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YCC x York Environment Weeks 2024: Plenty to celebrate!
A couple of months ago we (Abi & Sophia) got a bit over-excited and decided we would run not one, not two, but NINE events for York Environment Weeks 2024. We wanted to create some more opportunities for learning and connection within our existing community but also to experiment a little, trying out some of our new ideas to broaden both what we do and who gets involved in our events. We also had the radical idea that we could also have some fun doing it.
So how did it go?
We kicked off with a very informal social, which was a great chance to reconnect but also to welcome some new faces, including some who were entirely new to York…
We held five workshops and discussions we’d tested before – sharing the science of climate change and biodiversity, considering the roles of motherhood and of protest in a rapidly changing world, and equipping one another to have better conversations about these often-difficult topics. Each time we had important but also motivating conversations, new ideas to think about, and new people joining us…
And we also got more creative, which resulted in some of the highlights of our events series…
Not knowing whether it would be answered, we put out a call for performers willing to share their words, music or artwork on the theme of inviting or ‘pulling in’ the future we want to see. And the results were beautiful and powerful! We heard stories, poetry and music and even an impromptu collaborative performance….
Our next callout was to women applying a sustainable ethos to running their businesses in York, and to anyone who wants to hear from them. We were blown away with the positive, collaborative and supportive atmosphere at this event which featured an inspiring panel (check out The Outside In plant studio, Dogobees hair salon and Frankly coaching) as well as insightful contributions from a wealth of leaders – and aspiring leaders – in our midst locally…
Last Friday we rounded off our events series with a very special social, celebrating all the positives of our YEWs2024 programme and strengthening the connections within our growing YorkCliConnect community… accompanied by some of the most delicious vegetables possible (all grown within just a few miles of York). Even after a quiet weekend I’m still feeling energised after those conversations (not to mention the cabbage!)
The numbers are not the most important thing, but here are a few we’re feeling happy, and a little bit proud, about:
– We hosted our (19th, 20th, 21st,…. &) 27th network event(s) since we set up in April last year.
– We welcomed around 100 unique participants to these 9 events with 70 years between the oldest and youngest.
– More than half of our participants hadn’t joined a YorkCliConnect event before.
It’s really exciting to have seen our experiments work, to have expanded our ‘bubble’, and to have learned and enjoyed ourselves along the way.
A huge thank you to our hosts Micklegate Social, Fairfax Corner, The Outside In & Remedy. We’d love for you to show them your appreciation (and ours) by paying them a visit! And a massive thank you to the YEW2024 organising team, including a special shoutout to Maddie who has been stewarding our social media at the same time as being on the team making the wider YEWs2024 programme happen.
A final thank you to all of you who joined us or otherwise supported our events. You’ve made them a joy to be part of.
See you soon! 🪲
Pulling the Future In (Open Mic)
Business Event
Climate Fresk #6
End of YEWs2024 Celebration – Sophia & Abi
Business Event (2)
#TalkingClimate
Biodiversity Collage #4
Kick-off Social
End of YEWs2024 Celebration @ Remedy
Climate Fresk #6 (2)
YEWs2024 Logo
Nine York CliConnect Events for York Environment Weeks 2024!
We are excited to share our series of nine upcoming events we will be hosting as part of York Environment Weeks, which this year take place between 14th September and 12th October.
- Social & Networking. Weds 18th Sept, 1930-2200, Micklegate Social. Join us for informal chats with our growing local community of climate and nature advocates. Sign up here or just drop by on the night!
- Motherhood in a Climate Crisis. Thurs 19th Sept, 1900-2030, Fairfax Corner. Exploring if and how we mother in uncertain times. Join a compassionate discussion & short story screening. More information and sign up (required) here.
- Climate Fresk. Sun 22nd Sept, 1400-1700, Fairfax Corner. Work together to connect the causes, mechanisms and effects of the climate crisis. More information and sign up (required) here.
- Pulling the Future in: Open Mic. Sun 29th Sept, 1400-1700, Micklegate Social. A chance to respond creatively to where we find ourselves – and express where we want to be. Come to perform, come to support or both. More information and sign up here. Performers please contact yorkcliconnect@proton.me.
- Green Business: Centering female leadership. Thurs 3rd Oct, 1900-2100, Micklegate Social. Join us for an evening especially for female-business owners and their supporters during. More information and sign up here.
- #TalkingClimate: A toolkit for effective conversations. Sun 6th Oct, 1300-1500, Micklegate Social. Based on research from Climate Outreach we’ll share tools, practice with each other and you will leave with ideas you can try out right away. More information and sign up here.
