Latest news

Tomorrow the In Our Nature programme is moving over to a new website. We'll continue to share useful climate action tips, inspiring stories, and events and activities across Manchester, but we'll have a slightly new look!

Thanks so much for following In Our Nature so far. We've got 3 more packed years of In Our Nature still to go and we'd love to stay in touch.

In February 2022, Manchester-based photographer Rebecca (Bec) Lupton began a project called Green City Photos, with the aim of documenting local environmental projects across the city. Through her storytelling and interactions with various groups, Bec’s photographs have encapsulated a network of climate activism on a broad scale, as she’s sought to document and facilitate a network of Manchester residents who can collectively become more than the sum of their parts.

We caught up with Bec to ask how the project got started, where it’s headed and what she’s learnt along the way…

How did your Green City Photos project get started?

There were probably a few different things that triggered me wanting to do it. I’d just finished one ten year long project and I thought it would be really nice to do something totally new, and something that was more fun and positive. The previous project had been about motherhood and when I started it I had young kids of my own who are now grown up. It was a key part of my life, but it was starting to become a bit less relevant for me.

I started thinking about it around the time that they were thinking of bringing in a congestion charge, which I thought would be a really positive thing for what it could potentially do for Manchester. And then when I saw that actually the majority of people in Manchester seemed really against it, I thought “oh no!” There seemed to be these two camps of people who were either engaging with the environment and then people who were totally disconnected. So, I thought can I use my skills as a photographer and storyteller to show that there doesn’t need to be a big disconnect, and that there isn’t much of a difference between those groups. I thought it would be really nice to show people with images and stories that small changes can be made in people’s lives to improve the environment.

The project is very people focussed, was that an intentional choice?

In all the projects I’ve done over the years, I’ve realised that the best way to connect with people is to see them as equals and have conversations with people over longer periods. It’s a slow process but it does seem to work. Projects like this tend to trickle along and they don’t really cause much of a ripple, but the more people you meet and the more people you introduce to each other, then the roots of the project spread further. And then it sort of comes full circle and I realise that there’s this whole network that exists. It’s about helping that network come together and realise that there’s this big community that together can be quite a strong body.

Who is your intended target audience?

I’ve kind of been holding back a little bit with the actual images because I’ve still not come to the conclusion with what I want to do with them afterwards, and I didn’t want to overshare them on Instagram just in case I do an exhibition or something like that. So Instagram is more like sharing a work-in-progress or an online sketchbook. The people who I wanted to reach were definitely a younger audience and an audience who might accidentally come across it. But with the nature of algorithms, I’m basically preaching to the converted at the moment. So, the people who’ve reached out tend to already be doing quite a lot and know about things that are already happening in Manchester. So that’s my next challenge, to diversify my audience and make the connections with people who aren’t engaged. At this stage of the project it’s more about discovery and research, and after a year of taking photos I’ll start to think about what I can do with these images and how I can reach those people who I want to show the work to and make this subject less scary or foreign to them.

People can sometimes be a bit dismissive about the power of individual actions when it comes to climate change, what are your thoughts on that?

Part of me originally questioned how big of a change we can actually make as individuals, so I’ve been interested in seeing if these kinds of initiatives will make a difference. And part of me is still approaching it quite tentatively because these things are difficult to measure and I’m not a scientist. But I feel like we can’t just sit around and observe what’s going on when we know that we’re doing things that are bad for the environment, and our culture is so led by consumerism. I can see that even if we weren’t making a huge difference, we really need to change our culture and the way we behave, and I don’t think anyone can argue against that. You can make the argument that the big companies and corporations need to be held to account, which is true, but they’re not the only ones to blame are they? I think each individual has to accept that they’re a part of it and that they continue to be part of it.

Another interesting thing about this project is that I’ve begun to focus on mental health and wellbeing and nutrition, which I didn’t think would end up being a huge part of it. I’ve witnessed all of these ways that people have improved their lives, and in every project that I document I meet happy people who have lovely social lives and they’re eating healthily and they’re learning. To me it shouts out that whether these are small things or tiny little bits of the puzzle, when you see all of these individuals together it becomes a huge thing that’s really important. There’s always a tinge of worry about the future and the environment, and those discussions come up. But I always come away feeling really positive and really happy, and I think this is probably the most selfish project I’ve ever done because I come home and I’m always in a great mood and I say: “I wish I did that every day”.

What are your next steps in moving the project forward?

I’ve got at least another three months left. I’m still not sure if I’ll finish it in February or if it’ll continue in a more organic way after that. I think from about Spring I’d like to start some sort of exhibition. Sometimes when I meet these people, I sort of forget that I’m a photographer, so the images become secondary and it becomes more about the people I’ve been meeting really. I think there’ll be some sort of consultation with them to see what they’d like to do and to see how they’d benefit from me continuing the project. Someone said that if we could make a map of all the projects and groups, that would be beneficial. I’d quite like to display the images in places where you wouldn’t usually expect to find them, whether that’s in shop windows or in a free newspaper or something like that. I’d like to do something beyond the network that’s already been made.

