Under a month to go until the first Highland Climate Festival takes place across the region which is organised by Highland Adapts and the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
With less than a month to go, the opening of the very first Highland Climate Festival is fast approaching.
Excitement is starting to build across the region with local communities, businesses and the public sector all beginning to get on board and play a role in addressing the climate emergency.
The festival is supported by Highland Adapts – a partnership which brings organisations including Highland Council, NHS Highland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise together to facilitate transformational climate action – and the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub, which is part of a network funded by the Scottish Government supporting community-led climate action.
Various online and in-person events will take place to highlight the significance of adaptation and mitigating measures that can be made to tackle climate change, while celebrating and engaging with the climate action that already exists across Highland.
The festival will take place Highland-wide between Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, July 3. The overarching theme of the festival is #LoveLocal, #LoveHighland, incorporating the importance of the climate emergency in the love for all things local and Highland.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend local events to engage with their community and the ongoing celebrations. Any community groups are welcome to get involved and submit their festivities to be included.
If you already have scheduled events during the festival, or have any in the pipeline, please submit your event via the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub website so your event can be publicised on social media platforms and included in the festival programme.
Highland Council, along with other key organisations, is supporting the festival and encourage communities, businesses and public sector organisations to get involved in the first Highland Climate Festival.
Bethany Lawrie, a development officer at the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub, said: “Highland Adapts and the North Highlands and Islands Climate Hub are delighted to have received a great response to the Highland Climate Festival 2022, with many different communities and organisations getting involved through events already in planning.
“The festival will host activities including active travel days involving treasure hunts, sustainable fashion shows, guided biodiversity walks, climate conversation cafés, community markets, online webinars, information sessions on important topics like energy saving and net zero, as well as film screenings to name a few.
“We are pleased to welcome the attendance of groups like Transition Black Isle, Ullapool Sea Savers, HLH Rangers, Zero Waste Scotland, Highland Green Health Partnership, Eden Court and the Thurso Community Development Trust; alongside many others soon to be confirmed.”
Katie Andrews, climate change coordinator at Highland Council and Project Support for Highland Adapts, said: “It has been amazing to see so much enthusiasm and excitement from communities and organisations, all coming together regionally to support the Highland Climate Festival.
“The festival will be a great starting point to build awareness of climate change and biodiversity in Highland through fun events.
“We have a great support team, including the Climate Hub and Chloe Sinclair, Communications Intern for Highland Adapts, working hard behind the scenes to try and make the festival a success. This will hopefully be the first of many climate festivals going forward, proving to always be pivotal for inspiring community led climate action.”
• To find out further information about the festival and what’s on, please visit the climate hub website.
