Climate Festival 2023: Week 1
We’re halfway through the Highlands & Islands Climate Festival 2023, and what a fortnight it’s been! There have been over 50 Festival events across the Highland region, Orkney and Shetland so far, with another 50 events to go!
I was going to write a recap of the first two weeks, but far too much has happened to fit into one blog post! So, in this blog post, we’ll recap some notable moments from Week 1. In the second blog, I’ll share highlights from Week 2 and then discuss some of the exciting events to come!
Weekend 1 (1-3 September): Growing, Gardens and Greentown Show!
Our first weekend kicked off in style! We loved these lovely photos of colourful produce and plants from the Arisaig Seed and Plant Swap (1 Sep) and the Abriachan Produce Show (3 Sep). There was a fantastic celebration for the formal opening of Holm Grown community garden in Inverness too (2 Sep), which has been the result of hard work from the community with the Holm Community Council and Incredible Edible Inverness. The Black Isle Repair Cafe are celebrating their first birthday this September, and hosted a Re-Love sale alongside their monthly repair cafe (2 Sep).
Myself and Sheila, our Community Engagement Officer for Inverness & the Inner Moray Firth, headed to Sustainable Strathspey’s Greentown Show in Grantown on Spey (2 Sep). As the Hub is fairly new to working in Badenoch & Strathspey, it was wonderful to start conversations with lots of new people and organisations at this event. Over 25 community groups, businesses and charities came together to promote sustainable living, including our new members at Grantown Remakery!
Luci, our Community Engagement Officer for Caithness & Sutherland, attended Thurso Community Development Trust's Riverside Foraging Walk (3 Sep) with knowledgeable guides - Amanda from Natures Path Natural Ways and Millie from RSPB Highlands & Islands.
It was a fantastic family day out, and Luci had a great time chatting to folk and learning more! Amanda shared her incredible knowledge on edible plants, and pointed out the poisonous ones to be aware of too! Millie led some mindfulness exercises to help connect to nature and enjoy the present moment.
Week 1 (4-8 September) Climate Ceilidh, Bramble Bairns and more…
The first full week started with our sold-out Climate Ceilidh, run in collaboration with Science Ceilidh at WASPS Creative Academy Inverness (5 Sep) as part of the Highlands & Islands Climate Change Community-Researcher Network event. Sheila had a fantastic time at the event where there were engaging climate speakers, thoughtful discussions and lots of dancing! The folk from Science Ceilidh introduced their innovative ceilidh dances that helped show how the Aurora Borealis and photosynthesis work, through the medium of dance! Sheila said:
'It's such an amazing way to bring people together around an important shared cause: climate action! It's a truly unforgettable night with such positive energy and connection that will long outlive the evening!'
The event was so popular… question is, when should we hold another one?
(photos by Alex Williamson)
The fun continued throughout the rest of the week! Evie, our Development Officer for Ross-shire collaborated with Kirsten, the Ullapool Early Years Practitioner, to host a Bramble Bairns event (5 Sep)! All that attended had a great time picking (and eating!) brambles, foraging for herbs, and making sensory playdough and paint. There was even a story and sing-song at the end! Evie’s favourite moment of the Festival so far has been:
‘Being with little ones and having a nice time squashing and scoffing brambles in the sun!’
We saw the first of Penny Chivas’ performances of ‘BURNT OUT’ in Nairn (5 Sep), before she toured Orkney (8-11 Sep) and Shetland (14-16 Sep). By weaving spoken word, movement and theatre together, Penny creates a moving and impactful narrative on her experience of bushfires and climate change. She invited a post-show speaker onto the stage after each performance (Stephen Wiseman, Katy Firth, Louise Barrington, and Paul Bloomer) to discuss the changing context and impacts of climate change in each location.
Luci also attended the RSPB talk on Peatlands, Climate and the Flow Country (7 Sep) which was really informative and inspiring. The conservation and restoration of peatland is vital as it is a ideal carbon trap or sink an thus a critical defence against climate change. Luci was moved by a story of community involvement, which shows the environmental, social and personal value of climate action:
‘The night ended with a lovely presentation from one of the volunteers about everything he has done and learned while being with the RSPB. He shared lovely memories and some funny stories along with the skills that you can gain from volunteering such as, 4x4 driving, safeguarding, peatland management and gaining confidence for the future.’
Read Luci’s blog about the evening here. (photo credit for above landscape : @kbremo)
Reflections
We’ve been so busy preparing for the Festival, sorting out funding, supporting our members, and planning and promoting events! It’s been absolutely fantastic to see each event take place and everyone’s hard work come to fruition. A huge thank you to all our wonderful members who have put on an incredible series of events!
I’ve been reflecting a lot about the power of the the Festival tagline: ‘Be Local, Think Local, Share Local, Grow Local’. Whether it’s physically growing i.e. giving a helping hand to a local wildflower meadow or supporting a local community garden, or anything that ‘grows’ community power, resilience and opportunity, growing local is absolutely the name of the game! By celebrating and encouraging local action, and empowering and enabling communities to take action, the Highlands and Islands are growing more resilient and climate-ready for a changing future. The Festival is such a fantastic opportunity to both catalyse and celebrate this growth.
Finally, I’ve been so inspired by the collaborations between people and groups. Almost every single event is a collaboration of sorts, between community groups, practitioners, artists, experts, researchers, businesses, social enterprises, trusts, ranger services and charities. These events are the outcome of years and decades of shared learnings, conversations and community will. I love having conversations with community groups and individuals about what the Hub does and what the Festival is celebrating. I’ve been out and about so much because of the Festival, and have had so many rich and exciting conversations as result. I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with groups to celebrate and enable this fantastic work.
Look out for a Week 2 recap coming soon!