I definitely feel like I’m a facilitator in all this, I’m not an important person other than in how I can bring people together really. I think it’d be great to get people to chat to an audience about what others do in their communities and have more of a social gathering to give people ideas and inspire them, and share what they’ve learnt from their journeys. A lot of the people I’ve met have only been doing these things for the past year or two, so a lot of it is new to them and they’ve made changes in their lives which can be really inspiring. I think for most people, they have a really simple motivation that they want to do something locally, or meet people, or learn about growing food for example. And the environmental impact can be quite low down on their list of motivations. These groups then become really close, almost like families, and members develop their own specialisms and they become so proud of the spaces they’ve created, which are sort of sacred to them. I don’t think they realise that there are sometimes almost identical little spaces near them, and I’m not sure that they realise the benefit of reaching out to others.

What does climate action mean to you?

I think maybe five years ago, if you’d have asked me that, I’d have said it was protesting, and doing quite visible and pushy activism, writing letters to politicians and things like that. And I still think that is climate action and that there’s a place for it. But I think it’s important to balance that out with positivity, and show how you can make small changes in your life that don’t have a negative impact. Just looking within what you’re doing and seeing what’s an achievable change you can make. I don’t think we need to make ourselves feel terrible all the time, but it’s very easy to take the easy route sometimes. Climate action to me is all those small, subtle changes that people have made by identifying what is achievable and understanding what they can do.

Sustainability is at the heart of to everything Forest Green Rovers do. Here are some of the ways they are changing the game by bringing climate action centre forward...

The World’s only vegan club

Forest Green Rovers are all about vegan food and less waste (the players even take vegan food to their away matches). They work with Quorn and Oatly to share delicious vegan food at their matches and have introduced a wash and re-use system for all their cups and chip trays this season.

Cutting emissions from travel

Football involves a lot of travel, for both teams and fans, and it’s a one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions. FGR teams use electric coaches and minibuses and they organise group travel for fans to away games. At home, fans are encouraged to cycle or use the park and ride to get to matches.

Bringing nature home

FGR’s organic pitch not only captures rainwater and recycles it back for when they water it, it’s also managed without chemicals and pesticides and has a wildflower boarder to boost biodiversity. They even have their own beehive!

Reducing energy and plastics

FGR have solar panels that provide 20% of their annual electric needs and the rest comes from renewable sources and carbon neutral gas. They also work with the Sea Shepherd campaign to stop plastics from entering the ocean, by avoiding single-use plastics and using refillable bottles.

Hunting for presents can be time-consuming and expensive. Who knew being thoughtful could be so exhausting?! We've pulled together our favourite sustainable gift ideas to help you have a greener, savvier, and easier gift hunt this year. Take a look for some inspiration and homemade gifts sure to make anyone's Christmas.  

1) Treat filled jars  

Use old jam jars and stuff them full of all things sweet, whether it’s sweets or home-made jams and chutneys. Or, for a savoury tooth, pack them with spices, pretzels or nuts. Stick a bow round the jar and you’re done!   

How did Future Fashion Fair start out?

I came onboard at the end of July 2021, literally to just do a swap shop which is all I wanted to do, having worked for Slow Fashion Movement before. So I came down and somehow managed to get roped in to running a whole event and then Joe came on later in September and we ran our first event on the 25th and 26th of November 2021.

My background is in fashion, I went to MMU and studied Fashion Buying and Merchandising and became more interested in sustainability halfway through the first lockdown. I started volunteering for Slow Fashion Movement during that time, and then it grew from there. Straight after the first event, we decided we’d run another one - a Christmas Market - which we ran in November last year and that went brilliantly.

We’re now looking at doing two big events per year, and making it a big celebration of everything that we do. The whole point is basically to build a community in Manchester around sustainable fashion and then educate those people. And it’s not just people who come to the fairs, we want to branch out and include as many people and diversities as possible. The more people that know the more money people will save too from things like this.

What are some of the challenges you’re facing currently when it comes to engaging Manchester in sustainable fashion?

Being where we are, there are a lot of different cultures. It’s a very diverse area to be in, and we’ve always thought that we want to bring all of those people together because at the end of the day the more diverse a community is the better and there’s a greater understanding, but it’s definitely a challenge.

We’re trying to talk to the right people and getting the right people to come down and see what we’re doing, we had a meeting with someone from a local Sikh temple who’s really interested in what we’re doing. One of the ways that we bring people to the fair is that we try and have a wide variety of clothing brands here. We had Cultureville here, they’re a great brand. So we try to include as many different diverse cultures within our fairs as possible because we want their customers to come down and engage with other cultures and so on.

People often seem surprised at the connection between fashion and climate change, why do you think that is?

Unfortunately some people just like ease! But I think the more we teach them, the more they’ll understand and be able to see it from other people’s point of view. One thing that I find amazing is how when it’s not in your line of sight you tend to care less about it. Seeing where a garment comes from isn’t really in our line of sight, and to compare it to the food industry, with the amount of plastic packaging for things like fruit and veg, people can see the plastic around those things and they know it’s going straight in the bin. But when you buy a polyester t-shirt, people don’t see that as plastic because it’s a form of material and people just don’t put two and two together.

How would encourage people to be more sustainable with their clothing choices?

I think that trends are constantly changing and they evolve all the time, and it’s why people buy so much more because they want the new thing. It’s out with the old and in with the new. I think making sure you aren’t throwing your clothes away is a massive thing, and selling them online or giving them to a charity or a swap-shop is a good start. And then just simply asking questions about where these things come from, because we ask where most other things come from, and the brands need to be more transparent with what they’re doing around that too. As much as it is on the consumers, a lot of brands have the power to change what the views of the consumers are, so it works both ways.

