An update from Islands Development Officer, Jonny

So, after a very hectic and stressful couple of weeks since the first blog, I thought it was time for the second in this potentially three-part blog series, but what’s new since the last blog I wrote? 

Well, since the last blog, the funding application deadline came and went, the event submission deadline passed, the website and interactive map has been updated with all the events put on, the programme was created and released, and I was on BBC radio Orkney again, this time with Howie Firth from the Orkney Science Festival. 

Starting with the funding, we managed to support 8 community groups across Orkney with funding to help enable their Climate Festival events. The groups who received funding to support their events are: Shapinsay Development Trust, Stronsay Development Trust, Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust, Sanday Development Trust, Greener Orkney, Stromness Museum, What Moves you CIC and The John Rae Society. All of which have a number of great events lined up for the Climate Festival which cover a diverse range of themes and will all enable their communities to engage positively with climate action. See the full programme here.

The event submission deadline has also been and gone, Marion, our Membership and Communications Officer has been working hard to get the events put on to the website and has been creating an interactive map to show off the variety and geographic spread of the events in the festival. I have been working on creating the Orkney Climate Festival programme which went live at the beginning of last week and can be found here. There has been a great effort from multiple groups across Orkney to get involved and in total there are over 50 community-led events taking place during the festival period. This not only shows that there is a lot of great climate action work being done by community groups on a local level but that there is also a lot of involvement and interest Orkney-wide. 

The Orkney Climate Festival, although it has the word Climate on the tin, and there is definitely an emphasis on events with a climate focus, doesn’t only cater to people that are already interested or invested in climate change and climate action. There are a wide range of themes covered across the festival’s events, including food growing, energy, reducing waste, nature, arts and crafts, performance arts, fashion, cycling, science and innovation, community engagement, and much more. So take a look at the programme, see what takes your fancy, and get on down to some events.  

Ps. Here is mine and Howie’s joint interview on BBC Radio Orkney, which aired on the 25th August, just go to 16 minutes.  Click here to listen!