While all eyes have been on Glasgow for the COP26 talks, a group of Nottingham organisations have come together to create a space for climate change discussions.
Green Light In The City opens tomorrow (Thursday) in Bridlesmith Gate and its organisers – drawn from both universities, the City Council, and local education and arts organisations and charities – hope the space will allow people to share ideas about the city’s green future.
The project has taken over the former Tokenhouse gift shop and will be open from noon until 3pm most days of the week, except Mondays and Tuesdays.
The partnership will develop more ‘pop-up’ spaces in empty premises which will provide a focus for creativity and engagement on key local issues. It offers a model for new ways of using these areas of the city in the future and will be open to all ages and groups.
The aims of the project are to:
- Raise awareness, promotion and engagement with green issues and how they affect people individually and locally;
- Encourage community and creative partnerships to get involved and create opportunities for workshops, events and talks;
- Consider ideas of how communities can live differently in the future;
- Highlight inspiring work that is happening locally to tackle the climate crisis.
Councillor Sally Longford, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder for Energy and the Environment, pictured, said: “We’re delighted to be part of this and I’m only sorry to have missed the opening. I’m at COP26 in Glasgow this week putting forward Nottingham’s case as part of this climate emergency.
“This is a great concept. Not only does it give the people of Nottingham a chance to find out more about climate change, how it affects them and offer advice, but it also makes use of an empty building.
“Working with a multitude of city partners shows how important collaborating and sharing is to make things happen.”
Susan Anderson, Academic Lead for Public Engagement at the University of Nottingham, said: “We are very excited to be part of this unique project in the heart of Nottingham. To coincide with COP26, we will be using the interactive space to work with our communities to explore ways to improve our lives and our city.
“We will share some of our sustainability research at the university, which is helping to find solutions to the climate crisis, for example our commitment to net-zero aviation.”
Dr Karen Moss, from Nottingham Trent University, said: “Green Light In The City is a really exciting opportunity to explore new creative models of working together in partnership as we find and develop solutions to the challenges we face together in our local communities.”
Cathy Mahmood, from the Nottingham Cultural Education Partnership, ChalleNGe, said: “Locally, we know that some of the best ideas are in the imaginations of children and families. We want Green Light In The City to be a space where creative ideas about what we can do for ourselves can be shared.”
For more information go to https://www.itsinnottingham.com/ideas-inspiration/green-city/