What are some of your key goals for the next few years?

We want to build the fair to get way more people coming down. We want to branch out and help to build communities around Manchester, we’d like to start working with hotels and consulting with fashion brands to help them understand more, and building up our name and what we do. I think the next year is really going to change things. We’d also love to go into schools and start teaching kids. We actually went into a school in Levenshulme and it was mad how much they already knew about sustainability, and the kids now are learning so much about sustainable goals. We’re really keen to go into more schools around Manchester and teach them more about slow fashion. I’m not looking to make millions or anything like that, I just want to have kids coming through who are doing what I’m doing and having the ability to live in our world without these problems.

Earlier this year we hosted a social media competition where we invited people to tell us who they’d like to nominate as their “community hero” - someone in their local area who has gone above and beyond to benefit others in their community. One of three winners, Victoria has run the independent Chorlton Bookshop for over 35 years, and alongside her voluntary group she plays a key role in protecting and developing local green spaces for everyone to enjoy. We caught up with Victoria a few weeks ago to learn more about the brilliant work she’s been doing and why green spaces are so important to her….

How long have you been here for now (at the Chorlton Bookshop)?

About 35 years now!

How long have you been active with greening work in the local area?

Probably since the campaign to protect Turn Moss came about, so about 4 years ago now. When it came under threat, they thought that massive areas of it would be fenced off and that people would have to pay to access it. It’s a beautiful open space, and to be able to go on there doesn’t cost you anything. It’s so open that you can do whatever you want on there. You can play sports, you can walk your dog, it’s full of birds and wildlife. It’s amazing when you consider how close it is to quite a condensed urban area. It’s a wonderful place and it links up with Chorlton Meadows so you can go over to Stretford and go on the transpennine route. I’ve known it for years since I was little, I was raised in Sale and my dad’s route to work was on Hawthorn lane which is the old backroad that used to link Stretford to Chorlton. So I remember it from being a little girl, and it was agricultural and open fields then, and I knew it very well. The thought that people wouldn’t be able to use it for years and years, I didn’t want to sit back and let that happen. r

What are some of the benefits you experience by protecting green spaces?

Well it’s about protecting it and encouraging people to use it. We get kite festivals and that sort of thing as well, we get people from all sorts of backgrounds just enjoying the space and enjoying the fact that it’s free. We’ve done things like put benches up and we’ve put a toilet in that can be used if we have events on. We also have a very active Facebook group, and Twitter and Instagram pages, so we all sort of talk to one another. So many people don’t know it’s there. A teacher said to me when I first started volunteering that she had children in her classes who had never been to a nature space that didn’t have a fence around it, and I thought that was awful for kids not to be able to just run about and choose what they’d like to do. If you’re feeling fed up you can prescribe your own walk, you don’t have to follow a path.

How do you associate what you’re doing with climate change?

We do consider climate change in any of the plans that we have. We try to discourage all of the footballers from driving their cars to games. The trees that we plant, we really thought hard about what varieties to plant, looking at native species. The land is mostly landfill so we were looking at trees that could cope with polluted ground. We have a Manchester Poplar as well, which is Manchester’s rarest native tree. They cope with water and pollution, the same as alders will cope with water, so we planted loads of alders and we’ve taken cuttings from our black poplar and planted about thirty new black poplars which cope really well with air pollution and flooding.

What advice would you give to people who’d like to get involved with green spaces?

I suppose they can always contact us! Most of the parks also have friends groups who run regular sessions and you don’t really need any skills. We’re also very friendly! If you were thinking of getting involved in any local groups I’d have a look on Facebook and try to get out and do a little bit of volunteering. There are loads of people with expertise who’ll be able to give you some basic training, but it doesn’t take much at all really. We’ve got people who’ve never picked a spade up or used shears or anything. Enthusiasm and being able to cope with a bit of rain, that’s all it is really!

Manchester, looking for a scare this Halloween? Here goes: 39.9 million pumpkins will be bought this Halloween, and of these, a whopping 22.2 million pumpkins will go to waste, left uneaten. That’s £32.6 million worth of edible food!

Why? Because after carving, many-a-pumpkin’s innards and guts are simply thrown away. Their purpose as the infamous jack o’ lantern overshadows their true purpose – dinner! The gourd news is, now 3 in 5 people (59%) know you can eat your carving pumpkin.

Whether you’re venturing to the streets or staying at home this year, we’ve got everything you need for a safe, spooky and sustainable Halloween packed with treats. We've got pumpkin recipes, activities for kids and 5 tips for using up your pumpkin!

Eat your pumpkin

We’ve got plenty of pumpkin recipes to help you use up all the different bits, from a traditional pumpkin soup and roasted seeds for snacks, to a more adventurous coconut pumpkin cake, and even pumpkin kimchi! Sweet or savoury, we just want to see them eaten.

Football is an integral part of the cultural fabric of Manchester and is home to Manchester City and Manchester United: two of the biggest football clubs in the world. To City fans, Manchester is blue. To United fans, Manchester is red. We wanted to set fans of both clubs a challenge to show that Manchester is green too (or at least that it could be, with some simple changes).

