More than 20 Oxfordshire groups attended a meeting called Join the Dots to show what efforts are being made in their areas to combat global warming, writes JANE MUIR

Not speed dating, but carbon dating was the theme at a Join the Dots meeting recently at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute. The idea was to talk to as many people as possible from more than the 20 groups and organisations represented and exchange as much information as you could in three minutes.

A bell would ring to tell you when to move on to the next person. Networking was what it was all about - trying to get as many people to care about climate change as possible.

One hundred different organisations, communities and businesses in Oxfordshire have now declared their commitment to reduce their carbon footprint and help others to do so in a bid to slow global warming.

The aim of Join the Dots, organised by Oxfordshire Climate Xchange, was to get some to meet, swap ideas and be inspired to mobilise yet more people.

Representatives from Blewbury, North Leigh, Wantage and Grove, Wallingford, Witney, Yarnton and East Oxford all gave short presentations about what they are doing locally and it was very impressive.

The low-carbon initiative in my own village, Wolvercote, on the edge of Oxford, had started just two months ago in the village hall with an unprecedented turnout.

Seriousness was mixed with fun. A quiz had residents gathering under placards bearing their road names and asking neighbours, some of whom they had never spoken to before, to ask questions such as What was the 2005 European car of the year?', who said "We have to make environmental action sexy?" and, bafflingly, After a hurricane, where would you find a tortoise with no legs?' Mark Lynas, climate change writer and activist who lives in the village, gave a projected weather forecast for the year 2049. Slides showed the familiar cows and horses of Port Meadow grazing on an arid desert, citrus fruit replacing apples and quinces in our community orchard, and a shanty town of refugees overshadowed the surbuban semis, now flooded and evacuated.

It all seemed laughable, yet all too possible, in view of what we know about the realities of climate change. In the nearby Wytham Woods, researchers have noted starvation among fledgling Great tits. The oak leaves are coming out early and the caterpillars that eat them have emerged correspondingly early, but the tits have not synchronised their hatching times, so when they hatch there is no food.

Since that evening, Wolvercote, like the other committed communities, have been urging neighbours to recycle efficiently, compost, use solar panels, insulate, buy local produce, car-share where possible, make less trips to the supermarket and reduce holidays by airplane.

Both Wolvercote and Wallingford have set up village junk swaps', enabling people to recycle goods they don't want but that someone else nearby might. 'Swaps' have included a fridge and garden shed, as well as the usual books and clothes. Any surplus gets taken to the Redbridge recycling centre or to charity shops.

Blewbury Energy Initiative and North Leigh Energy Efficiency Project are both actively aiming to reduce energy, as are Sustainable Charlbury and Sustainable Wallingford, both part of the Waste Action Groups.

In Wantage and Grove there is also a new impetus for the Re-open our Railway Station campaign.

Of course, Oxfordshire's carbon footprint is only a speck but, whatever your opinions about how easy it is to slow climate change, the movement is generating ideas, not only in terms of communities collaborating, but also in generating economic opportunities for the county.

The environment industry is booming. Many industry commentators are labelling this the Fourth Revolution - after the agricultural, industrial and information revolutions. Sir Richard Branson has pledged to invest $3bn in climate change solutions and there are already several climate millionaires' in the Thames Valley.

Oxford firms Ecosecurities, which is hosting a high-level climate change summit in Rio de Janeiro next month, and Climate Care, who work with businesses on carbon offsets, are world leaders in their fields.

Goldenfuels is another Oxford company, converting waste cooking oil to biodiesel, and PvCrystalox Solar is a Milton Park-based leading manufacturer of solar-power components.

Westmill wind farm, where work has finaly begun, is to provide enough power for more than 2,500 homes, while the Oxford-based Ecovation Project showcases eco-renovated homes around the UK.

But Ian Curtis, of the Oxfordshire Climate Xchange, told the Join the Dots meeting: "We can't be complacent with what is happening now, good as it is. We need to look over the next hill and change our priorities now before they're changed for us.

"Networking is the key. We need to launch a million balloons - even if some of them might pop!"

"Maybe Oxford United could start carbon offsetting like Ipswich Town - Britain's first carbon neutral football club. Everyone can find something they can do.

"Artists can find creative ways to make stuff out of locally sourced materials to design websites, leaflets and stickers, architects and housing developers can lead the way in sustainable housing.

"Our councillors need to understand that we want a brighter future for our children. Excitingly for Oxfordshire, business ideas are flowing thick and fast."

For more information contact the Oxfordshire Climate Xchange website www.climateX.org