- Defending our Environment: protest rights and the law. Sun 6th Oct, 1600-1800, Micklegate Social. A chance to discuss UK protest law and policing, to share concerns and questions you have, and to hear the insights of local environmental activists. More information and sign up here.
- Biodiversity Collage. Weds 9th Oct, 1800-2100, The Outside In. Uncover the intricacies of our impact on biodiversity through the interactive lens of a game that transforms ecological understanding into an engaging experience. More information and sign up (required) here.
- End of YEW2024 Celebration. Fri 11th Oct, 1800-2100, Remedy. Join us at York’s ‘pro-planet’ cafe/wine bar for an opportunity to reflect on YEW2024, connect with others and get inspired. More information and sign up here.
Look out for the full YEW2024 programme coming soon, which will feature events from many other community organisations in our city. We will also be updating the individual event pages linked above with more details as we confirm them!
A huge shout out to our venues Micklegate Social, Fairfax Corner, Outside In & Remedy for hosting us and supporting us to run these community events free of charge.
If you have any questions about our events that aren’t answered via the links above, please email us via yorkcliconnect@proton.me
We hope to see you there!
Abi & Sophia
A busy month for community workshops and socials!
It’s been a busy month for York CliConnect, with three different community workshops and two social events.
In June and July we welcomed new faces and familiar ones to the following events:
- Our sixth climate science workshop (based on the Climate Fresk), facilitated by Abi
- Our third Biodiversity Collage workshop, facilitated by Sophia
- A new ‘Collage for Conscious Evolution’ workshop facilitated by Sarah
- Two informal evening social events
If you are interested in any of these workshops or would like support to run one of your own, please let us know by emailing yorkcliconnect@proton.me
Climate Fresk July 2024
Conscious Evolution Collage 1
Conscious Evolution Collage 2
YCC July2024 social
Conscious Evolution Collage 3
Biodiversity Collage July 2024
Call for events – Let’s shape York Environment Weeks 2024!
York Environment Week(s) is back for its fifth year… and are looking for YOU and your organisations to get involved!
Running from 14th September to 12th October, York Environment Weeks is an annual festival supporting local organisations involved in any way with the environment to show case what they are doing.
YorkCliConnect and many of our local partner organisations have hosted a fantastic array of events as part of York Environment Weeks in the past, and now is the time to get thinking about events to engage and expand our community as part of this year’s festival.
Speaking after last year’s festival Adam Myers from the YEW organising committee said:
“What has been a joy for me in York Environment Week has been the increase in diversity of events happening under that umbrella. The importance of diversity in healthy ecosystems is mirrored in the need for diversity in approaches to engagement with nature and solutions to the crisis we are living through.”
You can find all the information you need about the festival and how to get involved via https://yorkenvironmentweek.org.uk with links to guidelines and the application form. The deadline for Event proposals to be included in the printed programme is August 4th. For online only event’s the deadline for proposals is 25th August.
If you have questions please email info@yorkenvironmentweek.org.uk
Join the first York City Nature Challenge!
York is officially participating in the global biodiversity initiative called the City Nature Challenge from 26-29th April 2024 for the first time! Join us for the inaugural launch event from 12:30-1:30pm on 26th April at the Marriott Room in the York Explore Library and Archive (Library Square, Museum St, York YO1 7DS): sign up to attend the launch here! At the launch, you can engage with various community groups, researchers, educators and the public about local biodiversity over tea and cakes, and then head outside to the Museum Gardens to record biodiversity on the iNaturalist app! Anyone and everyone can participate – All one needs is access to a smartphone or a camera and a computer, to take photos/sounds of biodiversity and upload them to iNaturalist, a global biodiversity platform. More information about how to participate can be found on our York City Nature Challenge website. You can make biodiversity observations in your own time, or join the many events being hosted across greater York. Have a read about the spark behind this project from Smriti Safaya (University of York).
LOVE YOUR RIVER – Saturday 10th February
According to data for 2022, 40 sites along the Ouse are regularly polluted by sewage dumping, with 1,656 incidents recorded in a single year. Yorkshire’s rivers are amongst the worst for sewage discharge, with the region’s water company reportedly responsible for a daily average of around 150 sewage overflows.
This river pollution, in combination with the impacts of agricultural pollution of our waterways has devastating consequences. It poisons the entire food chain of the river from plants to insects to fish with knock-on effects on the health and survival of animals and people who depend on it.