Earlier this year, we set two groups of Manchester City and Manchester United fans a three-week challenge to eat more plants, cook more from scratch and waste less food. These fans were invited to join closed Facebook groups with 30-40 others and participate in a variety of challenges until the final day of the Premier League season.

Each week followed a different theme: Cooking from Scratch, Plant-Powered Eating and More Taste Less Waste. Every week, there were simple tips, ask the expert sessions (one week with Forest Green Rovers), cook-alongs and a weekend ‘matchday challenge’ where fans could put their new skills into practice and compete to win prizes.

Everything was framed in football terms: plant-based swaps became tactical substitutions and quick recipe ideas became half time meals. The passion fans have for their clubs created a sense of community and, when people saw others like them sharing recipes and inspiration, they wanted to join in. The challenge also encouraged many to step out of their comfort zone and try something new.

What were the full-time results?

Want to get involved?

We’re delighted to announce that £2.5 million of funding from The National Lottery Climate Action Fund has been awarded to support In Our Nature support people across Manchester to take climate action at home and in their communities for another three years.

This funding will be used to build on the successes of In Our Nature so far, delivering over 50 community-led projects to help residents in Manchester reduce carbon emissions, save money, and learn new skills.

“This National Lottery funding for In Our Nature presents an opportunity to make a huge difference to the everyday lives of Manchester residents. Not only will the projects tackle climate change, but many will also have the added benefit of helping people save money in the face of the rising cost of living crisis.” Samantha Nicholson, Director at Manchester Climate Change Agency

In Our Nature is an ambitious community-led programme that engages and empowers people across Manchester to take practical and meaningful action on climate change.

Our ambition? Build a movement of people taking meaningful action on climate change across Manchester.

Why? Because the solutions to climate change are #InOurNature, and change starts right here, at home, and in our communities.

In Our Nature brings together a delivery partnership made up of Manchester Climate Change Agency, Hubbub, Groundwork Greater Manchester, Amity CIC, The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, who will work alongside Manchester City Council’s Neighbourhood Team.

Thanks to the new National Lottery funding, we’ll be working throughout Autumn alongside a network of experts, individuals, and grassroots organisations to connect with communities and groups who would like to collaborate on projects in the new year.

These projects will provide direct support for diverse communities across the city and help to share inspiring stories, amplify community-led projects, and share easy tips to help people take meaningful climate action at home and in their communities.

In 2020, the Manchester Climate Change Partnership developed a high-level strategy for the city to focus action that would help deliver on its carbon budgets and its 2038 zero carbon target.

We've been supporting Manchester Climate Change Agency develop an update of the 2020 document. The update details the actions needed to achieve the city’s first milestone of a 50% cut in its direct emissions. It focuses that work around several action areas – buildings emissions, transport emissions, renewable energy generation, indirect emissions on the things we buy and the things we throw away, food emissions and nature-based solutions that can support carbon reduction.

Gary started the Clean & Green Castlefield group during the pandemic after wanting to tidy up litter in the local area.

New to cycling? Looking for more opportunities to explore all that Manchester has to offer?

These resources should help you to be on your way whatever the weather!

5 Cycling Groups To Know...

The sunshine has landed in Manchester, and with the sun comes picnics, festivals and lots of single use plastic, so why not take part in Plastic Free July? Plastic Free July is a global initiative to inspire all of us to reduce plastic pollution. To help us get started, we've shared our 5 top tips for help you reduce and reuse.

1. Get a reuseable water bottle

Every year in the UK we use approximately 13 billion plastic bottles, and only 7.5 billion get recycled! Switching from disposable plastic bottles to a water bottle that will last will save you money when you’re on the move too.

2. Coffee to go please!

Did you know less than 1% of coffee cups we use in the UK get recycled? Due to a tricky mix of plastic film inside of the cups they need a special recycling facility that isn't widely available. Stay grounded and switch to a reusable coffee cup today.

3. Bag of tricks

The environment bagged a winner when the plastic bag charge was introduced in England, as it led to an outstanding 85% decrease in use. Try and keep a bag for life or tote in your car or bag so it's always at hand.

4. Use Clean Cutlery

Used only for a few moments, your single use fork, knife or spoon can take over 200 years to decompose! Why not try a spork, or if you’re feeling fancy, how about a metal straw for enjoying drinks when you’re out?

5. Reuse, Reuse, Reuse

It might seem like reusables are more expensive but you only have to buy them once, so they will start to earn their keep after a few uses. The bathroom can be a great place to start, where you can switch to a bar of soap rather than a bottle, and swap shampoos and cleaning products to refillables.

You might have guessed it’s climate change, but what exactly is going on? Warm air holds more moisture (think steamy bathroom post-shower) and cold air is drier (think chapped lips in winter). As the planet warms as a result of increased levels of CO2 and greenhouse gases (global warming) more water is evaporating from the sea and land, into the air.

So the air is getting wetter, so what?

More moisture in the air causes heavier rains and fiercer storms - in July last year more rain fell in one hour in parts of London that normally falls in one month. Evaporation of water from the land also dries out the soil. When water falls on hard, dry ground, it runs off it instead of absorbing into the soil. This increases the risk of drought and flooding.

In the past decade, Manchester has experienced several notable floods, and flooding continues to be Manchester’s most prominent extreme weather and climate change risk. Across the world, particularly in the global south, the countries that have contributed the least to emissions could see the largest and most dramatic changes in their weather patterns and suffer the greatest damages.

