We passionately believe that we all have a responsibility to act as beacons rather than bystanders in the effort required to protect our planet. This free to attend event will be open to all residents and will be hosted by St Thomas Church in Barrowford. A combination of workshops, speakers, conversations and demonstrations will provide a creative and thought-provoking backdrop for residents to come together to reflect on their own lives and learn from the experience of others in order to reduce their individual carbon footprints as well as work collectively to make our community more sustainable. The event will engage and inspire people to take practical steps to eat more sustainable food, reduce non-renewable energy use, choose greener transport, minimise the volume of single use plastic and waste in the home and improve our natural environment and biodiversity. The Borough of Pendle scores poorly across a range of key environmental indicators and we want to reverse this trend.

What we'll deliver:

• A free to attend event of workshops and activities focused on climate change.
• 200 people learning about the climate emergency and the practical actions they can take to alleviate it.
• Facilitated discussions and relationship building to generate innovative solutions for a more sustainable community.

Why it's a great idea:

The main benefit of the Climate Change Day is improving the environment for all and helping people live happier, healthier and more sustainable lives. We believe that the event will help sow the seeds of change in our community and support the creation of a collaborative culture needed to reduce carbon emissions. This incorporates the strengthening of local relationships and also forging new links with other communities further afield, for example with Whalley Community Hydro who are invited to run a workshop about their community energy project. Local green businesses will also benefit from the event through a dialogue about their services, for example a local bike retailer will be bringing electric bikes for people to try out, local farmers will be providing sustainably produced food, and home eco-energy providers can discuss and demonstrate their products . Finally, the event will benefit local democracy, through a question panel with our MP, councillors and other key stakeholders.

Steps to get it done:

• Confirm speakers and contributors
• Print posters
• Set up ticketing system
• Promote the event

We have a committee of residents who are organising this event and are working in conjunction with a neighboring community who organised a similar climate event last year (Ribble Valley Climate Action Network) which successfully ignited climate action. This Climate Change Day is very much aligned with Pendle Council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan 2020-25, which seeks to reduce carbon emissions across all service areas and encourage partners, local residents and organisations to take action and a number of councillors have agreed to participate in the question panel at the end of the day. We have invited an eminent environmentalist as the keynote speaker and a whole range of local businesses, schools, clubs and groups are actively participating in the day. Indeed, it is an opportunity to showcase the skills and expertise in our community, from local bee-keepers, seamstresses and gardeners to up-cyclers and those who use waste food to help feed people living in poverty.