River pollution came up as one of the key issues for York residents at last year’s People’s Assembly. In response, everyone is invited to march, sail, row or paddle down the River Ouse together on Saturday 10th Feb, showing our love for the River Ouse. More information and sign-up here.
Here are a few of the reasons York residents will be getting involved:
“I’m taking part in support for a cleaner, healthier Ouse. We all have a right to access nature that’s not polluted, and this is especially important for young people” – Immi
“It’s absolutely scandalous that the Ouse is repeatedly polluted by the organisation paid to look after it….We’re calling on Yorkshire Water to take their responsibility seriously and clean up the Ouse” – Richard
“I love the Ouse, but sadly it’s so polluted….. but we CAN do something about it so please come along and join us on the 10th” – Vida
New Reading Group: The Climate Book
Felicity and Lynda are hosting a new reading group based on Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book.
This will take place on Thursdays 5-6pm in room SLB/207, Spring Lane Building, University of York Campus West.
The group is starting on 16th November, reading and discussing a chapter each week (starting at 1.1), going weekly until 7th December. The plan is to pick up it again in the New Year.
All welcome, no need to register. See our events calendar for confirmed dates.
Got questions? Get in touch with Lynda via lynda.dunlop@york.ac.uk
In The Climate Book, Greta Thunberg has gathered the wisdom of over one hundred experts – geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and indigenous leaders – to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster. Alongside them, she shares her own stories of demonstrating and uncovering greenwashing around the world, revealing how much we have been kept in the dark. This is one of our biggest challenges, she shows, but also our greatest source of hope. Once we are given the full picture, how can we not act? And if a schoolchild’s strike could ignite a global protest, what could we do collectively if we tried?
What makes impactful climate & nature education?
Over 100 join People’s Assembly
“We need new ideas and we need them now. Exercises in community led, collective democracy like this are the way forward.”
“York is a beautiful city and it can be made even more beautiful with green initiatives!”
“Direct democracy is really important and we won’t solve the climate crisis without it.”
“Our current political system is failing. It is failing to protect all of us by its inaction on the climate crisis. We must do things differently, the people need to come together to create an alternative future for our children.”
Fantastic work XR York and all who contributed. By building connections and working together, we can acheive so much more!
Photo, quotes and review courtesy of XR York
York says “Restore Nature Now!” Local people and groups echo Chris Packham’s, scientists’ and Nature NGOs’ calls to action
On Thursday morning local people and dozens of local charities and advocacy groups turned out in support of Nature, after the publication of a devastating report on its decline in the UK. Stories and speeches were shared, and connections and collaborations were formed.
Dr Amy-Jane Beer, a Yorkshire-based biologist, naturalist, access campaigner, and author of The Flow: rivers, water, and wildness, (which won the this year’s Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing!) was one of the speakers at the rally in York. Refelecting on the day she said:
‘It was so heartening to see varied interests coalescing at the Restore Nature Now rally outside Defra in York, and especially, given that the memberships of wildlife NGOs in the UK dwarf those of all political parties, to see such a strong contingent from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Bravo everyone.’
Claire Blindell of the Yorkshire Rewilding Network said:
‘Representing Yorkshire Rewilding Network and making my first, ever speech at a rally was exciting! Our network is all about connecting people with a message of hope through rewilding, and to see so many coming together at the Restore Nature Now event was inspiring’
Adam Myers, who also spoke at to the crowds said:
‘The protest outside Defra on Thursday was heart-warming, seeing a wide range of organisations and protestors coming together to speak up for Nature.
Diversity is crucial in an ecosystem, and I suspect it will be for effective pressure on this government. Here was a mix of seasoned protestors and people coming on their first ever protest, some speaking for the first time. There were people from all over North Yorkshire. There were jokey signs and deeply serious ones. People talked from their heart, read poetry, chanted, sang songs. All of it part of a rich ecosystem of opposition to the abandonment of nature, all of it part of call for change.
It felt like an important coming together, where the shared goal was so clearly more important than any differences.
It felt like a beginning.’
You can read more about the action in York (and other cities) in this Yorkshire Bylines piece, and find out more about the Restore Nature Now campaign (led by Chris Packham) here.
RestoreNatureNow_Group_York_1
Photo Credit: BBC Radio York
RestoreNatureNow_Group_York_2
Photo Credit: BBC Radio York
No Nature no Future for Our Kids
Photo credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_1
Photo Credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_2
Photo Credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_3
Photo credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_4
Photo Credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_5
Photo Credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_6
Photo Credit: Rosie
RestoreNatureNow_York_9
Photo credit: Chris Brace