Just how weird will the weather get?

Whether you fancy a city break, a relaxing beach trip or an escape to the wilderness, the UK has tonnes of places to explore that are only a bus or train ride away! More people than ever are choosing a staycation over a trip abroad, and it's one of the immediate and impactful ways for an individual to reduce their impact on the environment.

This week we are giving away a £200 voucher prize to celebrate UK holidays and the benefits of ditching the plane. For the chance to win, all you need to do is send us a photo of your favourite staycation spot - it could be the beautiful view from your tent, a walk through the Lake District, or your family on a rainy day at the beach!

Send us your photo to inournature@Hubbub.org.uk and the winner will be chosen at random on Monday at 10am. Good luck!⁠

Want some travel inspiration to make the most of your weekends in Manchester?

Thank you to everyone who came to visit us at the Manchester Flower Show over the jubilee weekend and tried out our new “Ready, Steady, Save” installation! We had a brilliant time chatting with everyone about our love of food, and sharing tips about how to make food go further.

We hope you’re getting on with your pledge, whether it’s keeping the lids on when cooking or storing your bread in the freezer to make it last longer.

For those who didn’t make it, here’s a roundup of our top tips we shared on making good food last, saving money in the kitchen and helping the planet along the way:

Thank you to everyone who attended the launch of Newton Heath's new Community Garden!

Last Sunday (22nd May 2022) we held an afternoon party at the site of Newton Heath’s newly proposed community garden in the grounds of the local cricket club on Mabel Street. Over 100 people came down to play some games, plant seeds and have a chat with us about what a community garden could mean for them and what it might look like.

The community garden project is a collaboration with Sow The City and Winning Hearts and Minds, who have been consulting residents for the past year in a bid to ensure that the space accurately reflects the needs of the local community. The proposed space currently only houses four large, raised beds, but once cleared will be big enough for a community allotment and possibly a small orchard too.

Are you hoping to undertake a sandwich placement for the 22/23 academic year? Apply for one of the 13 roles offered by The Carbon Literacy Project - a Manchester-based, climate change education and action charity.

What is The Carbon Literacy Project?

The Carbon Literacy Project is a multi-award-winning and globally unique climate change learning-and-doing project. They offer everyone who lives, works or studies a day’s worth of Carbon Literacy training - covering climate change, carbon footprints, how you can do your bit, and why it’s relevant to you.

Founded in Manchester in 2012, Carbon Literacy went on to be recognised by the United Nations at COP21 in Paris, in 2015, as a TAP100; one of 100 ‘Transformative Actions Programs’ worldwide that could materially change the way we deal with climate change.

Since then, The Carbon Literacy Project and it’s Carbon Literacy Community has been growing at an ever-increasing pace - currently certifying around 500 individuals as Carbon Literate per week! This has been aided by, and has, in turn, enabled the steady growth of a small but dedicated team of staff, volunteers, and volunteers-turned-staff. In recent years, this has included placement students like Nicole who has spoken highly of this “invaluable” experience.

Upcoming Placement Opportunities

For the upcoming 22/23 academic year, The Carbon Literacy Project is offering a whopping 13 placement roles, spanning their Operations, Communications, Finance and Sector Toolkit Teams.

These placements present opportunities for students across a wide range of disciplines to gain valuable experience in the rapidly expanding environmental sector. Students will gain relevant knowledge and skills, towards a desired career path, all while becoming an asset to a young, exciting and impactful organisation.

It's worth noting that The Carbon Literacy Project is a small charity with no core funding. This means that their placement opportunities are currently unable to be formally paid.

That being said, there are a number of ways these placements have been made as accessible as possible. The option to work from the Manchester office, in a hybrid capacity, or fully remotely, enables individuals to not need to travel regularly, or find accommodation and move in a new city. When travelling into the Manchester office reasonable public transport (including bike mileage) travel expenses, and a receiptless lunch allowance is provided.

The Carbon Literacy Project is also actively seeking funding to introduce a grant scheme for their Placement Interns, and have so far secured funding to support one of these roles. They continue to work to secure further grant funding for these roles, so if you know of any avenues which might help The Carbon Literacy Project to advance this work, please get in touch with them at info@carbonliteracy.com.

We're inviting anyone from the local community to come along and get involved in some fun planting activities and games. The party will celebrate Newton Heath’s first community garden, located at Newton Heath cricket club on Mabel Street. We’ve been working with local residents, keen gardeners and the Winning Hearts and Minds team to develop this new green space, and we want to hear your thoughts and ideas of what it will look like and how you want to get involved.

We’ve been working with residents across Newton Heath to get them growing at home. From small balconies, to vegetable patches and wildlife ponds, together they’ve been able to help each other learn more about gardening and growing, develop their skills and benefit from healthier lifestyles.

Here's what James, a beginner gardener had to say about getting growing for the first time - “We wanted somewhere to grow plants and attract wildlife. It’s great having a team of people that give you the oomph to do it, and the know-how too. You feel like you’ve really achieved something, you’re not just sat in the house. It’s your space and you’re making it better.” - James.

⁠This year Earth Day is highlighting how we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). And it’s going to take all of us taking action each and every day - Businesses, governments, and citizens. A partnership for the planet.

