Whether it is getting your hands into soil or a bike-to-work breakfast, the Nelson-Tasman Climate Action Festival has more than 30 events focusing on a ‘grounded community’.
It is the theme for the climate change action festival which takes place from 24 May to 2 June around Nelson and Tasman and includes hands-on workshops, webinars, and even a birthday celebration for a three-year-old microforest.
Volunteer and project coordinator, Christina Simkanin, says the aim of the festival is to offer events to suit everyone in the community. The focus is on connections and being “grounded” to earth and nature, while reducing our impact on the climate at a local level.
“It’s meant to be easy and doing practical things like how to enhance your own garden and reduce your food waste. So much about climate change is doom and gloom, so the festival is meant to be empowering.
“We want to keep this festival as accessible as possible to people, so most events are free or low cost. It’s a real partnership with the community with many events run by other community organisations.”
Among the week-long festival is a bike repair workshop for beginners, composting workshops and caring for your soil, common edible weeds and seed saving for local food resilience. Webinars include talking with an architect about climate-friendly projects, budget-friendly energy tips and the impact of urban form on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Or there’s the opportunity to sit back and watch a movie, with the focus on climate.
Celebrating the third birthday of the tiny microforest on the Enner Glynn hills is one of the festival’s events as Christina says the three years of management is now complete and the forest will be left alone to grow by itself.
It is just 100 square metres, but a tiny, self-contained eco-world that encourages biodiversity, drawing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing carbon.
All the events during the festival can be found here.
