_01:This definitely needs an episode, or maybe two, or maybe three. So, Chris, I want your promise that we will go on talking about this, but um unfortunately we're out of time, so I have to go to our final question. Our network is ironically called Do Not Smile because we need to make sustainability a subject that brings happiness into the world. So, what object, person, or place always makes you smile?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's a good question. I'm so I would probably say I'm I'm a born and raised in Greenwich, and I'm very proud of that. And Greenwich, for those who don't know, is that centre of the world, not just metaphorically for me, but Greenwich Meantime is the centre of the world, and that's where GMT stands for. So I would probably say Greenwich Park, and say specifically enjoying the view of the palace, Canary Walk behind, but also quite nerdily, having one foot in the East Hemisphere and one foot in the West Hemisphere, because there's a point you can do that in the park. So it makes you full of home and it makes me full of pride, and it makes me full of all the times I had in a kid, you know, playing around. Ironically, I didn't think this one through, but playing in the parks and green spaces of Greenwich. So I've I've actually just realized I've just been one of my like my one of my own focus group participants.
SPEAKER_03:I've got land. I know I love the way you did that because she's like on message, right until the end. Excellent stuff. Well, listen, it's been so much. I know exactly that spot in Greenwich Park, by the way. I know exactly where you were stood there. It was amazing. It's been so good to talk to you, Chris. And as a heat pump-owning non-me teater, I feel I feel fully in my progressive activist bubble right now. But you've really challenged that. And I think that's really exciting. So thank you so much for talking to us. That's been really fascinating. We'll get you back on to talk more about men. Damler, do you want to wrap it up?
SPEAKER_01:So thanks to everyone who has listened to our Goodgeist podcast, brought to you by the Do Not Smile Network of Agencies.
SPEAKER_03:Make sure you listen to future episodes where we'll be talking to more amazing people about how we can work together to create a more sustainable future. So, Chris, Damler, see you soon.
SPEAKER_00:Bye. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:Bye.
SPEAKER_00:Goodgeist. A podcast series on sustainability. Brought to you by the DNS Network.