We're looking for people who love football and food, to take part in 3 weeks of fun, footie-themed food challenges and competitions starting on the 29th April - and in return you'll get £100 in cash and the change to win loads of fun prizes.

As part of Manchester is Green you'll be added to a Facebook group where you'll ⁠get gentle coaching from us alongside tips, inspiration, and expert advice on plant-powered eating, wasting less food and cooking from scratch.

I started the role of Climate Change Neighbourhood Officer for south Manchester just under a year ago and it has been one of the busiest and most exciting periods of my career so far! I sit within Manchester City Council’s South Neighbourhood Team who cover a remit of 14 wards across the south of the city.

It’s my job to provide support and guidance to members of my team, to ensure that we are delivering relevant and impactful climate action on a local level. We’ve been working closely with Councillors, voluntary organisations, partners and residents to produce local climate action plans for every single ward. These plans set out the key climate priorities that matter to each area; working with local expertise to build on strengths and unblock barriers to action.

We recently held climate emergency events in Chorlton and Chorlton Park to launch their ward climate action plans and ask for some much-needed input from the local community. At the Chorlton event held at Edge Theatre, we heard a series of lightning talks from local climate champions including Our Streets Chorlton, Unicorn Grocery, Manchester Climate Change Youth Board and more. At the Chorlton Park event held at Chorlton Central Church, we had interactive stalls covering themes from sustainable fashion to growing your own fruit and veg, with free vegetarian and vegan food provided by Cracking Good Food who are a social enterprise with the aim of eradicating food poverty and increasing food sustainability in Greater Manchester.

Upcoming events in South Manchester

We have even more exciting climate events coming up across south Manchester. On Monday 21st March our Burnage climate emergency event at Burnage Academy for Boys will be opened up to the public, to pitch their climate project ideas for the chance of winning some climate funding. On Wednesday 23rd March, we’re hosting a Wythenshawe-wide climate evert in Wythenshawe Town Centre , with a pop-up cinema showing David Attenborough screenings, and cooking lessons from Wythenshawe food charity Blossom. Come along or get in touch to tell us what you want to see on your local climate action plan!

⁠Want to learn how to cook better, whilst saving money and helping the planet? Sign up to take part in Manchester Is Green! ⁠

⁠We're looking for 50 Manchester City fans and 50 Manchester United fans to take part in 3 weeks of fun, footie-themed food challenges and competitions.

As part of the challenge you'll be added to a Facebook group where you'll ⁠get gentle coaching from us alongside tips, inspiration, and expert advice on plant-powered eating, wasting less food and cooking from scratch.

Those who are selected will also receive a £100 Love2Shop voucher along with the chance to win spot prizes 🎁⁠

Many of us think that living sustainably can be expensive, but you can help the environment without having to spend a penny. In fact, how we save, invest and spend our money has a huge impact on our carbon footprint, often without us even realising it.

As savers, consumers and pension holders we can influence the future through our investments, letting our money do the work for us. Not only will shifting your savings, current account, pension or investments have a huge impact on your carbon footprint, but it also sends a strong message to the financial markets that things need to change.

1. Power to your pension

Did you know that greening your pension is 21 x more effective at reducing your carbon footprint than giving up flying, going veggie and switching energy provider combined? It shocked us too!

In partnership with Pride in Ageing at LGBT Foundation, Manchester Art Gallery have launched a brand new pocket park as part of their Derek Jarman ‘Protest’ exhibition. The space is located within the grounds of the Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street and was designed and planted by members of the LGBT Community from across greater Manchester.

This week we met with the green-fingered group of volunteers who have been working together to get the park ready for it’s launch on the 11th February. The team have worked alongside the gallery curator, the artist Juliet Davis-Drufayard, landscape architects from Exterior Architecture and the community team at RHS Bridgewater to develop a design and planting scheme for the new urban garden space.

The park has been launched to celebrate gay rights activist Derek Jarman, his own garden in Dungeness and tell a story about some of our local LGBT+ communities. Not only is it a beautiful space to relax and reflect, it also contains a number of innovative urban solutions to combat the effects of climate change in the City!

With help from IGNITION and The Royal Horticultural Society, the garden will encourage biodiversity, use sustainable planters and other elements to conserve water and provide ideas to encourage green initiatives at home.

We caught up with Lawrie Roberts, the Pride in Ageing manager at LGBT foundation, about the park and the journey of how it was created.

We were really excited to produce this garden as part of the Derek Jarman protest exhibition. The idea was to recognise and celebrate Derek Jarman’s own garden in Dungeness and to produce a Manchester version of that garden that really speaks to the influence of Derek Jarman in the lives of our LGBT community.

We recognised that Manchester has lots of little pockets of green space in the city centre but we really wanted to transform a space outside Manchester art gallery that currently isn’t very green into something really green and exciting.

We started this project in January 2019 and we wanted the garden space to be ready for the next summer, but the timeline moved because of the pandemic and we ended up having a lot of discussions about the garden and what we wanted it to achieve.

The environment and climate change has definitely become an important theme for the group and volunteers during the last year or so. We really wanted to make this a space that also has some innovation around climate change as well as to tell a story and reference Derek Jarman.

The new Jarman-inspired pocket park will be open from Friday the 11th of February , so why not go take a look and spend some time in Manchester’s newest urban garden the next time you’re in the area!

Want to find out more about the pocket park?

In the summer of 2021, over 100 residents from across Manchester came together over 7 weeks to take part in the city's first ever Community Assembly on climate change.

This was a unique opportunity for residents to learn, share and together come up with solutions for how we can tackle the climate crisis. Together the residents developed local action plans for their areas and a mandate for the city.

Watch the video below to find out more about the Assembly and hear from local experts, organisers and those who took part about how we can all play a key role in shaping the future of our city.

Do you have ideas and thoughts about how the City can help tackle climate change?

Our online portal has lots of ways for you to share your ideas. Here’s how:

‘Tis the season to celebrate, and often the most sustainable choice is also the cheapest! Making the most of what you have, getting creative and not wasting a scrap! If you're looking for a way to create Christmas magic without a huge price tag, we've got some ideas.

1) Eat your leftovers!

We throw away a whopping 270,000 tonnes* of food during Christmas including 2 million turkeys and 74 million mince pies**. Make the most of your food this festive season by planning what you need before time and making sure you save up your leftovers. They’ll keep in the freezer or you can munch on them in the potato filled limbo between Christmas and New Years Eve. 

2) Buy secondhand

With so many brilliant secondhand spaces like Ebay, Depop or even Facebook marketplace there is a huge amount of choice in quality second hand gifts. Shopping second hand can get you one of a kind pressies at a fraction of what you’d spend in a last-minute shopping spree. 

3) Make your own gifts

Manchester is getting colder...and with energy costs at an all-time high, it’s more important than ever to make the most of our energy!

Here's 5 ways to help you save money on your energy bills and get your home winter-ready. All whilst staying cosy at home and doing your bit to tackle climate change!

1. Dial down 1 degree - Did you know 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from how we heat and power our homes? Your thermostat can make a big difference to your bills. 18 degrees is the recommended temperature for corridors, and 21 degrees for rooms you’re sitting in. If your thermostat is set higher than that, try turning it down by one degree. It will reduce your carbon footprint by 300kg and save you up to £55 a year!

2. Switch to LED - Lightbulbs are small but mighty, making up 15% of your home energy bill. It’s common sense to switch lights off when you don’t need them, but you can save up to £41 a year on your energy bill by switching to LED bulbs too!

With the cold weather and snow hitting Manchester this week, it's been hard to get outside and experience nature. Why not listen to it instead?

As part of the In Our Nature pop-up shop in October, we collaborated with sound artist and nature beatboxer Jason Singh to create an Augmented Reality sound installation. The experience featured "the sound of Manchester's nature", a song made using technology that transformed the biodata of an Oak tree in Alexandra Park, Manchester into musical notes. The song also features spoken word artist Reece Williams, from Young Identity.

Our ambition: break down some of the barriers preventing communities, including school kids, the Kurdish community, Muslim women and young ex-offenders from engaging with environmental issues, using nature to inspire climate action.  

Read all about the four successful projects and their plans below. We can’t wait to help bring these projects to life and to see the impact that they have in their communities!

Providing opportunities for young ex-offenders to discover alternative ways to make a positive contribution to their local community, building green skills and spending time in nature, while receiving mentoring support.   

The Play & Grow Project was developed in consultation with local services and local people, looking at the impact of the pandemic on local communities. As MAV UK begins to open services again, we will use our newly fitted outside terrace to expand outside areas of our community hall, and create a living moving garden space, where we have naturally grown vegetation. Young people will lead the project with the help of our volunteers. The funding secured for this project will allow our young people to visit local green spaces and outdoor areas, to learn, see and feel the values of a clean, safe outdoor spaces.

We're constantly reviewing and refining the In Our Nature programme and as part of this we have launched an online survey to get feedback on the communications campaign. We'd love to hear what content you like and what you'd like to see more of so please take 5-10 minutes to complete our online survey. We're also h osting an online focus group to get more feedback from residents on the content and messaging. Follow link below to sign up.

Share your thoughts on how we can all help to reduce our carbon emissions and what is stopping you from doing more.

Want to make a positive change in your community, meet people in your local area, learn new skills and have fun?

From what we wear to our furniture and electronics, all of our "stuff" has an impact on the environment. That’s because a lot of energy and resources go into producing, transporting and disposing of the things we buy and own.

By repairing, reusing or recycling our things we can give them a new lease of life, saving us money and helping the environment at the same time.

⁠Introducing…(drumrolls) your neighbours Wayne the wasp, Herbert the grey heron, Leon the ladybird, Sasha the starling, Daphne the dandelion and Pip the peregrine. They are all native species of Manchester, looking for your attention.

Check out the QR codes on the signs to build Leon a party pad, help Wayne buzz around and record where you've spotted a starling!⁠

Last week was the launch of the first #InOurNature Community Fridge...and what a launch it was!

⁠The Hungry Be Fed Community Fridge is run by Wendy and her team of superstar volunteers at Keeping it real 24/7. ⁠

Community fridges are a tried and tested way of stopping food ending up in the bin. It's an amazing space that anyone can visit to access and share surplus food that they're not going to use, including donations from local food businesses, producers, households and gardens. It's also a place to meet new people, access healthy food, save money and get involved with community climate action.

Want to visit? It's open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1-5pm at 232 Claremont Road in Moss Side.

Want to make a change in your community, meet people in your local area, learn new skills and feel great?

Join a local volunteering event or workshop on Great Big Green Week, as a chance to connect with nature while benefiting the wider community by creating better, greener, more welcoming spaces for all. The events will be happening across Moss Side and Rusholme from the 17th September to the 22nd September.

Want to inspire people to take climate action, but not sure where to start or how to talk about environmental topics? Look no further.

This month we are focusing on food!

This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of our city. With your ideas, thoughts and input we can create a city that's greener, healthier and more connected.

What’s involved?

If you sign up, you’ll come together with other people across Manchester over a seven weeks to hear from experts and discuss issues such as transport, energy, food and agriculture and fashion.

You’ll work with others to turn your ideas into a manifesto outlining what action should be taken in the City and beyond, which will be presented to Manchester City Council and brought to COP26 – the international climate conference taking place in Glasgow in November 2021.

How do I sign up?

Did you know that 33% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from transport? 🤯⁠

How we get around can make a big difference to our carbon footprint. By walking and cycling more, flying less, sharing your journeys and using public transport, we can make a big impact on the environment.⁠

Not only that, travelling greener can help you save money, improve your wellbeing, and help protect the health of everyone in Manchester at the same time! Win, win, win!⁠

Check out our video below to see the fun, greener ways you can travel around Manchester!

Are you part of a Manchester based community, youth or voluntary group? Has your group got an innovative project idea to help your community come together to take positive action on the environment?

If the answer is yes - apply for a community project grant and bring your group's ideas to life. You'll be helping us on our mission to unlock the potential of households and communities to respond to the climate emergency.

What are we looking for? We are looking for projects that take an innovative, community-led approach to tackling a local environmental issue, which also delivers social and financial benefits to their local community.

Who can apply? We can award grants to a variety of non-profit and voluntary groups such as community groups, youth clubs, schools, resident and neighbourhood associations, community interest companies and social enterprises.

Successful groups will receive…

Want to get started? Great news!

We’re buzzing to unveil this fantastical ‘Sensory Structure’ in Moss Side Community Park (M14 4SL) today, an interactive installation that invites the residents of Moss Side to vote on what they’d like to see, hear, smell, taste and touch as we make Moss Side greener, with the opportunities to add your own ideas too.  

To celebrate the launch, we’re giving away free herbs to help you get growing at home. Pop down before 6pm to grab yours!

From nature....to fashion!

This month we'll be shining a spotlight on the clothes we wear and share tips and inspiration for lowering the environmental impact of our fashion choices, including what we wear, how we look after our clothes, and how to make the most of what we already have. By making simple changes to how we purchase, look after and care for our clothes, we can make a huge impact on the environment - and save money too.

We're inviting residents in Hulme, Moss Side, Rusholme, Newton Heath and Miles Platting, Levenshulme, and the Northern Quarter to join a local community climate action group and work together to plan and deliver projects in your community.

You'll be supported by Amity CIC to unlock your potential and build connections with peers. This is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of your community and the In Our Nature programme. It's open to everyone, with no experience needed.

We’re excited to announce that with support from Co-op and Marcus Rashford, Manchester’s first Community Fridges were launched this week by Know Africa in Wythenshawe and Co-op Academy in Failsworth, with plenty more in the pipeline.

Join the sharing revolution

A community fridge is a space where everyone can share surplus food, including donations from local food businesses, producers, households and gardens. They are a tried and tested way of stopping food ending up in the bin and bring people together to access healthy food, try something new and save money.

Want to help share food, make friends and support your community?

As part of the In Our Nature programme, we're supporting groups across Manchester to open their own Community Fridge through the free Community Fridge Network. Support includes free guidance, health and safety templates, design assets, peer support, as well as discounted fridges and freezers!

Do you live in Levenshulme, Rusholme, Hulme, Moss Side, Northern Quarter, Miles Platting or Newton Heath?

Are you part of a Manchester community group or organisation?

Got a creative, innovative idea for helping your community take action on climate change?

We're so excited to let you know that In Our Nature has launched 🎉

Together we will trial positive, creative ways to make it easier to live, work and travel in ways that are good for you, your community, and the environment.

Why? Because the solutions to climate change start right here, at home and in our communities, it’s #InOurNature 💚

To help you get started, we’ve updated our Commonplace - the online hub for the programme - with some exciting new content for you to check out:

Follow us for a first look at the exciting content we'll be sharing when the programme launches on 1st May.

Join our upcoming Taster Sessions to understand more about how you can participate in the programme and what the programme can do to support you and your neighbourhood to make positive changes to reduce your carbon footprint.

The sessions will include a presentation about the programme and the ways in which you can participate, alongside some examples of community climate action. We will also be asking for your input on getting a group together in your local area and making sure the programme has community-led action at its heart. We hope that this relaxed session connects and inspires you with what’s possible in your community.

The taster sessions are open to people living in the following Manchester areas:

The sessions will take place on Zoom

In the hope as many people as possible can make it, the Taster Session is happening twice:

We're excited to share the proposed name and look and feel for the programme, and can't wait to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Over the coming months we'll be putting together lots of content including social media cards, videos, infographics and downloadable resources for community groups, and we need your help to make sure the name and look and feel resonates. The name survey will be open until 31st March , but there will be lots of opportunities to help shape the programme throughout.